Dr Donal Coffey

Law

Lecturer/Assistant Professor

Biography

Donal joined the school of law as an Assistant Professor in Law in August 2020.

In January 2023, Donal was appointed an Affiliate Researcher of the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory, Frankfurt am Main.

Donal's research interests are in the fields of public law and legal history. His interests are particularly in the fields of contemporary constitutional law and comparative constitutional history, with a specific interest in the constitutional history of the British Empire.

His PhD, completed in University College Dublin, was on Irish constitutional history in the 1930s. He subsequently published two books on this period - Drafting the Irish Constitution 1935-1937 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018) and Constitutionalism in Ireland, 1932-1938 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018). He has published articles in the fields of international law, constitutional law, and legal history in peer-reviewed journals such as the International and Comparative Law Quarterly, the Journal of Legal History, Law and History Review, the Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly, the Irish Jurist, among others.

Prior to joining the law school, Donal was a Senior Research Fellow in the Max Planck Institut for Legal History and Legal Theory in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. He worked as a lecturer in the United Kingdom, in the University of Surrey, and the University of Portsmouth.

His work has been cited by the House of Commons library, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Irish Law Reform Commission, and by the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Council of Europe.

In 2022, Donal's work on the possible suspension and expulsion of Russia from the Council of Europe was relied upon by the Sangiin, the Legislative Upper House in Japan.

Research Interests

Donal's research interests are in the fields of Irish public law, comparative constitutional law, and legal history.

In Irish public law, Donal has published on the interaction between rights provisions and emergency powers, and the separation of powers with specific reference to the judicial branch.

In the field of comparative constitutional law, Donal is interested in the formation, maintenance, and failure of constitutional systems, and what these case studies teach us about constitutional design, culture, and more broadly about the limits of constitutional law itself.

In the field of legal history, Donal is interested in the legal history of the British Empire. Donal has published articles on the doctrine of secession in the Commonwealth, the Anglo-Irish oath controversy of 1932, and the contours of British constitutional law in the inter-War period. Donal is interested in the process of decolonisation from a constitutional point of view.

Donal also researches and publishes on Irish constitutional history. Donal has written two monographs about Irish constitutional history in the 1930s, as well as chapters on topics such as the judiciary in the Irish Free State and the development of the judicial branch in the Free State.

Book

Year Publication
2018 Donal K. Coffey (2018) Drafting the Irish Constitution, 1935–1937 Transnational Influences in Interwar Europe. Cham: Palgrave MacMillan.
2018 Donal K. Coffey (2018) Constitutionalism in Ireland, 1932–1938 National, Commonwealth, and International Perspectives. Cham: Palgrave MacMillan.

Edited Book

Year Publication
2024 Laura Cahillane;Donal K. Coffey (Ed.). (2024) The Centenary of the Irish Free State Constitution. Cham: Palgrave MacMillan, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-46181-1

Peer Reviewed Journal

Year Publication
2023 Donal K. Coffey (2023) 'The Drafting of the Constitution of the Union of Burma in 1947: Dominion Status, Indo–Burmese Relations, and the Irish Example'. Law and History Review, 41 :253-272. [DOI]
2022 Donal K. Coffey (2022) 'Pakistan - Supreme Court strikes down Prorogation of National Assembly'. Public Law, .
2020 Donal K. Coffey (2020) 'Constitutional law and empire in interwar Britain: universities, liberty, nationality and parliamentary supremacy'. Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly, . [Link] [Full-Text]
2019 Donal K. Coffey (2019) 'The Influence of the Weimar Constitution on the Common Law World'. Rechtsgeschichte, . [Full-Text]
2019 Kanstantin Dzehtsiarou and Donal K. Coffey (2019) 'Suspension and Expulsion of Members of the Council of Europe: Difficult Decisions in Troubled Times'. International and Comparative Law Quarterly, . [Full-Text]
2018 Donal K. Coffey (2018) 'The Right to Shoot Himself: Secession in the British Commonwealth of Nations'. Journal of Legal History, .
2016 Donal K. Coffey (2016) '1916, 1921 and the 'Destruction of the Legal Unity of the British Empire''. Dublin University Law Journal, .
2016 Donal K. Coffey (2016) 'The Commonwealth and the Oath of Allegiance Crisis: A Study in Inter-War Commonwealth Relations'. Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, .
2015 Donal K. Coffey and Charlie Eastaugh (2015) 'Don’t Stop Me Now (Without Reasonable Suspicion)'. King's Law Journal, .
2012 Donal K. Coffey (2012) 'The Need for a New Constitution: Irish Constitutional Change 1932 – 1935'. Irish Jurist, .
2011 Donal K Coffey (2011) 'Discussion: Custom and Living Law'. Jurisprudence, . https://doi.org/10.1080/20403313.2012.11423536
2011 Donal K. Coffey (2011) 'The Judiciary of the Irish Free State'. Dublin University Law Journal, .
2009 Donal K. Coffey (2009) 'British, Commonwealth, and Irish responses to the abdication of King Edward VIII'. Irish Jurist, .

Book Chapter

Year Publication
2024 Laura Cahillane; Donal K. Coffey (2024) 'Introduction' In: The Centenary of the Free State Constitution. Cham : Palgrave MacMillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-46181-1_1
2024 Donal K Coffey (2024) 'Ireland in the Union' In: The Cambridge Constitutional History of the United Kingdom. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009277105.019
2024 Donal K. Coffey (2024) 'The Afterlife of the Constitution of the Irish Free State: Constitutional Echoes in South Asia' In: Donal K. Coffey. Cham : Palgrave MacMillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-46181-1_15
2023 Donal K. Coffey (2023) 'Parliamentary Supremacy and the People' In: Diverse Voices in Public Law. United Kingdom : Bristol University Press. https://doi.org/10.56687/9781529220766-006
2021 Niamh Ní Leathlobhair and Donal K. Coffey (2021) 'Article 44.1 and the “Special Position” of the Catholic Church in the Irish Constitution, 1937–1972' In: Law and Religion in Ireland, 1700-1970. Cham : Palgrave MacMillan. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-74373-4_14
2021 Donal K Coffey (2021) 'Irland' In: Konfliktlösung im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert. Frankfurt am Main, Germany : Springer.
2019 Donal K. Coffey (2019) 'The Failure of the 1930 Tribunal of the British Commonwealth of Nations: A Conflict between International and Constitutional Law' In: Experiments in International Adjudication: Historical Accounts. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.
2018 Donal K. Coffey (2018) 'Comparative and Institutional Perspectives on the Exercise of Judicial Power in the Irish Free State' In: Judicial Power in Ireland. Dublin : Institute of Public Administration.
2017 Donal K. Coffey (2017) 'Commentary on North Western Health Board v HW and CW (the PKU case)' In: Northern/Irish feminist judgments. Judges' troubles and the gendered politics of identity. Oxford : Hart Publishing.
2017 Donal K. Coffey (2017) ''The union makes us strong:' National Union of Railwaymen v. Sullivan and the demise of vocationalism in Ireland' In: Judges, politics and the Irish Constitution. Manchester : Manchester University Press.

Other Journal

Year Publication
2014 Kanstantin Dzehtsiarou and Donal K. Coffey (2014) 'Legitimacy and Independence of International Tribunals: An Analysis of the European Court of Human Rights' BMJ Open, .
2009 Donal K. Coffey (2009) 'The Judicial Pension Levy: A Reply to Professor Gwynn Morgan' Irish Law Times, .
2004 Donal K. Coffey (2004) 'Article 28.3.3, The Natural Law and the Judiciary - Three Easy Pieces' Irish Law Times, .

Conference Contribution

Year Publication
2023 Donal K. Coffey (2023) Constitutional Learnings in a Post-Colonial World Irish and Indian Constitutional Connections Law Society of Ireland, .
2023 Donal K. Coffey (2023) Records and Responsible Government Archives and the Art of Forgetting University of Essex, .
2022 Donal K. Coffey (2022) British Legal History Conference 'The Drafting of the Constitution of the Union of Burma' Queen's University Belfast, .
2022 Donal K. Coffey (2022) Irish Legal History Winter Discourse 'Constitutional Theory and Irish Legal Education, 1900-1950' Blackhall Place, Dublin, .
2022 Donal K. Coffey (2022) Public Law Conference 'The Crown in the Irish Free State and Australia in the inter-War period’ University College Dublin, .
2021 Donal K. Coffey (2021) Asian Legal History Conference ‘Drafting the Burmese Constitution’ Hue University, Vietnam, .
2021 Donal K. Coffey (2021) Annual Conference on South Asia ‘Drafting the Burmese Constitution’ University of Madison-Wisconsin, .
2019 Donal K. Coffey (2019) Christopher Palles Legacy Project ‘History, Palles and the Representation of the People’ University College Dublin, .
2019 Donal K. Coffey (2019) Translating Weimar ‘The Influence of Weimar on the Common Law World’ Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory, Frankfurt am Main, .
2018 Donal K. Coffey (2018) International Society of Public Law ‘Parliamentary Supremacy in the Commonwealth: Dominions and the Struggle for Legislative Autonomy’ University of Hong Kong, .
2018 Donal K. Coffey (2018) Law and Religion in Ireland 1530-1973 ‘A Legal and Political History of the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland’ University College Dublin, .
2018 Donal K. Coffey (2018) MPIeR Summer School 'Legal Transfer in the Common Law World' Frankfurt am Main, .
2018 Donal K. Coffey (2018) Rechtshistorikertag ‘Centre and Periphery in the British Empire: Parliamentary Sovereignty and the Dominions’ University of Trier, .
2018 Donal K. Coffey (2018) Junge Forschung Geschichte und Recht ‘Die Rechtsgeschichte des Commonwealth in der Zeit zwischen den beiden Weltkriegen’ MPIeR, Frankfurt am Main, .
2018 Donal K. Coffey (2018) Goethe University of Frankfurt Summer School ‘Dignity as a foundational norm: historical and comparative aspects’ Goethe University Frankfurt, .
2018 Donal K. Coffey (2018) Keith Forum on Comparative Constitutionalism ‘Parliamentary Supremacy in the Dominions’ University of Edinburgh, .
2018 Donal K. Coffey (2018) Legal History of Empires ‘Parliamentary Supremacy in the Dominions: South Africa, the Irish Free Sate, New Zealand and Struggle for Legislative Autonomy’ University of the West Indies, Barbados, .
2017 Donal K. Coffey (2017) The Constitution at 80 ‘The Drafting of the Irish Constitution 1937: Influences and Legal Insights’ University of Limerick, .
2017 Donal K. Coffey (2017) MPIeR kick off workshop ‘Die Rechtsgeschichte des Commonwealth in der Zeit zwischen den Weltkriegen‘ Bibliotheca Herziana, Max-Planck-Institut fuer Kunstgeschichte, .
2017 Donal K. Coffey (2017) Experiments in International Adjudication ‘The Failure of the 1930 Tribunal of the British Commonwealth of Nations’ University of Cambridge, .
2017 Donal K. Coffey (2017) The Canadian Confederation: Past, Present and Future ‘Newfoundland Charts a Different Course’ University of Montreal, .
2017 Donal K. Coffey (2017) British Legal History Conference ‘The Failure of a Plan for a Commonwealth Tribunal’ University College London, .
2017 Donal K. Coffey (2017) IMPRS Workshop: Retaliation, Mediation, Punishment ‘Legal Transfer in the Common Law World’ MPIeR, Frankfurt am Main, .
2017 Donal K. Coffey (2017) Law and Society Association Annual Conference ‘The Failure of the Tribunal of the British Commonwealth of Nations: Sovereignty and the Conflict between International and Constitutional law’ Mexico City, .
2017 Donal K. Coffey (2017) MPIeR kick off workshop ‘The Legal History of the Commonwealth of Nations in the inter-War years’ Duetsches Historisches Institut, Rome, .
2017 Donal K. Coffey (2017) ICON.S UK Branch ‘The Drafting of the Irish Constitution 1937: Influences and Insights’ Trinity College Dublin, .
2017 Donal K. Coffey (2017) MPIeR 'Conflict Regulation' ‘Legal Transfer in the Common Law World’ Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory, Frankfurt am Main, .
2017 Donal K. Coffey (2017) Multinormativity Focus Area Workshop ‘Multinormativity and Transnational Structures’ MPIeR, Frankfurt am Main, .
2017 Donal K. Coffey (2017) Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference ‘The Melbourne School of Jurisprudence’ University College Dublin, .
2017 Donal K. Coffey (2017) Max Planck Kick Off Workshop ‘The Melbourne School of Jurisprudence’ University of Tel Aviv, .
2016 Donal K. Coffey (2016) South Asian Legal History: Beyond Boundaries ‘Crown and Commonwealth: Legal and Constitutional Questions arising in the Commonwealth of Nations as a result of India’s decision to declare a Republic’ NALSAR, Hyderabad, .
2016 Donal K. Coffey (2016) Australia and New Zealand Law and History Society Conference ‘Australia, New Zealand and the development of Commonwealth law and politics 1926-1929’ Curtin Law School, Perth, .
2016 Donal K. Coffey (2016) Prisoner Voting ‘The Legal History of British Penological Theory and the Right to Vote’ University of Liverpool, .
2016 Donal K. Coffey (2016) Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference ‘A Constitutional Court for the United Kingdom? Comparative and Historical Reflections’ University of Oxford, .
2016 Donal K. Coffey (2016) Law, Revolution and Society ‘Stepping Stone: the 1922 Constitution’ University of Galway, .
2015 Donal K. Coffey (2015) Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference ‘Towards a “Unified Field” Theory of Constitutional Law’ University of York, .
2015 Donal K. Coffey (2015) The Global Challenge of Human Rights Integration-Towards a Users’ Perspective ‘Norm permeability and the national human rights system in the common law world: A comparison between Ireland and the United Kingdom’ University of Ghent, .
2015 Donal K. Coffey (2015) British Legal History Conference ‘A reconsideration of the Imperial Conference 1926 and Conference on the Operation of Dominion Legislation 1929’ University of Reading, .
2014 Donal K. Coffey (2014) Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference ‘Secession in the British Commonwealth of Nations’ University of Nottingham, .
2014 Donal K. Coffey (2014) Judges, Politics, and the Irish Constitution ‘The Judiciary of Ireland and the Constitution: 1940-1952’ Dublin City University, .
2014 Donal K. Coffey (2014) Totalitarianism, Law and the Idea of Europe ‘Nationalism and European Constitutional Catholicism in the Drafting of the 1937 Constitution of Ireland’ University of Helsinki, .
2013 Donal K. Coffey (2013) Irish Jurisprudence Society Winter Series ‘HLA Hart’s Rule of Recognition, Constituent Authority, and the British Constitution’ Trinity College Dublin, .
2013 Donal K. Coffey (2013) UK IVR ‘Postcards from the Dominions: Legal Theory as Legal History in Australia and Ireland’ Queen Mary University of London, .
2011 Donal K. Coffey (2011) Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference ‘The Need for a new Constitution: Irish Constitutional History 1932-1935’ University of Cambridge, .
2007 Donal K. Coffey (2007) The Evolution of the Irish Constitution 1937-2007 ‘The Constitution and the Campaign Trail: The Plebiscite of 1937’ University College Dublin, .

Book Review

Year Publication
2021 Donal K Coffey (2021) Kennst du das Land, wo die Mangos blühn?. [Book Review]
2018 Donal K Coffey (2018) Constitution-making in Asia: Decolonisation and State-building in the Aftermath of the British Empire. [Book Review]
2016 Donal K Coffey (2016) The Political Theory of the Irish Constitution: Republicanism and the Basic Law. [Book Review]
2016 Donal K Coffey (2016) Aharon Barak, Human Dignity: The Constitutional Value and the Constitutional Right. [Book Review]
2015 Donal K Coffey (2015) The Law School of University College Dublin: A History. [Book Review]
2013 Donal K Coffey (2013) An Island's Law: A Bibliographical Guide to Ireland's Legal Past. [Book Review]
2013 Donal K Coffey (2013) Helle Prosdam and Thomas Elholm (eds.), Dialogues on Justice: European Perspectives on Law and Humanities. [Book Review]
2012 Donal K Coffey (2012) The Origins of the Irish Constitution, 1928-1941 Coffey, Donal K. [Book Review]
2011 Donal K Coffey (2011) New Beginnings: Constitutionalism & Democracy in Modern Ireland. [Book Review]
2009 Donal K Coffey (2009) The Superior Courts of Law: 'Official' Law Reporting in Ireland, 1866-2006. [Book Review]
2007 Donal K Coffey (2007) The Making of the Irish Constitution 1937: Bunreacht na hEireann. [Book Review]

Radio Presentation

Year Publication
2020 Donal K. Coffey (2020) Golfgate. [Radio Presentation]

Podcast

Year Publication
2017 Donal K. Coffey (2017) 'Just Because I can hear does not mean I am Listening'. [Podcast]
Certain data included herein are derived from the © Web of Science (2024) of Clarivate. All rights reserved.

Professional Associations

Description Function From / To
Royal Historical Society Fellow -

Teaching Interests

Constitutional law, administrative law, modern legal history, legal history of empires.