Inaugural Lecture of the Regius Professor of Laws, Professor Mark Bell
On Tuesday, 26th January 2016, the inaugural lecture of the Regius Professor of Laws, Prof Mark Bell took place in the Edmund Burke Hall, Trinity College Dublin. The lecture entitled 'Mental Health and Employment in Ireland: Is Equality Law the Solution?'.
A podcast of his lecture and presentation is available here.
In this inaugural lecture, Professor Mark Bell explores the role of Equality Law in promoting inclusion in the labour market of persons with mental health problems. A wide range of research indicates that those who experience mental health problems have lower rates of participation in employment than those without disabilities. Moreover, the effects of stigma continue to shape individual experiences of looking for and seeking to remain in work. In this lecture, Professor Bell explores the contribution that Equality Law makes in seeking to create more inclusive workplaces. Notably, the Employment Equality Acts prohibit discrimination because of disability as well as imposing a duty on employers to provide reasonable accommodation. There is evidence that these rights confer important protections on individuals and can stimulate wider changes in workplace practices. Yet, given the evidence of persistent labour market disadvantage, there is a need to reflect on whether the existing legal framework can be enhanced.
Mark Bell, BA (Ulster), PhD(EUI, Florence), FHEA is Regius Professor of Laws since 2015. Prior to his appointment at Trinity, he was a professor at the School of Law, University of Leicester, where he was also Head of the School of Law (2011-2014). Mark conducts research in the areas of equality, work and migration. He is the author of Racism and Equality in the European Union (OUP, 2008) and Anti-Discrimination Law and the European Union (OUP, 2002). He is currently a member of the European Commission's Network of Legal Experts in Gender Equality and Non-Discrimination, and the Berkeley Comparative Anti-Discrimination Law Study Group. He is an active participant in the European Working Group on Labour Law and a committee member of the Employment Law Association of Ireland. He works regularly with a range of national and European NGOs dealing with equality issues, as well as international organisations. in 2010/11 he worked with the International Labour Organisation to develop training on the protection of precarious workers, while in 2013 he delivered training on anti-discrimination law for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Trinity College Law Review. Mark teaches EU Law and Equality Law on the undergraduate programmes, as well as EU Employment Law on the postgraduate programmes.
Pictured above, Prof Mark Bell, Regius Professor of Laws and Prof Darryl Jones, Dean, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences