Gerard Coffey

Biography

Ger graduated from UL with a BA in Law and European Studies, and subsequently undertook postgraduate studies at the National University of Ireland, Galway, where he graduated with LLB and PhD degrees in Law. He also completed a postgraduate certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education at the National University of Ireland, Cork. His doctoral thesis examined the common law principle against double jeopardy and the related principle of ne bis in idem in the EU and Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. While at NUI Galway, Ger taught criminal law and constitutional law, and was appointed research assistant with the Faculty of Law. He was co-editor in the planning and production of volume 4 of the Judicial Studies Institute Journal (2004) that the Faculty of Law was commissioned to produce on behalf of the Judicial Studies Institute. He was awarded a research fellowship by the Faculty of Law, NUI Galway, for the duration of his doctoral research. In 2005, he was awarded 2nd place in the Law Society of Ireland Annual Law Reform Essay Competition for an essay entitled “Reforming the Law on Double Jeopardy”. From 2005–2007 he was post-doctoral research officer in criminal justice in the Centre for Criminal Justice at UL. During this period he contributed to the Centre’s research activities on the impact of globalisation on criminal law and criminal justice. In 2007, Ger was appointed to the position of lecturer in law. His specialisation is criminal law and related issues pertaining to criminal procedure and the criminal justice process; he has been published widely in domestic and international law journals. In 2016, Ger founded Criminal Justice in Ireland, a collaborative academic blog, with a focus on criminal justice issues to inform those involved in the criminal justice field and to share information and resources, as well as many other aspects of criminal justice. He is a member of the Centre for Crime, Justice & Victim Studies in UL and also a member of the Complementarity in International Criminal Law Committee of the International Law Association.

Research Interest

My research interests lie mainly in substantive and theoretical criminal law including a range of issues pertaining to criminal justice and criminal procedure. I am currently engaged in research on the double jeopardy principle in common law jurisdictions; the principle of ne bis in idem in the prosecution of transnational crimes within the European Union; approximation of the criminal laws of Member States; the principle of complementarity in international criminal law; and conflicts of jurisdiction in criminal cases. Other areas of potential research supervision include: codification of the criminal law; history and development of the criminal law; the sentencing process; international criminal law; judicial review and the criminal process.