School of Law

Staff

Biography
Karen Brennan graduated in law from University College Dublin in 2000. She entered into the integrated LLM/PhD programme in October of that year; and was awarded a Government of Ireland Research Scholarship for the Humanities and Social Sciences in 2002. Karen's chosen thesis topic was the law on infanticide. Her research involved an analysis of cultural and historical perspectives on maternal child killing, an examination of the development of infanticide legislation in both England and the Republic of Ireland , and a comparative exploration of the continued relevance of such laws. Karen completed her PhD thesis in 2006. She is interested in continuing research in the area of infanticide as well as in other areas of criminal law. During the course of her postgraduate studies in UCD, Karen was a Senior Tutor in Criminal Law. She was also a member of the Editorial Board of the UCD Law Review. In 2006 Karen was  appointed as Researcher to the Criminal Law Rapporteur on the Legal Protection of Children in the Republic of Ireland. Karen teaches Criminal Law, Criminal Process, Sentencing and Evidence.

Teaching

Undergraduate:

• Criminal Law
• Evidence
• Criminal Process 2

Research

Legal, Historical and Cultural Perspectives on Infanticide; Law on Child Sexual Abuse

Selected Publications

“The State of Abortion Law in Northern Ireland” in Schweppe (ed.), The Unborn Child, Art 40.3.3, and Abortion in Ireland: 25 Years of Protection? (Liffey Press, Dublin, 2008), 247-75

 "Beyond the Medical Model: A Rationale for Infanticide Legislation" (2007) 58 Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly 505.

‘Evidence of Infanticide and Exposure in Antiquity: Tolerated Social Practice, Uncontrolled Phenomenon or Regulated Custom?' (2002) 2 UCD Law Review 92