Professor Imelda Maher:

The question for me, then, as an academic lawyer, is what the role of law is at times of uncertainty. It is twofold. One is to create a framework within which decisions can be prepared for. If there is a referendum, we will all know that there will be one in due course. There is a fog, but the committee is attempting even within this context to clarify what are the parameters of the fog and how far it spreads. We can, therefore, put a framework around the questions we need to address. Certain preparatory work can be put in place to address that. The paradox for law is that the other thing it must provide is flexibility, because there has to be a sense in which the framework is sufficient to lay down parameters but not so rigid and tight that there cannot be flexibility to respond to the concerns around uncertainty that will emerge, and that we cannot predict.