Legal experts will today give their views on proposals to introduce legislation for abortion.

However the Bar Council of Ireland last night said it was declining an invitation to make a submission at today's Oireachtas Health Committee hearing.

A Council spokesperson said it was not possible to represent the diverse views of its 2,000 members.

Former supreme court justice Catherine McGuinness, and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) will be appearing though.

The hearings yesterday from the medical profession were dominated by the need to bring legal clarity to the situation and the controversial issue of suicide.

The master of the national maternity hospital says she wants to know she won't go to jail, while psychiatrists disagreed on whether there was a need to legislate for suicide.

Today it is the turn of the legal experts to be heard.

Former Supreme Court Justice Catherine McGuinness an the Trinity Professor William Binchy will be heard.

The law library and Irish council for civil liberties will also be heard.