A special launch ceremony held in the Blue Room at the Law Society’s Blackhall Place headquarters was attended by members of the judiciary, academia and the wider legal community.

Ms Ní Longáin spoke on the previous events held during the year and commended the quality of speakers which the Journal had hosted, including the award of the Hibernian Law Medals to Mary Robinson and Baroness Hale.

Mr Justice Twomey, former judge-in-residence of the Journal, joined in commending the quality of successive volumes. He reflected on the articles contained in Volume 21, in addition to recognising the unique insights offered at the annual lecture and medal event hosted earlier in the year.

Julia Launders, editor-in-chief for the 21st Volume, thanked the authors, academic advisors and editorial board, as well as the Journal’s benefactors from the Inner Bar and sponsor firms including Eversheds Sutherland, William Fry, Matheson and McCann FitzGerald.

Volume 21 considers a range of important legal issues such as the liability of autonomous vehicles, greening Irish competition law, the Investment Court System under CETA, legal solutions to stealthing as well as commentary on recent EU and Irish cases, such as the EU General Court’s decision in Google Shopping, the High Court’s decision in G.E. v Commissioner of An Garda Síochána & Others, and the CJEU’s decision in NH v Associazione Avvocatura per i diritti LGBTI – Rete Lenford.

The latest volume also contains the exclusive reflections of Mary Robinson and Baroness Hale, together with commentaries on emergency powers and the executive by Jack Horgan-Jones and Hugh O’Connell, Professor David Kenny, Jim O’Callaghan TD and Sinéad Gibney.

In his foreword, Mr Justice Michael Quinn commented: “The contributions to this year’s volume of the Hibernian Law Journal demonstrate once again the highest standards of legal writing which we have come to expect from this leading journal. These articles address wide ranging and rapidly evolving areas of law which pose challenging questions for today’s scholars, practitioners, the bench, and of course for policy makers.”

For his article entitled ‘Autonomy and the Law of the Faster Horse: In Response to the Adoption of Autonomous Vehicles, What Aspects of the Australian and Irish Legal Liability Frameworks Require Reform?’, Connor Hogg was awarded the prize of Best Overall Contribution to Volume 21.

The Journal said: “Mr Hogg’s piece is a comprehensive examination of the legal and social aspects of the evolution of private transport and the liability issues presented. It contains also a particularly interesting discussion of the tension between developing effective product liability rules and the benefits of innovation.”

The prize for Best Trainee Contribution, sponsored by the Law Society of Ireland, was awarded to Jack Heron, a trainee with Matheson, for his article ‘Stealthing in Irish Law: Legal Solutions for a Unique Sexual Violation’.

Volume 21 also includes book reviews of the latest editions of Defamation: Law and Practice and Simons on Planning Law, as well as the new Consumer and SME Credit Law.

More information about the Journal and how to order a physical copy is available from www.hibernianlawjournal.com.