Opinion

Benjamin Bestgen gives readers an introduction to feminist legal philosophy in his latest primer. See his last one here. It might not surprise readers that the majority of philosophical and legal works (including laws) over the course of human history to date were created by men. The reasons for thi

Cathy Colton, partner at Carson McDowell, considers the legal pitfalls for businesses considering changes to licensed premises following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions. Businesses across the hospitality and leisure industry here are understandably keen to plan ahead for reopening following the

Jason O'Sullivan, solicitor and public affairs consultant at J.O.S Solicitors, offers a practical guide to Irish businesses on steps to take in preparation for the coronavirus crisis. As the COVID-19 crisis continues, albeit with easing of current restrictions, disruption is still present in every s

William Fry trainee solicitor Karolina Rozhnova considers a recent case in which Twitter was ordered by the High Court to disclose information about a parody account. The High Court has ordered Twitter to disclose information about the identity of creators and controllers of a parody account using t

Having thought about truth, Benjamin Bestgen now considers lies. See his last jurisprudential primer here. In Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathan Swift lets Captain Gulliver explain to the Houyhnhnms, a race of highly intelligent horses dedicated to reason and truth, that lawyers are: intrinsically c

Ronan Daly Jermyn solicitor Hilda Mannix, partner Darryl Broderick and trainee Chris Murray consider the strategies lenders and loan purchasers should consider when met with allegations of fraud as a defence in enforcement proceedings. Lenders and loan purchasers may find themselves faced with an al

Scottish lawyer Richard McMeeken details new proposals to deal with the contract law implications of the current crisis. Following a meeting on 7 April 2020 of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law attended by (among others) Lord Neuberger, Lord Phillips, Sir David Edward and Si

In the tenth in his series on jurisprudential primers, Benjamin Bestgen looks at how the law might handle cognitive enhancements as new drugs are developed and our perceptions change. The movie Limitless deals with a struggling author who is given a drug that vastly increases his cognitive abil

Eversheds Sutherland partner Matthew Howse explores what the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill means for businesses in Northern Ireland. There are decades when nothing happens and weeks when decades happen. This certainly seems the case in terms of Insolvency reforms. The UK Government’

Barrister Mark O'Connell reminds employers of their health and safety responsibilities to employees working from home. Without doubt – and even when the current disruption caused by COVID-19 abates – a much greater proportion of employees will be fulfilling more of their duties from home

Benjamin Bestgen discusses law in utopian fiction. See his last jurisprudential primer here. Dystopian fiction has enjoyed significant popularity again in recent years: Day of the Oprichnik or Hunger Games followed the footsteps of classics like The Handmaid’s Tale, 1984, The Dispossessed, Dar

Senator Michael McDowell gives his view on the developing row between the German federal courts and the European Union. Over the last few weeks, a furore has been whipped up about the decision of the German federal constitutional court at Karlsruhe, the Bundesverfassungsgericht (BVerfG for short), i

Benjamin Bestgen considers judges and politics (click here to view his last jurisprudential primer). See also our review of Lord Sumption's book dealing with the same theme. In April 2020, Polish Supreme Court President Malgorzata Gersdorf retired. She noted that she had been unable to stop conteste

Lisa Bryson, partner and head of employment at Eversheds Sutherland in Belfast, explores what the re-opening of workplaces in Northern Ireland could look like. Every day brings something new for us all to consider and today’s business leaders will need to consider a number of different issues

Wendy Hederman, partner at Mason Hayes & Curran, considers the status of "smart contracts" in Irish law. As technology develops, smart contracts are becoming technically feasible in areas such as IoT, share transfers, insurance and financial services transactions. But are “smart contracts&