Opinion

Félim Ó Maolmhána examines, in response to an earlier Irish Legal News article, how many lawyers have served in the Oireachtas. I was struck by Mr Benjamin Bestgen’s piece, “The Ship of Fools” (8 April 2020) featured in this publication. Mr Bestgen makes some v

Barrister Emma McIlveen makes the case for Online Dispute Resolution as Northern Ireland deals with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. It goes without saying that we are in unprecedented times. Recent guidance from the President of the Tribunals in Northern Ireland has provided that employment dis

A&L Goodbody senior associate Ciaran O'Shiel and solicitor Charlotte Turk explore a recent landmark ruling from the UK Supreme Court. On 1 April 2020 the Supreme Court handed down the eagerly awaited judgment in WM Morrison Supermarkets plc v Various Claimants [2020] UKSC 12.

Laura Banks, solicitor at Francis Hanna & Co, considers how human rights law can assist people experiencing a bereavement related to coronavirus. The COVID-19 pandemic has wide-reaching implications and it is therefore throwing up myriad issues in our society, some of them fundamental and going

Benjamin Bestgen discusses how moral judgements are affected by aesthetic perception in his latest jurispurdential primer. See also parts one, two and three. In March 2020, Singapore’s High Court dismissed a challenge to repeal s.377A, a colonial-era law that penalises homosexual acts between

Dr Seán Ó Conaill carries out a textual analysis of the Constitution to examine whether the Oireachtas can sit remotely. Reports emerged today that advice has been issued to TDs and Senators which suggests that the Houses of the Oireachtas cannot sit remotely because the text of the Co

Dr Aisling McMahon, assistant professor at Maynooth University Department of Law and an expert in medical and intellectual property law, makes the case for a (bio)ethics space within patent law. COVID-19 was declared a pandemic on 12th March 2020 and by 9th April had claimed 81,580 lives. COVID-19 h

Patrick Corrigan, Northern Ireland programme director at Amnesty International, argues against a return to "business as usual" after the coronavirus pandemic is over. Amid the rising death toll, the dangers faced by our front line workers and the wider dislocation for a society dealing with COVID-19

Employment law solicitor Richard Grogan of Richard Grogan & Associates flags up a legislative flaw that could have a major impact after the coronavirus pandemic. Section 678 of the Companies Act 2014 is a problem in the making for employment lawyers. You might wonder why it would have any releva

Larry Fenelon, co-founder and managing partner at Leman Solicitors, responds to new measures affecting public works. The Minister for Finance has confirmed that building contractors working under public works contracts are entitled to claim some expenses resulting from site closures in response to

Employment law solicitor Richard Grogan of Richard Grogan & Associates explores the law on discrimination by one employee against another. The issue of the liability of an employer for the actions of another employee towards a fellow employee is covered in section 15 of the Employment Equality A

In the third of his jurisprudential primers, Benjamin Bestgen look at truth. See part two here. Author Irvine Welsh reacted with disbelief when former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond was acquitted of several sexual offences last month: “For fuck sake. NINE women were lying? Come on.&

Ronan Hynes, partner at Sellors, considers how the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the transformation of the justice sector. COVID-19 has reminded us how globalised the world has become, how interconnected we all are and the role that technology will play in our future. The World Economic Forum

Ronan Daly Jermyn partner Diarmaid Gavin and trainee Kate Murphy explore the European Commission's response to the coronavirus pandemic. On 19 March 2020, the European Commission adopted a temporary framework for state aid measures to support the economy of member states in the current Covid-19 outb

William Fry unpacks recent clarifications about certain provisions of the Government's temporary wage subsidy scheme. The Revenue Commissioners have issued some recent welcome clarifications about certain provisions of the Government's temporary wage subsidy scheme.