Analysis

There’s no denying that Jodie Comer's West End début, brought to cinemas yesterday by National Theatre Live, is electrifying. From the moment she walks on stage as Tessa, a confident criminal defence lawyer on the verge of greatness at the London bar, Comer demands nothing less than rap

Ray Lambe, partner at OSM Partners LLP, dismisses the notion that lawyers are opposed to court reform. In a recent editorial, The Irish Times called for reform of the Irish court system and curiously linked the slow pace of reform to “entrenched opposition” within the legal profession.

Matheson partners Karen Reynolds and Michael Byrne discuss a recent successful application in the UK courts for service of court proceedings by transfer of an NFT, and consider whether similar applications for substituted service could be on the horizon in Ireland. In a first for the UK courts,

Dr Conor McCormick of Queen's University Belfast examines recent developments concerning the office of Attorney General and its equivalents. This month marks the publication of my book on The Constitutional Legitimacy of Law Officers in the United Kingdom, which contains a detailed analysis of the f

Philip Lee partners Sean McElligott and Anne Bateman examine coming changes to EU rules for big tech companies. On Tuesday, the European Parliament passed the Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Marketing Act (DMA) in what European Commissioner, Thierry Breton referred to as a “landslide vo

Matheson partner Joe Beashel explains the role of "stablecoins" in the world of cryptocurrency and how they are treated in Irish law. A stablecoin is a form of cryptocurrency which has its value 'pegged' to the value of another currency, commodity, asset or group of same. The purpose of a stablecoin

Sarah Henry, solicitor with Newry-based Granite Immigration Law, looks at the EU Settlement Scheme more than three years after its launch in March 2019. Where do EEA citizens and other beneficiaries of the scheme stand now? The vast majority of EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens who were UK residents by th

Legal academic Dr Patrick O'Brien examines the long-running saga over judicial appointments reform in Ireland. Judicial appointments in Ireland are shortly due to be put on a more formal footing. When the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022 is enacted, it will provide for an appointments comm

Lorraine Lally BL shares highlights from a recent webinar on confidence and women in the law. In 2016 it was a realisation that women were leaving the legal profession and were not moving into positions of seniority due to lack of sufficient work and opportunities. This reflected a global and cultur

Conor White, employment lawyer at Comyn Kelleher Tobin (CKT), examines a recent case resulting in Ireland's largest-ever award for unfair dismissal. In a recent Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) decision — A Sales Executive -v- A Software Company — the WRC awarded the sum of €329

Andrew McGahey and Aoife Ryan of Kennedys examine the Representative Actions for the Protection of the Collective Interests of Consumers Bill 2022. The EU Representative Actions Directive (EU) 2020/1828 is to be transposed into Irish law by 25 December 2022, with effect from June 2023. The Directive

Grace Toher and Jack Nyhan of Comyn Kelleher Tobin (CKT) examine a recent case dealing with the issue of dishonesty in professional practice proceedings. The Court of Appeal in Law Society of Ireland v Kathleen Doocey [2022] IECA 2 has clarified the test to be applied in professional practice p

Dr Phil Anderson, consultant in child, adolescent and forensic psychiatry, makes the case for an increase in Northern Ireland's minimum age of criminal responsibility. The minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) is the lowest age at which a child is deemed to have the capacity to commit a crim

Kevin Bell BL examines the future of the gig economy in Ireland. The significant judgment of the High Court in Karshan v. Revenue Commissioners has been overturned by the Court of Appeal. The ruling has granted companies in the Irish gig economy significant leeway, in that delivery drivers will cont

"We are on the cusp, I believe, of the commencement and introduction of one of the most transformational pieces of legislation in Irish history," says Annette Hickey, senior associate and head of the surrogacy and fertility law team at Poe Kiely Hogan Lanigan LLP (PKHL). Ms Hickey is one of a number