Analysis

Dr David Kenny, assistant professor of law at Trinity College Dublin, argues the government's legal advice on the rights of adopted children is flawed and a referendum on the matter is not needed. As the country comes to grips with the report of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission and reckons yet a

Benjamin Bestgen considers the fairness of the high standards to which we hold lawyers. Read last week's jurisprudential primer here. The legal profession is a deeply human one and humans are complex creatures. As a species we are capable of extraordinary feats of courage, intellect, wisdom, kindnes

Jason O'Sullivan, solicitor and public affairs consultant at J.O.S Solicitors, examines the dilemma employers will face when they encounter employees who refuse to take the vaccine and what measures they should take to deal with them. As the rollout continues with the Covid-19 vaccinations, its welc

Benjamin Bestgen gives readers an overview of smart contracts this week. See his last jurisprudential primer here. Part of being a lawyer in the 21st century is the necessity to develop a degree of digital literacy, whether you like it or not. The legal world, it is often said, tends to be conservat

Karen Kearney, partner at Cantillons Solicitors, explores the issue of expert witnesses through the prism of a recent medical negligence case. I recently settled a medical negligence claim for a client which was one of the most difficult that I have prosecuted in my career. It involved two High Cour

Historian Dr Dieter Reinisch looks back at some of the earliest legal challenges to internment, in light of last year's high-profile UK Supreme Court ruling in R v Adams. Last year, the UK Supreme Court ruled the detention of former Sinn Féin President and TD for Co Louth, Gerry Adams, u

Marie Kinsella, partner at commercial law firm Philip Lee, welcomes a major review of the management of clinical negligence claims. The much-anticipated final Expert Group Report to Review the Law of Torts and the Current Systems for the Management of Clinical Negligence Claims, chaired by Mr Justic

Employment lawyer Natasha Hand examines a case concerning alleged discrimination on the race ground in a company's sick pay scheme. In case ADJ-00027767, the case of Krzysztof Tryka and Thermal Insulation Distributors Limited, an employee claimed that the company's sick pay scheme was applied less f

Benjamin Bestgen this week contrasts the letter of the law with its spirit. See his last jurisprudential primer here.  As a species, humans value play, sports and games. For example, probably all of us know somebody who enjoys cardgames, boardgames, videogames or various kinds of table-top game

Pinsent Masons partners Ann Henry and Jim Cormack QC address how UK-Ireland trade disputes will work following the end of the transition period and how vital this is for many companies. Brexit as an event will cause disputes related to trade between the UK and Ireland, and the Brexit process will ma

This week Benjamin Bestgen looks at the legalities surrounding certain extracurricular activities. See last week's here. Every law student has probably heard of R v Brown [1993] UKHL 19 during their studies. The case concerned a group of men who had occasionally gathered for consensual, but rather s

Employment law solicitor Richard Grogan of Richard Grogan & Associates the importance of often-overlooked working time records. The issue of working time records arose in case ADJ-00028251. The Adjudication Officer in this case quoted the provisions of section 25 of the Organisation of Work

Family lawyer Claire Edgar, partner at Francis Hanna & Co Solicitors, examines the issue of equality in divorce settlements. It is 20 years since the House of Lords handed down the seminal judgement of White v White, which decided that, when determining each spouse’s contribution to the ma

"If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out" and if he breaks another's bone, his shall be broken. So states Hammurabi's Code, an ancient exemplar of the precept of lex talionis. Why is revenge so compelling? Benjamin Bestgen explains all. See his last jurisprudential primer h

Brian Hunt, partner at Ronan Daly Jermyn, explores the history of gambling law reform in Ireland. The regulation of betting activities has always been distinct from that which applied to gaming and lotteries. The licensing of bookmakers in Ireland was first provided for by the Betting Act of 1926 (l