Opinion

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&

In the latest of a series of recommendations for lawyers staving off boredom in lockdown, the Law Society of Ireland's director general Ken Murphy recommends Hilary Mantel's latest. My big (800-plus page) recent read has been Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror and The Light – the glorious comple

Administrative law expert Paul Daly explores yesterday's judgment in R v Adams [2020] UKSC 19. On two occasions in the 1970s, Gerry Adams, allegedly a leading member of the Irish Republican Army at the time and later a prominent Sinn Féin politician, was convicted of attempting to escape from

Tom O'Malley, a law lecturer and barrister with expertise in criminal law, sentencing, criminal procedure and constitutional law, considers whether the use of non-jury trials in Ireland can be expanded. It has recently been reported that the Bar Council of Ireland has been considering whether ordina

Benjamin Bestgen looks at why you might breathe a sigh of relief knowing his lordship has had breakfast. See his last jurisprudential primer here. Legal television like My Cousin Vinny, Silk or The Good Wife is sometimes used to exemplify courtroom dos and don’ts – the first one having r

Kapil Summan, editor of our sister publication Scottish Legal News, reviews Trials of the State: Law and the Decline of Politics by Jonathan Sumption. Though apt to be caricatured as some sort of anti-judge in the post-prorogation world, iconoclast jurist Jonathan Sumption—in this, h

Hayes solicitors partner Jeremy Erwin and associate solicitor Cian Clinch highlight a recent High Court decision which provides welcome guidance on applications for summary judgment. On 29 November 2019, the Supreme Court, in Bank of Ireland Mortgage Bank v O'Malley [2019] IESC, overturned a decisio

Eversheds Sutherland partner Matthew Howse and principal associate Damian McElholm consider the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. As each day passes, the economic challenges presented by COVID-19 are further illuminated. With the jobs retention scheme portal now open for applications,