Opinion

Benjamin Bestgen explores trust and trustworthiness in his latest jurisprudential primer. See his last post here. Literature and movies are full of stories that have, either at their core or as a necessary ingredient, the topic of trust and trustworthiness. Recently, Marriage Story (2019) dealt with

Criminal barrister Joanna Hardy shares her experience of remote courts in England. “I haven’t met the defendant, Your Honour,” I tell a screen in my kitchen. Silence. “Can… can you hear me?” My words echo through the judge’s laptop in a courtroom three mile

Ronan Daly Jermyn partner Darryl Broderick and trainee solicitor Sinéad Harrington examine the Irish courts’ general reluctance to grant an extension of the one-year limitation period in defamation cases. In a previous insight here, RDJ examined the 2018 case of Nóirín O&r

Laura Banks, solicitor at Francis Hanna & Co, highlights ongoing inequality in the bereavement benefits system. One of the most encouraging aspects of the government's response to the pandemic has been how quickly measures have been put in place and laws have been passed in order to support peop

Irish Legal News editor Connor Beaton assesses Mike Chinoy's new biography of Irish human rights lawyer Kevin Boyle. An accidental pioneer of international human rights law, Kevin Boyle would be furious if he was alive today – not only at prevailing injustices around the world, but also at con

Mary Kiely, senior associate in the corporate and commercial team at Eversheds Sutherland, considers the challenges for companies during the coronavirus pandemic. Given the travel restrictions and physical distancing policies currently in place and the possibility, under the Health (Preservation and

Ronan Hynes, partner at Sellors, encourages lawyers to brush up on their negotiating skills. Expect lots of negotiation or perhaps renegotiation in the post-COVID-19 world. The global financial economy has suffered an unprecedented electric shock and no sector or industry will be immune from the req

In his latest jurisprudential primer, Benjamin Bestgen explains why there is more to the concept of 'hard work' than meets the eye. See his last post here. The legal profession and many others are notorious for being associated with stressful work, tight deadlines and demanding unsociable, even unhe

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