Opinion

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,

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