COVID-19 Consequences for Irish Courts
The Judicial System is the pillar of the State which ensures that law and order are maintained. COVID-19 has significantly impacted Irish courts, something which there has been little to no national media coverage on. From increasing pressures on Ireland’s…
A ‘Zoom’ In On Video Calling Privacy Problems
The Covid-19 pandemic has led to a huge increase in the popularity of apps such as Zoom and Houseparty, as a means for family, friends, and employees to remain connected via video calls. The success of these apps is based…
UCD School of Law Leads The Way in Jury Research
Professors at UCD Sutherland School of Law published a ground-breaking report last month assessing the interactions between judges and jurors in Ireland. The study, titled ‘Judges and Juries in Ireland: An Empirical Study’, is the realisation of a project which…
Post-Brexit Immigration Policy to cause Northern Irish Labour Crash
The United Kingdom has finally left the EU and with this, a new points-based immigration system is welcomed. This means that noncitizens’ eligibility to work in the UK will be determined by scoring above a 70-point threshold in a scoring…
What Exactly is the COVID-19 Emergency Legislation?
“Unprecedented actions to respond to an unprecedented emergency,” exclaims Taoiseach Varadkar in announcing the government’s next steps to combat the further spread of Covid-19. As of Thursday the 30th of March, there are over 2,910 confirmed cases of the virus…
Illegal Adoption Brought Before High Court
On the 31st of January this year, Mr Patrick FitzSymons became the first person to initiate legal proceedings against the state for its ambivalence to the practice of illegal adoptions that were being carried out by St Patrick’s Guild, an…
Artificial Intelligence: Too Smart for the Law?
Gone are the days when artificial intelligence was simply viewed as self-driving cars and talking robots. The Cambridge Analytica scandal, where personal data was improperly collected for political advertising, alerted the world to the fact that AI is deeply embedded…
European Court of Justice To Hear First Case Through Irish
The Court of Justice of the European Union (the ECJ) will, for the first time ever, hear a case brought before it in the Irish language. The case is being brought by Peadar Mac Fhlannchadha against the Irish State and…
State Fined €5M Over Galway Wind Farm
After over a decade of legal action, the European Court of Justice has imposed a penalty of €5 million on State for infringing Directive 85/337 in not carrying out an environmental impact assessment (EIA) before the construction of a wind…
Sex Work Laws in Europe: More Liberal Than You’d Think
The debate concerning the legitimacy of sex work is often shrouded in controversy, yet this has not stopped the introduction of legislation to address the matter, particularly where victims of trafficking are concerned. The 2018 report ‘Disrupt Demand’ by the…
Rampant Misuse of Corporate ‘Gagging’
In the wake of the #MeToo movement, after the accusation of sexual assault against Harvey Weinstein by over 70 women, the use of Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA) has been a growing concern in public discourse and government. An NDA is an…
Budget 2020: “In the Shadow of Brexit.”
In his opening remarks, Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe said that budget 2020 was ‘developed in the shadow of Brexit.’ The budget he went on to deliver had very few surprises. In fact, the contents of this year’s budget were…