Historic Win For Climate Activists in Irish Supreme Court
The Supreme Court quashed the government’s National Mitigation Plan 2017 on Friday, the 22nd of June on the grounds that it lacks specificity on tackling Climate Change and it does not comply with Ireland’s obligations to do so under the…
Patrick Nevin, UCD Serial Rapist: Case Facts, Sentencing and Analysis
Convicted serial rapist Patrick Nevin has had his sentence increased by two and a half years. Cathleen Noctor SC appealed Nevin’s original sentence on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions to the Court of Appeal on the grounds that…
No Disadvantage Policy ‘Advisory and Not Mandatory’, says UCD School of Law
Despite University College Dublin’s (UCD) and the Students’ Union’s (SU) claim that no students, particularly final year students, would be left disadvantaged by the implications of COVID-19, some students have exited college with below expected grades. One such student, who…
Holding Police Officers Accountable: An Examination of Qualified Immunity
The Black Lives Matter movement in the past two months has grasped the attention of people all over the world, placing sharp focus on systemic racism which remains so deeply ingrained in modern society and continues to oppress Black individuals. During this, modern functionality of certain laws has begun to raise questions over their legitimacy. One piece of highly contended US legislation is qualified immunity as legislators and politicians are calling for it to be abolished.
The 300 year-old rule barring solicitors from becoming senior counsel has been overturned
For the first time ever, solicitors are now eligible to become senior counsel, a title held by roughly 325 barristers at present. This landmark change to the 300 year-old rule is provided for within legislation passed 5 years ago, which has recently been enacted.
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…