Government agrees on legislative measures to combat ticket touting
The Government has agreed to support, with some amendments, the Prohibition of Above-Cost Ticket Touting Bill (the proposed legislation) introduced by deputies Noel Rock and Stephen Donnelly (the Depu...
Criminal Justice (Corruption Offences) Act 2018 commences
The Criminal Justice (Corruption Offences) Act 2018 was commenced on 30 July 2018. The Act repeals and replaces the seven existing Prevention of Corruption Acts 1889 to 2010 into one single statute. ...
Government publishes High Level Design of Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS)
The High Level Design for the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) released by the Government on 24 July last brings Ireland into line with other countries by moving away from a fixed subsidy f...
Hospital has no lawful power to restrain patient against her wishes
The Court of Appeal has recently ruled that a hospital had no lawful power to restrain a patient in hospital against his or her wishes, notwithstanding that the restraint may have been in the patient’...
New Court rules permit media access to previously restricted records under Data Protection legislation
New court rules were introduced on 1 August 2018 in all courts which will allow the media access to certain court records. The rules give effect to Section 159 (7) of the newly enacted Data Protectio...
New regulation requires whistleblowers to prove their disclosure was motivated by a general public interest concern
The new European Union (Protection of Trade Secrets) Regulation 2018 (the Regulation) introduces a radical change in law for whistleblowers in Ireland. The Regulation came into operation on 9 June 20...
Latest Annual Report under Regulation of Lobbying Act published
The Standards in Public Office Commission (the Commission) has published its Annual Report 2017 under the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015 (the Act). The Act, most of which came into force in Septembe...
Court of Appeal suggests alternatives to extensive discovery requests
In a recent Court of Appeal decision, Mr Justice Hogan (Hogan J) highlighted the difficulties with the current rules and practice of discovery in litigation. He noted that a process, which was designe...
Government announces designation of the first Technological University in Ireland
An Taoiseach, the Minister for Education and Skills, the Minister for Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform and the Minister of State for Higher Education have announced that the application by DIT, ...
Supreme Court rules a jury may assess damages following an offer of amends in defamation proceedings
In a recent Supreme Court decision, Ms Justice Dunne held that a plaintiff is entitled to have damages assessed by a jury in defamation proceedings where an offer of amends has been made by a defendan...
Tackling the Housing Crisis at the heart of the Project Ireland 2040
Partner, Fidelma McManus, recently wrote an article for Council Review Magazine on Project Ireland 2040. Check out the article by picking up a copy of the magazine or reading the below. Tackling the ...
A constitutional right to adequate housing?
The United Nations (the UN) Special Rapporteur for adequate housing, Leilani Farha has recently called on Ireland to make the right to housing a constitutional right or to take legislative action to a...
Court finds plaintiff is unable to recover full costs of proceedings due to failure to accept settlement offers
A recent decision by the High Court has found that litigants may be unable to recover the full costs of proceedings if they have previously failed to accept settlement offers from the losing party. T...
ICOs part 2 – looking at the regulatory framework for Initial Coin Offerings
While there are no regulations specific to ICOs, existing legislation and regulatory framework may apply to an ICO. Each case is different and needs to be considered on its own facts and circumstances...
ICOs part 1 - Initial Coin Offerings Explained
According to the digital currency site CoinDesk, more than US$2billion was raised in initial coin offerings (ICO) in 2017 and the trend is expected to continue. This is the first of two articles look...