The Lawyer who Cross-Examined Hitler: A Profile of Hans Litten
Background In 1943, Dorothy Hamilton Stepler wrote: “Ten years ago there was still time to have kept the German state legal and constitutional. Ten years ago German law, though becoming weaker and weaker, was still an objective guardian of the citizens …
Sean Beatty BL | January 27, 2022
The Bar, Fake Cases, and a Karate Chop
The Naming of the Bar When we speak of “the Bar” it is understood as the entire body of practising barristers. But where did the term come from? It turns out it derives from the physical barriers in old courtrooms. Just like today, English courts we …
Sean Beatty BL | January 19, 2022
Anonymity – The Cornerstone of Juvenile Justice
On the 12th February 1993, two-year-old James Bulger was kidnapped from a shopping centre and killed. In November of that year, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, both aged eleven, were convicted of his murder and became the youngest children ever to be …
Neasa Peters | January 13, 2022
Government lawyers and the ethics of instructing experts
When the State is involved in litigation, do different ethical considerations apply than those concerning other litigants? In a recent paper by Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy and others, entitled ‘The Role and Responsibility of the State in Litigation’ (202 …
Mark Tottenham BL | January 7, 2022
Christmas Cancelled? Lessons Learned from the Christmas Ban of 1647
(This article was originally published in Decisis Law Ireland in December 2020.) This year is set to be a Christmas like no other. With COVID-19 still posing a risk to the health of the public, the financial strain of the last number of months continui …
Gemma McLoughlin-Burke BL | December 21, 2021
Historical Female Lawyers and the Absence of Portraits
“Firsts” In light of the 100-year anniversary of Frances Kyle and Averil Deverell being called to the Bar, I’d like to highlight what were, at least to me, some less well-known legal “firsts” achieved by women in Ireland. The first three solicitors wer …
Sean Beatty BL | December 17, 2021
Balancing the Scales: The Abolition of “Basis of Contract” Clauses
Introduction A recurring theme in insurance law is the power imbalance between the insurer and the insured. The Law Reform Commission in its ‘Consumer Insurance Contracts’ Report (LRC 113 – 2015) recognised that many rules in the area have not changed …
Lawrence Morris BL | December 15, 2021
Acts of Union “Shattered” by Northern Ireland Protocol
Irish practitioners might recall the Acts of Union 1800 (often mistakenly referred to as the Act of Union 1801) as being the key piece of legislation that led to Ireland joining the United Kingdom. Although the now Republic of Ireland withdrew from the …
Brendan Rooney BL | December 10, 2021
