Law Students Lament: A Slow Decline of Easily Memorised Rules of Thumb?
Depending on who you ask, a “rule of thumb” is either a useful way of remembering an otherwise wearisome idea, or a phrase which harks back to an origin we might prefer to forget. Some years ago, in the long-running “On Language” column in the New York …
Seán Beatty BL | August 18, 2021
You can’t handle the truth: The Perjury Act of 2021
On the 28th of July 2021, the Criminal Justice (Perjury and Related Offences) Act 2021 came into effect, creating a statutory offence of perjury. Prior to its enactment, perjury was a common law offence without a clear definition or sentencing paramete …
Gemma McLoughlin Burke | August 12, 2021
Gendered language and the law – Farewell sirs!
(First published in Decisis Law Ireland in October 2020) In their most recent effort to make the profession more inclusive, the Law Society have issued a statement informing members that the standard salutation “Dear Sirs” will be removed from future c …
Gemma McLoughlin Burke | July 11, 2021
Bakshi Mohit – A tale of perseverance to the Bar
Bakshi Mohit, who is from Mauritius, is a first year devil practicing in the area of crime. Although he studied the Diploma and the Barrister-at-law degree in the Inns, Bakshi’s path to the Bar has been anything but conventional. In fact, it was in 200 …
Gemma McLoughlin Burke | July 11, 2021
Barristers’ Court Dress
(Originally published in Law Ireland in May 2020) In 1995, quite a stir was made when the barristers’ wig, formerly considered obligatory, was made optional under section 49 of the Courts and Courts Officers Act of that year. Some traditional judges we …
Mark Tottenham BL | July 11, 2021
Vicarious trauma in the legal profession
(This piece was originally published in Law Ireland in January 2020) In December 2019, it was reported that a former ‘content moderator’ was suing Facebook Ireland, as well as a recruitment agency, for psychological injuries (“Man sues Facebook over ha …
Mark Tottenham BL | June 29, 2021
Big Brother Watch v UK – Data Protection for beginners
The Edward Snowden leaks, which began in 2013, exposed a wide-range of State surveillance and storage of data by governments across the world, including the US and the UK. One particular issue that was exposed was the so-called “bulk interception” of d …
Gemma McLoughlin Burke | June 24, 2021
A Healthy Practice
(This article was originally published in Decisis Law Ireland, in September 2020) Life as a barrister is not always conducive to good mental health. In the first place, much of the work concerns conflict, which is always stressful. Although most barris …
Mark Tottenham BL | June 22, 2021
