News for April, 2023

The April issue of Intellectual Property and IT Law Update is now live for subscribers to Intellectual Property and IT Law.

This month, the team at William Fry write that while Artificial Intelligence (‘AI’) systems have been in use for several years now, Large Language Models (‘LLMs’) capable of mimicking human cognitive abilities have made quite a splash since their launch at the end of 2022. The ripple effects of this have reached everyone from regulators, legislators, and company directors to the public at large. LLMs are a form of AI, which use vastly large data sets and deep learning techniques to recognise, summarise and translate text, to generate written content, which more closely resembles that which a human would produce than anything a computer has been capable of before. Recent moves of regulators and legislators across Europe in response to this technology show an acceptance that it is here to stay, and a determination to ensure that it functions in a way that is compatible with human rights and within the boundaries of the law so that the benefits of the technology can be secured.

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The April issue of Irish Civil Litigation Update is now live for subscribers to Irish Civil Litigation.

This month features the case of Hamwood & Ors v ESB & Ors where the court engaged in a comprehensive review of the law in relation to discovery in judicial review proceedings, in the context of an applicant bringing proceedings against a decision by ESB to engage in refurbishment works on transmissions lines upon the applicants’ lands.

Key words: [2023] IEHC 173 (Holland J., 18 April 2023) — Electricity Act 1927, s 53 — Judicial Review — Discovery in Judicial Review Proceedings

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Bloomsbury Professional’s The Taxation of Companies 2023, by Tom Maguire is now available on Bloomsbury Professional Online for subscribers of the Irish Tax Service.

This flagship title, also known as 'Feeney', provides the most comprehensive analysis and commentary available on the taxation of companies in Ireland. Written by Tom Maguire, this new edition is updated to the Finance Act 2022. An extremely practical book, it features detailed worked examples and extensive references to case law throughout the work. The guidance and advice outlines how to successfully apply the new tax reliefs, keeping your client's tax liabilities as low as possible.

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The April edition of Irish Medical Law Update is now live for subscribers of Irish Medical Law.

This month features the case of Catriona Crumlish v Health Service Executive. This case came before the High Court in relation to costs. The plaintiff, Catriona Crumlish had taken a personal injuries action against the HSE in relation to her breast cancer diagnosis. The case, which ran for 23 days, was ultimately dismissed and the question of costs came before the High Court. The plaintiff asked the court to make no order as to costs. The default order in any costs hearing is that costs follow the event, meaning simply that the winner takes it all; the losing party pays her own legal bills and those of the winning litigant. The factors, which were considered by the court in exercising its discretion to depart from the default position, are set out at s 169 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015.

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The April 2023 update to National Insurance Contributions is now live for subscribers

Company Law Handbook 2023 is now available for subscribers. 

Company Law Handbook 2023 addresses the key features and principles of modern company law from a practitioner's viewpoint in a practical, clear and user-friendly style.

Company Law Handbook 2023 is designed to keep you up to date with changes in the law as it affects the running of a business.

Rather than taking an encyclopaedic approach, Company Law Handbook 2023 takes a more practical approach by charting the company lifecycle from pre-incorporation, through incorporation and culminates with the winding up process, addressing, in detail, the essential requirements in establishing a company, including the steps, procedures and documents that are required during the existence of the corporation.

A significant feature of the handbook is the consideration of new topics including legal aspects of corporate social responsibilities, human rights, corporate bribery and corporate manslaughter and topics that have a direct bearing on the legal and practical aspects of company law.

The handbook also highlights significant cases and principal judgments that impact on UK company law. Checklists guide you through legislative provisions and their application to the day-to-day running of a business throughout its lifecycle, and key definitions at the end of each chapter make it accessible by simplifying the legal concepts involved. 

Pensions and Legal Policy: Lessons on the Shift from Public to Private is now available for subscribers to the Pensions Law online service. 

This title explores the historical position of pensions law in the UK and the recent influences which have led to the introduction of Auto-Enrolment and subsequent reforms. Alternative models such as the US and Australia are also considered as well as the function of law in bringing about political changes.

The question of saving for retirement is of national and international importance and many governments are wrestling with the issue of how to deal with the pension funding crisis. Consequently political policy has, in many cases, combined with behavioural science to inform new laws which have acted to shift the burden from the state into the private sector. Around the world, responsibility is being moved onto individuals and employers as the state retreats from provision of state support in retirement; this book offers a sophisticated analysis of the role of legal intervention to facilitate this shift.

The title explores the work of behavioural economics, its global influence on understanding financial decision-making and its application to legislation which seeks to influence consumer outcomes. Drawing on qualitative empirical research to explore the experience of implementation of Auto-Enrolment, this timely work considers the interaction with the work of behavioural science to highlight the social costs of the new regulatory regime.

Pensions: Law, Policy and Practice is now available for subscribers to the Pensions Law service. 

State pensions are the largest item in the UK social security budget, costing £93.8 billion in 2017/18. In 2018, 45.6 million people were members of UK occupational pension schemes (out of a total population of 66.4 million) and the total amount saved into workplace schemes was £90.4 billion. A consequence of the pensions sector’s large size has been that pensions law and social security law have become increasingly specialised areas of practice. Yet despite the social and economic importance of pensions and the fascinating issues that they generate, pensions law and policy have not been the subject of sustained academic attention. This title starts to fill this gap by initiating a dialogue between practitioners and scholars working in this area.

Ulster Bank Ireland DAC v McDonagh [2023] IEHC 135 (High Court (General), Sanfey J, 14 March 2023)

The High Court: (a) granted a well-charging order in respect of a number of properties owned by three brothers arising from a judgment mortgage exceeding €19 million, on the grounds that it had not been necessary to re-register the judgment mortgage every time a payment was made against the judgment debt, or for the mortgagee to provide valuation evidence concerning the security; (b) in respect of two of the properties, adjourns the application for an order for sale generally, and directed that the co-owner of each property be joined in the event of the proceedings being re-entered; and (c) in respect of a third property, granted an order for sale and other reliefs.

Three related actions by bank concerning properties ‒ actions against three brothers ‒ well-charging order ‒ order for sale - order for possession ‒ applications by spouses of defendants ‒ claims concerning principal private residences of defendants ‒ claim for €19 million ‒ judgment mortgage registered ‒ loan to purchase 80 acres of land ‒ proposal to develop a data centre ‒ compromise agreement ‒ alleged obstruction and frustration of agreement by defendants ‒ application for delivery of interrogatories ‒ s 31 of the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009 ‒ whether fresh application should be made to register a judgment mortgage every time a payment was made against the judgment debt ‒ whether valuation evidence required to be place before court by mortgagee.

The April issue of Scots Law Update is now available for subscribers of Scots Law.

Scots Law Update is a monthly update of Scots law written exclusively for subscribers of the Bloomsbury Professional Scottish Law Service. Each update contains commentary on relevant new cases, legislation and reports. The updates are set out with links to the related content in our online services.

The April edition features the case of Guidi v Promontoria (Chestnut) Ltd which concerned an appeal to the Inner House of the Court of Session against a sheriff’s decision.

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