The Bar of Ireland

This Practice Note outlines the procedures which legal practitioners must follow when seeking to obtain access to an individual’s medical records for the purposes of evidencing, or disproving, the suffering of an alleged injury by that individual in personal injuries litigation. This Practice Note identifies the available routes available to legal practitioners—under the Data Protection Act 2018 (Ireland), the EU General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (EU GDPR) and the Freedom of Information Act 2014 (Ireland)—when attempting to gain access to medical records, and each route’s respective requirements. Further, this Practice Note details the circumstances where access may be denied, offers practical guidance on the topic, and discusses case law to illustrate how the obligation on a plaintiff to disclose such information will vary depending on the context of the case.

This Practice Note considers ordinary appeals from the Circuit Court to the High Court by outlining the statutory right to appeal to the High Court, the general principles and considerations. It also addresses the role of the county registrar and the matter of appeals arising from their decisions. Finally, it examines the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court to provide for a case stated to the Court of Appeal. It explains the nature of the case stated procedure and provides an overview of the relevant considerations.

This Practice Note offers practical and procedural guidance on appeals of orders of the Master of the High Court to a judge of the High Court. It provides an overview of the role of the Master of the High Court. It covers the time limit for appeal, the exceptions to the time limit and exceptions to the right of appeal. It explains the procedure for appealing an order of the Master. It considers some examples of cases where the Master’s decisions were successfully appealed. It also considers whether an application can be made for judicial review of an order of the Master.

This is a Precedent arbitration clause for future disputes, which can be used for international and domestic arbitrations and includes optional language for ad hoc or institutional arbitration. If ad hoc arbitration is chosen, the clause includes language for both a sole arbitrator tribunal and a three arbitrator panel and alternative methods for the selection of arbitrators. The clause also includes optional language, either in the clause or in drafting notes, regarding the seat of the arbitration, the law of the arbitration agreement, the language of the proceedings, and the finality of the award. This Precedent may be referred to as an arbitration agreement for inclusion in a contract or agreement. A Precedent arbitration clause may also be referred to as a template or model clause.

This Practice Note considers the assignment of rights under contract, identifies what can be transferred when assigning rights under a contract and considers the steps necessary to affect a valid assignment of a contract both at law and in equity.

This Practice Note provides a summary of the enforcement powers of the Central Bank of Ireland, which complement the role of on-going supervision and regulatory rules as part of its regulatory architecture. This includes powers under the following pieces of legislation, the Central Bank Act 1942 (Ireland), the Central Bank Reform Act 2010 (Ireland), the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013 (Ireland) and the Central Bank (Individual Accountability Framework) Act 2023 (Ireland).

This Practice Note considers appeals from the District Court to the Circuit Court in civil proceedings. It provides an overview of the role of the Circuit Court in civil appeals, describes how to start an appeal in the Circuit Court and covers the time limit for appeals and any exceptions. This Practice Note also considers when a stay of the District Court order will be granted pending an appeal.

This Practice Note considers civil appeals to the Supreme Court. It begins by considering the establishment of the Supreme Court and its appellate jurisdiction. It then goes on to consider appeals from the Court of Appeal and the High Court and the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to hear appeals from those courts including leapfrog appeals. It examines relevant considerations of the court in leave to appeal applications and the interaction between High Court appeals to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. Finally, it sets out the procedure for leave to appeal applications and the timeline for the hearing of appeals in the Supreme Court.

This Practice Note examines the practice and procedure in the lead up to a substantive hearing in the High Court, Circuit Court and District Court. It considers the rules for entering an appearance and the procedure for default of appearance. It considers the requirements for pleadings, defending or admitting a claim, default of defence and joining third parties. It provides an overview of the rules and procedures in relation to discovery, interrogatories, notice to produce and inspection. Finally, it provides an overview of the notice of trial procedure and setting an action down for hearing.

This Practice Note provides an overview of voluntary strike-off, involuntary strike-off and dissolution of a company and identifies the statutory provisions of the Companies Act 2014 (Ireland) which underpin each of these processes.

This Practice Notice considers concurrent wrongdoers as governed by the Civil Liability Act 1961 (Ireland) (CLA 1961 (IRL)). It describes what a concurrent wrongdoer is and defences that can relied on by parties pursuant to CLA 1961 (IRL). The procedure for claiming a contribution as a concurrent wrongdoer against another concurrent wrongdoer and for joining a third party to proceedings in the High Court, Circuit Court and District Court is examined. Applications to set aside a third-party notice are discussed. It also explains when a party can seek a contribution from a concurrent wrongdoer in separate proceedings and discussed the treatment of concurrent wrongdoers and debt claims.

This Practice Note considers the current legal framework for consumer contracts and consumer rights in Ireland. It carries out an analysis of sale, service, and digital contracts, highlighting important provisions pertaining to consumer contracts within the Consumer Rights Act 2022 (Ireland) (CRA 2022 (IRL)).

This Practice Note provides an overview of the distinction between express and implied terms and outlines the manner in which terms may be implied into a contract. In addition, this Practice Note provides guidance on the common law and statutory rules affecting implied terms in a consumer law, employment law, and landlord and tenant law context.

This Practice Note sets out a brief overview of contract law in Ireland. It discusses the general principles and key Irish cases in the areas of contract formation and interpretation, exclusion and limitation of liability, defences to breach of contract, breach and remedies.

This Practice Note provides an overview of breach of contract and the remedies available following a breach. It considers what may amount to a breach of contract, how the courts approach that assessment with reference to contractual interpretation of the parties’ obligations, the remedies for breach and the use of clauses to limit resulting liability and/or compensation. It also considers whether a claim for breach of contract be brought and how to claim late payment interest.

This Practice Note provides an overview of the essential components required to create a valid and enforceable contract: offer, acceptance, and consideration. This Practice Note defines each of these concepts in turn, identifies the conditions which must be satisfied for them to be deemed valid, and discusses their operation in various legal contexts. Subsequently, this Practice Note identifies which contractual relationships give rise to an assumption of an intention to create legal relations, and further, which categories of persons lack the requisite capacity to enter binding legal relations. Finally, this Practice Note considers the general principles of contract interpretation which apply in Ireland.

This Checklist offers guidance on how to determine whether an Irish court has jurisdiction to deal with the specific civil dispute. In doing so, it considers provisions under Brussels I (recast), the Lugano Convention and the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements.

This Practice Note discusses the process of discovery before the High Court in civil litigation in Ireland. It examines the nature of discovery and criteria for obtaining discovery.

This Practice Note provides guidance on the common law and statutory controls affecting exclusion and limitation of liability clauses (also known as limitation of liability clauses, limitation clauses, exclusion of liability clauses, exclusion clauses and exemption clauses) including the provisions of the Sale of Goods Act 1893 (Ireland) and the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act 1980 (Ireland), Consumer Rights Act 2022 (Ireland) and SI No 27/1995 European Communities (Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts) Regulations 1995.

These precedent execution clauses are for use by a limited partnership entering into a simple contract (rather than a deed). Two alternative execution clauses are given: one for a contract signed by an individual general partner and the other for a contract signed on behalf of a corporate general partner.