Personal Data Security in the Cloud: The Benefits of ISO/IEC 27018 Compliance

For all those interested, or indeed concerned, about security and privacy standards in relation to cloud services and personal data, the recent publication of the International Standards Organisation (and International Electrotechnical Commission) standards for cloud service providers should come as a welcome development.

Work Related Mental Stress: UK and Irish Courts Approach

Introduction:

The Irish courts in general have had a reputation for overlooking mental stress when it comes to liability and the quantification of damages. This attitude was inherited from our neighbouring common law jurisdiction of the United Kingdom. According to Lord Wensleydale way back in 1861; “mental pain or anxiety the law cannot value, and does not pretend to redress, when the unlawful act complained of causes that alone.” This attitude towards mental health has slowly been changing in recent years with the enactment (in Ireland) of new legislation such as the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 which makes provisions to encapsulate and deal with the issue of mental stress at work, validating it as a serious claim.

UK triumphs in ECJ case against ECB

UK triumphs in ECJ case against ECB | Open Europe.

The Unsophisticated Voter: A Problem for Democracy or A Necessary Evil?

In any democracy, political participation has always been a key hallmark of its legitimacy as a form of governance. Participation historically has varied depending on the type of democracy in question; from direct participation (in ancient Athenian demokratia) to a simple vote once every few years. Both extremes have been criticised for eliciting either too much participation or very little participation at all. Essentially, if the scale is tipping too far one way or the other, we run the risk of either voter fatigue (and political instability); or, a lack of voter sophistication. If we were to reduce democracy to a mere decision making mechanism based on voting, and if voting is inherently flawed as a decision mechanism, then (as critics have long purported) we could very well conclude that democracy is inherently flawed as a political system.

EU Data Retention Following the Invalidation of Directive 2006/24/EC

In the joint cases of C-293/12 (Digital Rights Ireland) and C-593/12 (Seitlinger) (April 2014) the CJEU ruled that the Data Retention Directive 2006/24/EC was invalid. The directive effectively required that all citizens telecommunications data (IP address, emails, text messages, phone calls) be retained for a minimum of six months to a maximum of twenty four months should police agencies need to request it. The Directive had long been the subject of criticism by commentators within the EU who argued that it was too far reaching and arbitrary and therefore disproportionate in terms of its negative effect on fundamental rights in seeking to reach its objectives. Indeed, Peter Hustinx (European Data Protection Supervisor) referred to it as “the most privacy invasive instrument ever adopted by the EU in terms of scale and the number of people it affects.” Aside from affecting individuals, EU commentators argued that it has an adverse effect on certain sectors such as law and journalism where confidential communications legitimately require a degree of non-traceability.

Descriptive v. Substantive Representation of Women and Ethnic Groups by Parliament (J.P. Maguire)

Introduction:
The term ‘Representative Democracy’ is self explanatory at face value. However, when one investigates further and looks at the actual concept of representation and what it should entail in order to lend real legitimacy to a democratic regime, it becomes obvious rather quickly that all is not as straight forward as it first seemed. One of the biggest issues where democracy is concerned has always been the representation of minority groups. This is important in terms of legitimacy and preventing a ‘tyranny of the majority’. However, women constitute a group which cannot be considered a minority yet, for historical and cultural reasons, now find themselves relatively underrepresented in parliaments across the democratic world. The key question I will endeavour to answer here is: Does under-representation ‘in’ parliament somehow translate into under-representation ‘by’ parliament?

Legal Considerations for ‘Moving to the Cloud’ (J.P. Maguire: 2014)

Disclaimer: This article is for general interest only and is not intended to offer actual legal advice on this or any other issue.

While there is very little that can be truly considered ‘new’ in terms of actual legal issues, it is notable that the growth of the cloud computing industry has vastly increased the visibility of established legal issues while also increasing their complexity, especially where jurisdiction and data protection come into play. In general there has been somewhat of a division between the positions of the United States and Europe when it comes to data protection. The EU tends to favour data protection legislation (a preventative measure) while the US seems to prefer data breach legislation which is aimed at remedying a breach after it has occurred. Differences occur even within Europe. Much of this is attributable to the historical context. Countries in Eastern Europe as well as France and Spain tend to favour more stringent data protection laws. This level of concern is underpinned by certain political events and regimes in each case. For example: the Vichy collaborators in Nazi occupied France, the Franco regime in Spain and the KGB/Cold War in Eastern Europe. Essentially it is rooted in the old notion that you do not know the true value of data protection until your neighbour is taken away and shot.

A Tale of Two Referendums

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Aidan O’Neill QC

Reflecting on the French Revolution in the opening lines of A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens wrote:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…”

This passage may serve equally well as a description of the competing claims that were made by the opposing sides in this year’s Scottish independence referendum.

The pro-independence campaign claimed that voting for an independent Scotland would open the way to the best…

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LEGAL FUTURES Exclusive: in-house lawyers complain about firms failing to offer pricing options

LEGAL FUTURES Exclusive: in-house lawyers complain about firms failing to offer pricing options.

The Origins of Nationalism (J.P. Maguire: 2013)

Introduction:

The terms ‘nationalism’ and ‘nation’ seem, at first glance, to be so self explanatory that many people fail to comprehend their innate complexity. Everyone has a basic conception of what nationhood or nationalism entails yet; when pressed further, they are often found to lack a comprehensive theoretical or explanatory framework which is necessary to elaborate on its origin, its importance, and its endurance. In this essay I will examine the concept of nationalism in light of the primordial, historical, and instrumental theoretical approaches in order to determine whether ‘nationalism’ is something organic which preceded the modern state, or whether it is more of a relatively modern phenomenon which followed the formation of modern states from the seventeenth century onwards.