Foreword

• Author: The Hon. Mr Justice Michael Quinn
• Pages: pp xi - xv
• Published date: 12 July 2022
• Date: 12 July 2022

xi

Foreword

e contributions to this year’s volume of the Hibernian Law Journal demonstrate

once again the highest standards of legal writing which we have come to expect

from this leading journal. ese articles address wide ranging and rapidly evolving

areas of law which pose challenging questions for today’s scholars, practitioners, the

bench, and of course for policy makers.

Connor Hogg addresses the adoption of autonomous vehicles (AVs) and their

treatment by existing Australian and Irish product liability legal frameworks. In his

analysis he adopts a comparative socio-legal research methodology which usefully

contextualizes this radical innovation within broader society and the historical

development of product liability law. As he notes in his article the Greek myths

of Automatons show that for much of recorded history, we have had a fascination

with autonomous tools. As AVs may soon become a real product available on the

market, he asks if our current product liability laws both adequately facilitate

such innovations and protect the consumer. He acknowledges that while existing

product liability law in both jurisdictions, the Irish Liability for Defective Products

Act 1991 and the Australian Competition and Consumer Act 2010, are equipped

to consider defects in relation to hardware on and in AVs, new and dierent issues

arise in determining defectiveness in the AVs’ programming and algorithms with

the use of the consumer expectations test. He argues that this becomes more

challenging when one considers that consumers expect these vehicles to be free

from human error and thus infallible. He observes that the complex nature of the

product makes it challenging to adequately warn consumers of the potential risks.

Hogg notes that there is a ne line to balance when regulating so as not to restrict

the development of technology and legal uncertainty which may present too great

a liability for manufacturers. He concludes that existing frameworks have not been

draed to consider such radically innovative products and are not appropriately

equipped to determine liability. He proposes several routes for reform based on

laws governing the use of technology in other spheres such as surgical robotics and

the experiences of other jurisdictions to facilitate the growth of this industry.

In his article ‘Rethinking Irish Competition Law and Policy for the Sustainability

Era’ Eoin Jackson examines the Irish business regulatory framework and European

competition law in the context of the Climate Action Plan to achieve net zero

emissions by 2050 and broader initiatives such as the European Green Deal. He

analyses in depth the challenges posed to stakeholders hoping to achieve net

zero emissions by both the institutions and the frameworks themselves. One

of the primary issues arising is the use of State aid to nance green commercial

initiatives in the context of competition law. e lack of clarity regarding the

inclusion of environmental factors in determining the exemptions to Article 107