Foreword

• Date: 01 January 2020
• Author: Mr Justice Michael Twomey

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Foreword

It is testament to the quality of legal writing and accomplished scholarship in

Ireland that this year’s Volume of the Journal is once again comprised of excellent

articles and case notes, securing the status of the Hibernian Law Journal as one

of the foremost legal journals in Ireland. ese academic pieces are of enormous

educational value, but perhaps even more importantly, they are hugely innovative

and engaging and display the sheer breadth and variety of the emerging areas of law

currently under consideration by lawyers, legal scholars and the courts.

In his article on AI created works and authorship under Irish copyright law,

Kevin Flood asks the important question, who owns work created by Articial

Intelligence? He explores the ever-evolving concept of AI and conceives of a

future where there is no human input required in an AI’s processing of tasks. He

provides a detailed examination of the rationales behind copyright law. Ultimately

however, he argues that collectivism is a ‘more realistic’ way to view creations in

the modern day. He considers the hurdles presented in the copyrighting of AI

created works, as laid down by legislation and case law. He argues that the current

legislative framework in Ireland does not match the potential growth of AI. While

the introduction of the Copyright and Other Intellectual Property Law Provisions

Act 2019 provides for certain claims to be heard in the District and Circuit Courts,

thereby reducing costs, there is no mention of Articial Intelligence in the Act. He

questions whether it is even appropriate to grant copyright to AI and argues that

the rate at which AI has the potential to produce work may pose challenges when it

comes to granting copyright. He concludes that changes are needed in the modern

system of copyright and proposes a ‘copyright-light’ system, where works created by

an AI are given short-term copyright.

In her article ‘Condentiality in Disarray: Should Doctors in Ireland Disclose

Genetic Information to Patients’ Relatives?’, Sarah Kelly examines the boundaries

of the doctor-patient relationship in the context of the emerging area of genetic

information. She embarks on a detailed consideration of the duty of condentiality

and the role that it has to play in maintaining a patient’s right to privacy. She

considers that there is no overarching law on genetic condentiality and that the

existing framework is far from satisfactory. She highlights a recent decision of

the English High Court, ABC v St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust, where it was

held that a legal duty could be imposed on healthcare professionals to carry out

a balancing exercise between the interests of the patient and the aected third

party and to act on the outcome of that exercise. She argues that it is likely that this

decision will have ‘profound implications for healthcare professionals in Ireland’.

However, she also argues that due to the narrow focus of the Court in ABC, the

decision will have ‘limited impact’ on disclosure of genetic information to third