Foreword

Date01 January 2019
AuthorMr Justice Michael Twomey
xii
Foreword
e articles in this year’s Volume of the Journal do not disappoint, with pieces that
make for both relevant and compelling reading, ensuring that the Journal maintains
its position as a publisher of top quality legal articles.
Lucy Rowan’s article addresses the emerging area of genetic medicine and the legal
issues surrounding genetic testing. In a clear and well-reasoned ve-part article, she
considers the right to know one’s genetic information and the equal right to genetic
ignorance. She explores the duty of condentiality and the scope of this duty in
light of the proliferation of genetic testing. e scope of the duty of condentiality
has been dealt with considerably by the courts in the USA, and she helpfully
introduces us to some pertinent cases in which the US courts found a positive duty
to disclose genetic information. She considers a case currently before the High
Court of England and Wales, ABC v St. George’s Healthcare NHS Trust, regarding
the duty to disclose genetic risk and argues that the eventual outcome of this case
will carry persuasive authority in Ireland. She engages in an analysis of the Irish
legal position, pointing out that it is less clear than that of the UK and the US. She
argues that there should be an expansion of doctors’ common law duties to include
a duty to disclose genetic risk where that genetic risk could lead to serious harm and
sets out some suggested guidelines in this regard. She concludes by suggesting that
core medico-legal principles need to be revisited in order to clarify Irish law on the
duty to disclose.
In the wake of the Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom, many legal issues
remain unclear, particularly in relation to the question of the Irish border. Michael
J. Walsh addresses these legal uncertainties in his article, ‘e Common Travel Area:
Past, Present and Future Aer Brexit’. He traces the history of the Common Travel
Area from the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922 to the present day, noting that
it was founded upon the mutual convenience of Ireland and the United Kingdom.
In particular, he notes that the Common Travel Area operates through informal
policy, rather than law, which understandably poses problems when attempting to
plan for the future. Following the result in the Brexit vote, the British government
introduced the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal)
Bill 2018 which, if enacted, will exempt Irish citizens from requiring leave to
enter the UK regardless of the country from which they enter. He acknowledges
the continuing uncertainty of Brexit and does not see how Ireland will be able
to prioritise the functioning of the Common Travel Area over its obligations as a
member state of the European Union.
In the course of a well-researched article, Lucy M. Davis examines another
emerging area of medical law, namely the right not to be resuscitated. She provides

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