Ireland: Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration

The Irish High Court has ruled that shareholders no longer have an automatic right to access a company's privileged legal advice, abolishing the shareholder rule that previously allowed such disclosure. This landmark decision aligns Irish law with recent developments in England, Wales, and Bermuda, fundamentally reshaping the relationship between corporate privilege and shareholder information rights.

The Irish High Court has expanded the scope of Norwich Pharmacal Orders beyond traditional litigation contexts, ruling that RTÉ must disclose unedited undercover footage from nursing homes to support a regulatory investigation. This landmark decision addresses critical questions about when courts can compel third parties to provide information, the boundaries of journalistic material disclosure, and how privacy rights balance against urgent public interest in regulatory enforcement.

The Irish High Court has signalled that incumbent tenderers who benefit financially from automatic contract suspensions may face scrutiny if they refuse to offer undertakings covering losses to winning bidders. In a €51.2 million parking enforcement framework case, the Court lifted the suspension after the losing incumbent declined to compensate the successful tenderer for costs of securing a time-sensitive resource underpinning its bid.