Events

Presenter: Seamus Wolfe

On Wednesday 27th June 2018 we held a Breakfast Briefing which was attended by 32 ACESA members.

Speaker Seamus Wolfe has served as the Attorney General since June 2017. The mission of his office is ‘to provide the highest standard of professional legal services to the Government, Departments and Offices, as economically and efficiently as possible and to support adherence to the rule of law.’

As a speaker he was open, engaging and practical. The presentation focussed on the need to remain agile, managing changes while working within our legislative framework. Seamus touched on difficulties in implementing regulation, when technology/ work environments/services and service models have evolved. He also highlighted emerging trends and identified how the law needs to evolve to keep apace of new developments.

The thrust of his presentation was on the need for Agencies to maintain open lines of communication on the relevance of existing legislation as services and service models evolve.  We need to ensure that the regulation of such services remains relevant and that citizens are afforded protection. The presentation suggested linking into the Advisory Counsel, when legislation is being reviewed. Finally we had an overview of the potential impact of BREXIT on Irish legislation.

A key message from this meeting was the importance of involving State Agencies in the drafting of legislation that they will be responsible for implementing.

The AG had good advice for those Agencies/bodies dealing with litigation regularly, including lay litigant issues. Of course, Agencies should avoid being enmeshed in litigation and, if litigation is the only option, then they should procure the best legal advice as early as possible in the process to narrow down the points of conflict. The session further reinforced the need for enhanced relationships with parent departments in respect of legislative development and review.