E76 The Fifth Court

DSBA 'Podcast of the Year'

With thanks to Clio Legal Software

Hosts Mark Tottenham BL and Peter Leonard BL interrogate Senator (and former councillor) Barry Ward BL about the powers that local authorities have and the claimed powers of local councillors (especially in the light of claims made in election literature).He discusses all aspects of local authorities including the corruption of the 1990's, the number of elected councillors and whether that could/should be cut, what the office of the new elected Mayor of Limerick might mean, and why other EU countries appear to have a better system of local government than Ireland (which ranks close to the bottom of surveys).

Barry's 'cultural recommendation'? Fatherland, by Robert Harris, a 1992 novel of alternate history conceived as: "What might have happened if the Nazis won World War II?

Our hosts also look at a further three cases from the Decisis.ie casebook

• A tax compliance case where a tax payer wanted to cross examine his investigating revenue officer. The judge decided it was an attempt at trying to delay the case.
• A personal injuries case where a woman claimed she fell over tree roots that had broken through the pavement. She couldn't tell the court exactly where she fell nor did any of her three friends who her with her on the night of the fall choose to give evidence.
• A case involving the Charity Regulatory Authority and their powers of search (the CRA has assumed powers previously held under the AG's office). The Court decided that there was no obligation on the CRA to give advance warnings of investigations.

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