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Professor Deirdre Ahern

Professor in (Law)
HOUSE 39, COLLEGE
      
Profile Photo

Professor Deirdre Ahern

Professor in (Law)
HOUSE 39, COLLEGE

 dahern@tcd.ie

 3531896 3018


Professor Deirdre Ahern LLB (Hons) (Dub), MA (Jure Officii) (Dub), LLM (Commercial Law) (Cantab), PhD (Dub), FTCD, FRSA, Solicitor (Law Society of Ireland), Dip (E-Commerce Regulation) (Law Society of Ireland). Deirdre is Director of the Technologies, Law and Society Research Group at Trinity College Dublin. She is a Fellow of the Information Society Law Centre at the University of Milan, a member of Europol's Quantum Safe Financial Forum, and a member of the global Quantum Humanities Network hosted by Innsbruck Quantum Ethics Lab. Her research agenda engages with the societal and legal expectations of companies and their directors including the ethical and regulatory challenges presented by globalisation and new technologies including quantum technologies. She is an expert on corporate governance and global regulatory approaches to new technologies including AI. As an appointed member of Ireland's AI Advisory Council Deirdre is providing advice to the Government on AI issues. A member of Ireland's Company Law Review Group 2022-2026 and an appointed member of the European Commission's Informal Company Law and Corporate Governance Expert Group for 2020-2024, Deirdre works nationally and internationally on policy development and provides consultancy on policy and legal reform. She has published widely including in the Law Quarterly Review, the Modern Law Review, the Journal of Business Law, the European Company and Financial Law Review and the European Business and Organization Law Review. Her current research projects are (1) Determining The Future of Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI and Regulation: A Comparative Transnational Context and (2) Constructing Regulatory Approaches for New Technologies and The Changing Face of Directors' Duties in the EU: Making Companies Responsible for Sustainability and Human Rights across Global Supply Chains. Deirdre has a track record of publishing cutting-edge transformative work which is well cited in academic, policy, judicial and legal practice contexts. Professor Ahern was elected to Fellowship of Trinity College in 2012 on the basis of her contribution to scholarship. In 2022 Professor Ahern was appointed to membership of the Royal Irish Academy's Ethics, Politics, Law and Philosophy Committee. She sits on the editorial board of the Journal of Business Law and the Law and Financial Markets Review and is a contributing editor to Gore-Browne on Companies. Professor Ahern welcomes expressions of interest in PhD supervision and post-doctoral research from excellent applicants in the following areas: legal and ethical aspects of Quantum Technologies; regulating AI including Generative AI; regulatory sandboxes; the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. Access to publications: via Google Scholar and Researchgate.
  BOARDS OF DIRECTORS   Business/Corporate Law   Comparative Company Law   Corporate Governance   FinTech Regulation   GENDER QUOTAS ON BOARDS
Project Title
 Determining The Future of Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI and Regulation: A Comparative Transnational Context
From
8 July 2024
To
7 July 2025
Summary
Artificial Intelligence is transforming our society. Important cutting-edge questions need to be probed about rights, safeguards and regulatory approaches and their impact on industry and citizens. This award will provide seed funding for a new research stream on regulatory issues on Artificial Intelligence and Generative AI that are beginning to be debated around the globe.
Funding Agency
Trinity College Dublin
Programme
Reseach Boost Programme 2024
Project Title
 The Changing Face of Directors' Duties in the EU: Making Companies Responsible for Sustainability and Human Rights across Global Supply Chains
From
2022
To
Summary
The project arises against the backdrop of increasing interest in making companies and/or their officers liable for environmental, social and governance matters, not only in relation to the company, but also in relation to its worldwide operations and supply chain. The project focuses on study of the European Commission's Proposal for an EU Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence published in April 2022 (European Commission, Proposal for a Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence SEC (2022) 95 final). Significantly this will considerably expand the reach of corporate responsibility and directors' duties and liabilities. This EU Directive presents solutions to issues touched upon in jurisdictional tug-of-war cases concerning the potential liability for parent companies for environmental and human rights abuses of their subsidiaries. Furthermore it demands that companies integrate climate and human rights concerns into their strategy, moving away from traditional focus on profit maximisation. The project is aimed at providing a cutting-edge early stage assessment of the proposed Directive's likely impact across the EU single market. Research Objectives The objective is to build an understanding of the likely impact of the ground-breaking Directive on: (1) the development of legal duties, liabilities, and theory applicable to directors in EU Member States; and (2) an understanding how it may impact differentially on companies depending on Member State choices in implementing the Directive based on Member State law on directors' duties and also the discretion provided by the Directive around enforcement and remedies.
Funding Agency
Trinity Research in Social Science (TRiSS)
Programme
Academic Research Fellowship 2022/2023
Project Type
Academic research
Project Title
 Artificial Intelligence in the Era of the EU AI Act: A New Frontier
From
2024
To
2025
Summary
Funding Agency
School of Law, Trinity College Dublin
Project Title
 CSRxChange: Constructing Regulatory, Reporting and Accreditation Tools for Corpoate Social Responsibility
From
2015
To
Summary
The Non-Financial Reporting Directive 2014/95/EU breaks new regulatory ground in requiring Member States to legislate by 6 December 2016 in relation to mandatory sustainability reporting for large companies using a 'comply or explain' model. Previously corporate social responsibility ("CSR") had been viewed as essentially voluntary by the EU for a long time and globally regulation has proved largely elusive. Nonetheless many companies have embraced CSR and have sought voluntary certification to show their engagement with sustainability. Transparent sustainability reporting provides material which enables stakeholders to engage with companies in relation to the adoption of socially responsible business practices in areas such as conditions of employment, environmental impact and human rights. Against this background, this project considers engagement with corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Ireland and reporting and regulatory challenges and pitfalls. Relevant themes to be explored will include sustainability and diversity as sound business practice, the role of voluntary accreditation schemes and appropriate sustainability reporting frameworks. The project will also focus on likely regulatory outcomes of implementation of the Directive in relation to corporate sustainability disclosures will also be examined from the perspectives of both regulator and affected companies.
Funding Agency
Irish Research Council
Programme
New Foundations
Project Type
Knowledge Exchange
Project Title
 An Examination of the Shareholders' Right Directive
From
September 2009
To
February 2010
Summary
This project involved examining the legal and practical implications for Ireland of implementing the Shareholders' Rights Directive including issues such as proxy voting and the right of shareholders to ask questions.
Person Months
15

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Details Date
Member of Irelands' Artificial Intelligence Advisory Council 2024
Devising and co-delivering Principles of Fiduciary Corporate Law course for the Duke-Geneva Transnational Law Institute
Co-editor of the Irish Business Law Review 2015 -
Secretary of the Irish Association of Law Teachers
Director of the Irish Corporate Law Forum http://www.iclf.ie/ 2010 to date
President of the Irish Association of Law Teachers 2011-2012
Member of the Steering Committee of the Trinity Consortium on Ageing 2007 to date
Member of the Quality Committeee, TCD From 2009
Member of the Law Society Business Law Committee 2006 to 2009
Member of the Law Reform Commission's Working Group on Vulnerable Adults and the Law 2005 to 2006
Member of the Research Ethics Committee of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland's Faculty of Public Health Medicine 2006 to 2007
Language Skill Reading Skill Writing Skill Speaking
English Fluent Fluent Fluent
French Medium Medium Medium
Spanish Medium Basic Basic
Details Date From Date To
Appointed to Ireland's Company Law Review Group 2022
Appointed member of the European Commission's Informal Company Law and Corporate Governance Expert Group 2020 2024
Member of the League of European Research Universities' Legal Team on Artificial Intelligence 2020
Member of the Law Society of Ireland
Member of the Society of Legal Scholars 2006 to date
Member of the European Corporate Governance Institute
Member of the Steering Committee of the Daughters of Themis international network for women business scholars 2020
Deirdre Ahern, The New Anticipatory Governance Culture for Innovation: Regulatory Foresight, Regulatory Experimentation and Regulatory Learning, European Business Organization Law Review, 2025, phttps://doi.org/10.1007/s40804 , Notes: [Open access publication], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  URL
Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and AI: Are we Ready for Robots in the Boardroom? in, editor(s)Ernest Lim and Phillip Morgan , The Cambridge Handbook of Private Law and Artificial Intelligence, Cambridge, 2024, pp409-430 , [Deirdre Ahern], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED  URL
Deirdre Ahern, 'Op-Ed, 'Fanning Case Heralds a 'New Frontier of AI-related Libel Law'', The Irish Times, 25 January 2024, The Irish Times, 2024, -, Broadcast, PUBLISHED  URL
Deirdre Ahern, Eoin O'Dell, Mina Hosseini, Maria Fitzpatrick, Daryl Lim, Regulating in an Uncertain Future - AI and Beyond, Competition Law: Regulating Tech Platforms & Data, Trinity Long Room Hub, 18 April 2024, 2024, Boston College Law School, Invited Talk, PUBLISHED
Deirdre Ahern, Current Legal Issues Presented by Artificial Intelligence: The Fundamental Rights Interface, Current Legal Issues Presented by Artificial Intelligence: The Fundamental Rights Interface, Department of Law, University of Florence, 10 April 2024, 2024, Professor Elena Urso, Notes: [Discussed the EU Artificial Intelligence Act.], Invited Talk, PUBLISHED
Deirdre Ahern, The Future is Green: Reflections on the Impact of EU Obligations on Sustainability Reporting and Due Diligence on Companies, The Future is Green: Reflections on the Impact of EU Obligations in Sustainability Reporting and Due Diligence on Companies, University of Florence, 10 April 2024, 2024, University of Florence, Invited Talk, PUBLISHED
'The Role of Sectoral Regulators and other State Actors in Formulating Novel and Alternative Pro-Competition Mechanisms In Fintech' in, Konstantinos Stylianou, Marios Iacovides, and Bjorn Lundqvist , Fintech Competition: Law, Policy, and Market Organisation, United KIngdom, Hart-Bloomsbury, 2023, pp307-330 , [Deirdre Ahern], Notes: [Open Access Bloomsbury Collections https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/monograph?docid=b-9781509963379], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text
Corporate Law and Statutory Liability in, editor(s)Martin Petrin and Christian Witting , Research Handbook on Corporate Liability, United KIngdom, Edward Elgar, 2023, pp62 - 82, [Deirdre Ahern], Notes: [Research Handbooks in Private Law and Commercial Law Series], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text
The Sustainability Reporting Ripple: Direct and Indirect Implications of the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive for SME Actors in, editor(s)Alessio Bartolacelli , The Prism of Sustainability, Macerata, Italy, University of Macerata, 2023, pp1 - 21, [Deirdre Ahern], Book Chapter, IN_PRESS  TARA - Full Text
D. Ahern, I. Bratko, S. Das et al, The Speinshart Recommendations on Generative AI and the EU AI Act, Speinshart Reports, 2023, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  URL  URL
  

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Deirdre Ahern, Regulatory Sandboxes under the EU AI Act: Opportunities and Challenges, Milan Information Society Law Center Conference, University of Milan, 11-12 June, 2024, Information Society Law Center, University of Milan, Invited Talk, PUBLISHED
Deirdre Ahern, Sustainability Reporting: the New Directive and Its Impact on SMEs, The Prism of Sustainability: Multidisciplinary profiles; law, economics and ethics, University of Macerata, 30-31 March, 2023, Professor Alessio Bartolacelli, Invited Talk, PUBLISHED
Deirdre Ahern, Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence: A Proposal in Flux, Annual Company Law and Corporate Governance Conference, Trier, 9-10 March 2023, 2023, Oral Presentation, PUBLISHED
Deirdre Ahern, Enforcement and Liability Mechanisms for Environmental and Human Rights' Duties and Options for Member States , Sustainability in Corporate Law, Leuphana University, Germany, 18 November, 2022, Professors Alexander Schall and Axel Halfmeier, Invited Talk, PRESENTED
Deirdre Ahern, Upending Corporate Purpose in the EU: Board Responsibility for Sustainability and Human Rights across Global Supply Chains, New Capitalism? A Transatlantic Perspective, Harvard Law School, 3-5 October, 2022, Harvard & Complutense Law Schools, Invited Talk, PRESENTED
Deirdre Ahern, Groups of Companies in EU Company Laws: An Irish Perspective, SYMPOSIUM for the presentation of the book "Company Laws of the European Union" edited by Andrea Vicari and Alexander Schall (Beck, 2020), University of Milan, 29 April , 2022, Professor Andrea Vicari and Professor Alexander Schall, Invited Talk, PUBLISHED
Deirdre Ahern, "The Board and Sustainability Performance: The Changing Face of Directors' Duties in the EU: Is there an Expectations Gap?" , Corporate Sustainability - Supporting Green Policy in Corporate Strategy , The Radisson Blu Hotel, Dublin, 20 October , 2022, Public Affairs Ireland, Invited Talk, PRESENTED
Deirdre Ahern, Eoin O'Dell, Elspeth Payne, Frances Haugen The Facebook Whistleblower, 21 March 2022, In:Frances Haugen The Facebook Whistleblower, 2022, Trinity Long Room Hub, Meetings /Conferences Organised, PUBLISHED
Deirdre Ahern, Sustainability as Socially Responsible Business Practice: The Role of Company Law and Corporate Governance, ERA Annual Confernce on European Company Law and Corporate Governance 2022, Trier, 2022, Oral Presentation, PUBLISHED
Ahern, Deirdre, Closing Keynote: The Impact of Blockchain and DLT Technologies on Company Law, International Congress on Digitalization and DLT in Company Law, University of Zaragoza, Spain, 29-30 October 2021, 2021, Faculty of Law, University of Zaragoza, Invited Talk, ACCEPTED

  


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Award Date
Research Ally Award (Research Ireland) 2024
Award for Excellence in Supervision of Research Students, Trinity College Dublin 2024
Fellow, Trinity College Dublin 2012
Directors' Duties: Law and Practice shortlisted for Kevin Boyle Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship 2011
Visiting Scholar, Duke University 2013
Herbert Smith Visitng Fellow, Faculty of Law, Cambridge University 2016
Highly Commended, Provost's Teaching Awards 2016