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Biography

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 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.

Research Tags

BOARDS OF DIRECTORS Business/Corporate Law Comparative Company Law Corporate Governance FinTech Regulation GENDER QUOTAS ON BOARDS

Research Projects

Project Title

Determining The Future of Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI and Regulation: A Comparative Transnational Context

From

8 July 2024

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

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

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

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

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

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Representations

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

Languages

Language	Skill Reading	Skill Writing	Skill Speaking
English	Fluent	Fluent	Fluent
French	Medium	Medium	Medium
Spanish	Medium	Basic	Basic

Memberships

Membership of Professional Institutions, Associations, Societies

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

Publications and other Research Outputs

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

Deirdre Ahern, The New Anticipatory Governance Culture for Innovation: Regulatory Foresight, Regulatory Experimentation and Regulatory Learning, European Business Organization Law Review, 2024, Journal Article, IN_PRESS TARA - Full Text

'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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Awards and Honours

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

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin

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Professor Deirdre Ahern

Professor Deirdre Ahern

Professor in (Law)

HOUSE 39, COLLEGE

dahern@tcd.ie

3531896 3018

http://people.tcd.ie/law/deirdreahern

Biography

Research Tags

Research Projects

Representations

Languages

Memberships

Membership of Professional Institutions, Associations, Societies

Publications and other Research Outputs

Publications

Awards and Honours