News

Misuse of social media poses a new threat to the criminal justice system because of the influence of unchallenged commentary on already vulnerable juries, a leading barrister has warned.

The Law Society of Northern Ireland has welcomed Suzanne Rice as its new president for 2018/19. Ms Rice was junior vice president in 2017/18 under outgoing president Eileen Ewing, who will remain on the presidential team as senior vice president.

A Zimbabwean woman who came to Ireland and studied law has been elected as a learner representative to the board of AONTAS, the National Adult Learning Organisation. Joy-Tendai Kangere returned to learning to study a Bachelor of Civil Law degree at UCD Sutherland School of Law while balancing family

The Sports Law Bar Association of Ireland (SLBA) will hold its second sports law conference in Dublin next week, following the "fantastic" success of the all-island association's inaugural conference in March. SLBA secretary Robert McTernaghan BL told Irish Legal News that the event is "open to all

The constitutional conversation in Northern Ireland has to be "de-dramatised and normalised", Professor Colin Harvey of QUB School of Law has said. Professor Harvey opened his address to the fourth annual Belfast Homecoming Legal Symposium with commentary on the "political and legal turbulence" caus

The CEO of McCann FitzGerald's legal technology solutions business has won the Digital Transformation Award at the 2018 Women in Tech Awards. Gráinne Bryan was recognised for her role in leading the firm’s new legal technology solutions business which brings together the use of technolo

Irish citizens are set to benefit from increased access to the US labour market under a bill passed by the lower house of the US Congress. The "E-3 Bill", approved unanimously by the US House of Representatives, allows for Irish citizens to work in the US under the non-immigrant visa category of the

A two-month prison sentence for a woman who opened a tube of Pringles in a supermarket without purchasing it has come under fire from penal reform campaigners. The Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) told TheJournal.ie that the prison sentence makes "no social or economic sense".

A group of pro-choice legal academics have published new analysis highlighting "five priority issues" with the abortion bill currently before the Oireachtas. Professor Fiona de Londras, Máiréad Enright, Ruth Fletcher, Dr Sheelagh McGuinness and Dr Vicky Conway have warned that "many of

A man who had a heart attack after reading a false missile alert has taken legal action. James Sean Shields claimed the warning was a factor contributing to his medical emergency, while his girlfriend, Brenda Reichel, joined the suit on the basis she suffered emotional upset.

Parents who lost custody of three of their children pursuant to wardship and return orders made in England and enforced by orders of the High Court have successfully appealed against a later decision which held that their right to appeal was out of time. Stating that purported service of the notice

Prisoners may appear in the Irish courts less often under plans to expand use of video-link facilities to deliver greater value for money. A review of prisoner escort services, conducted as part of an ongoing process of expenditure evaluation, suggested that the need for prisoner court appearances c

A man has been convicted of breaching the anonymity of a rape complainant for the first time in the Northern Ireland courts. Sean McFarland, 36, was fined £300 after pleading guilty to breaching a lifetime ban on reporting the identity of the complainant in the rape trial of Ireland and Ulster

The Oberstown Children Detention Campus has been recognised with an award for its use of a new tool to identify, prevent and track health and safety incidents. The health and safety team at Oberstown were finalists in two categories at the Enterprise Risk Network Recognition Awards, hosted by the St

Employment law solicitor Richard Grogan of Richard Grogan & Associates writes on a recent judgment from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) with significant ramifications for Irish employment law. The case of Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften eV v Tetsuj