News

Ireland is set to ratify a UN protocol on child trafficking, images of child sexual abuse and child prostitution within weeks following a call by Children's Minister Dr Katherine Zappone. The minister said Ireland has now met all the necessary legal requirements to ratify the second optional protoco

Tourism NI has warned that that unlicensed landlords advertising their properties on Airbnb could face court action, after figures revealed a sharp rise in Northern Ireland properties listed on the service. Market research group AirDNA said there were 2,516 Airbnb listings in Northern Ireland in Dec

Minister Josepha Madigan, a qualified solicitor and family mediator, writes on the case for divorce reform in the State. The courtroom is a barbaric venue in which to pick over the carcass of a failed marriage, said Fiona Shackleton, Paul McCartney's divorce lawyer.

Plans to legislate for a minimum passing distance for motorists overtaking cyclist have been shelved on the advice of Attorney General Séamus Woulfe, The Irish Times reports. Transport Minister Shane Ross said the law officer had concerns about how a minimum passing distance could be enforced

The judiciary must become more diverse to address the perception that judges are “beings from another planet”, the president of the UK's highest court has said. Lady Hale said that there should be a more balanced female to male and white to non-white ratio in the UK Supreme Court in an i

Public servants in the State will not be required to retire until the age of 70 under new legislation now signed into law. The Public Service Superannuation (Age of Retirement) Bill was signed into law by President Michael D. Higgins just after Christmas, amid trade union fears that it could be dela

Mason Hayes & Curran and Social Innovation Fund Ireland (SIFI) have jointly launched their €450,000 community education project for a third year. The Engage & Educate Fund 2019, supported by the Department of Rural and Community Development, will distribute €150,000 to community pr

An Irish judge wrote to the Government in 1977 to plea for an intervention on behalf of Hitler's former deputy, Rudolf Hess, as a "Christmas good deed". Judge Franke Roe's bid to have the leading Nazi released was revealed in newly-released papers from the 1988 State Archive.

Victim support organisations will benefit from €1.7 million in public funding this year, the Government has announced. The funding is being provided "alongside a programme of wider reform which the Government continues to advance in supporting victims of crime", it said.

A man has admitted stealing a dozen budgies from a woman's home before offering to help her look for the pets - while a couple of them sat on his shoulder. Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard that Mohammed Rahman, 37, broke into accountant Anne Ferguson's flat with a hammer last April.

The son of a 93-year-old woman, who has been made a ward of court and is residing in a nursing home on the basis of medical advice, has had his application for her release into his care refused in the Supreme Court. The man has been engaged in a multiplicity of legal proceedings in relation to his m

KOD Lyons has announced the promotion of Matthew de Courcy and Colleen Gildernew to partners at the Dublin-based human rights and criminal defence firm.

The Courts Service of Ireland has promised "airport-style security" at the planned €40 million Hammond Lane family law complex following a security incident at Phoenix House yesterday. According to gardaí, a man pulled out a fake gun and hoax bomb during a family law hearing being heard

Barrister Peter Magill and solicitor Steven Keown have been sworn in as Northern Ireland's newest district judges, The Irish News reports. Mr Magill called to The Bar of Northern Ireland in 1978 and has worked in civil, family and criminal law as both a defence and prosecution lawyer.

Tully Rinckey Ireland has said a forthcoming legislative ban on zero hour contracts in Ireland, approved by the Oireachtas yesterday, will strengthen Irish employment law and close loopholes. The Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill has cleared all stages in both houses and will now be present