News

A woman who was mocked because of her west Belfast accent has been awarded damages by an employment tribunal, Independent.ie reports. Caroline Curran said she was verbally abused and mocked because of her background and gender while working as an assistant manager at the Four Winds bar in Castlereag

The head of the free legal advice service, FLAC, is looking for greater powers to be given to courts dealing with homeowners in serious debt. The organisation also thinks legal aid should be available in proceedings involving repossession of a home.

The US has threatened the International Criminal Court (ICC) with sanctions if it prosecutes Americans over alleged abuse of detainees in Afghanistan. National security adviser John Bolton claimed that the court was "illegitimate" and that the US would do everything "to protect our citizens".

Match commander David Duckenfield has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter by gross negligence of 95 Liverpool fans at the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. The former chief superintendent, 74, appeared via videolink at Preston Crown Court yesterday.

Car maker Volkswagen has gone on trial in Germany in the first court case against the firm over the emissions scandal, the BBC reports. Investors seek €9.2 billion in damages, claiming the company should have revealed it was falsifying data sooner.

The UK Supreme Court is offering 12 free slots for graduate law schools and university law societies to hold the final round of their mooting competition before one of the court's justices. The moot finals will take place between February and May 2019 and priority will be given to graduate law

A court correspondent's new play makes its Irish debut at Smock Alley Theatre on Thursday, the Irish Independent reports. Liam Heylin’s Lex Talionis revolves around a group of rooks on a building that overlooks an Irish park and their response to a newcomer – a suspicious magpie and

Proposals to help complainants, whom the UK government refers to as "victims", have been launched today. The powers of the Victims' Commissioner are to be strengthened and a consultation will be launched on a new law to underpin the Victims' Code, Justice Secretary David Gauke has announced.

England and Wales' most senior judge has called for the judiciary to engage more with the media in order to ensure public support. The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Burnett of Maldon said that judges themselves sow confusion: “The judiciary invites misunderstanding or incomprehension if its stands

A gin appreciation society has been reprimanded for its adverts including one which read: "Shut up liver, you're fine! Gin?" The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld 10 complaints about Facebook ads from the Scottish Gin Society.

A 41-year-old man from Belfast who groomed a 14-year-old girl in 2012 has lost an appeal against his conviction. The man was found guilty of a total of nine counts of ‘sexual touching of a person under 16’, seven of which involved penetration, and was sentenced to three-and-a-half years'

Tom O'Malley BL has been appointed to chair a review of the investigation and prosecution of sexual offences in Ireland. The Government has published the terms of reference for the review announced months ago in the wake of a high-profile rape trial in Belfast.

Judges will decide today whether the "Hooded Men" case should be referred to the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) for a final ruling. In March, the ECtHR dismissed the Government's application to revise the Ireland v United Kingdom ruling, which found that the Hooded Men w

Tributes have been paid to Professor Marie Cassidy on her imminent retirement as state pathologist after more than fourteen years. Professor Cassidy was appointed deputy state pathologist in January 1998 and succeeded Dr John Harbison as state pathologist six years later.

The last legal challenge to implementing the outcome of the abortion referendum has been dismissed by the Supreme Court, The Irish Times reports. President Michael D. Higgins is now expected to sign the Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2018 into law early next week.