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Last week marked 80 years since the death of Mary Mallon, who, after over 26 years of imprisonment, died in an isolation hospital on North Brother Island in New York. Mary’s incarceration was not the consequence of being convicted of any crime, but was instead the reaction to her being identi

Graham Ogilvy is disappointed by Mike Leigh’s newly released epic Peterloo. Peterloo, the brutal massacre inflicted on a Manchester crowd demanding political reform in 1819, was a milestone in the lengthy and, some would say, continuing, struggle to establish democracy in Britain and one of th

A woman celebrated the conclusion of her divorce by blowing up her wedding dress in an explosion felt 15 miles away. Texas woman Kimberly Santleben-Stiteler, 43, gathered her friends for a "divorce party" after the legal end of her marriage, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

A firm that developed a quarry on lands in County Laois on the basis of an exclusive licence with the landowner has been granted permanent injunctions restraining the owner from interfering with their business. The quarry firm and the landowner entered into the licensing agreement and planning permi

A professor of human rights law has warned that concerns over the impact of Brexit on human rights in Northern Ireland "will persist" after the publication of the draft Withdrawal Agreement. Professor Colin Harvey of Queen's University Belfast, who leads the BrexitLawNI project, gave his initial tho

Irish law will continue to feel the "gravitational pull" of British jurisprudence after Brexit, Ms Justice Mary Laffoy, president of the Law Reform Commission, has said. In a speech to the Law Reform Commission's annual conference yesterday, the retired Supreme Court judge said there were areas of l

Criminal law experts have called for "legal and social reform" following protests over a Cork rape trial in which the 17-year-old complainant's lacy underwear was referenced in the defence barrister's speech to the jury. Law lecturers Dr Susan Leahy of University of Limerick and Dr Catherine O'Sulli

The Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) has urged the Government to ensure that an upcoming bill aimed at ratifying an international treaty on torture and ill-treatment meets the minimum legislative requirements. Ireland signed the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel,

Patrick Walshe, partner in the employment and pensions group at Dublin firm Philip Lee, writes on the challenges posed to employers by social media. Like it or loathe it, social media is a key feature of modern life. With every day that passes, we live more of our lives on the internet.

Belfast firm Cleaver Fulton Rankin celebrated 125 years in business with a birthday celebration event at the Titanic Hotel Belfast.

Post-mortem examinations of infants in Northern Ireland will be conducted in England from 2019 onwards, a BBC investigation has revealed. The bodies of babies who require a post-mortem examination, either on the request of the parents or the instruction of a coroner, will have to be transported to L

Judges are working in poor conditions, England and Wales' Lord Chief Justice has said. Lord Burnett of Maldon said the poor condition of courts had contributed to “low levels of morale”, The Times reports.

A newly-released report, which reveals that the US considered using 'truth serum' in the CIA’s torture programme, raises fresh questions about British involvement in torture and rendition, according to human rights group Reprieve. The report, written by a CIA medical officer, was released on T

Police have seized a two-month-old lion cub after stopping a Lamborghini whose driver was snapping selfies with the animal. The 33-year-old man reportedly told officers that it was "just a cat", but he failed to persuade them and was arrested.

A woman who has rented a property in Dublin for over 13 years has been given an opportunity to reformulate her claim against the State and vulture fund Promontoria, which took charge over the property in September 2015. While accepting that Promontoria was not the woman’s landlord, Mr Justice