News

Scotland's prosecution body, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), has been given additional in-year budget of £3.6 million to fund the recruitment of up to 140 permanent staff, including 60 lawyers. The funding boost has been agreed by the Scottish government

The Irish Prison Service (IPS) has announced plans to open a "prison-themed" café staffed by ex-prisoners, The Irish Times reports. The café is set to be opened in Dublin city centre as part of the Department of Justice's social enterprise policy.

The government of Ukraine has lodged a new application with the European Court of Human Rights against Russia. The case concerns the detention and prosecution of Ukrainian nationals on various criminal charges. There are now four Ukraine v Russia inter-state applications pending before the cour

Household products giant Procter & Gamble is facing an uphill battle to trademark popular textspeak acronyms including "OMG", "LOL" and "WTF". The multinational said it wants to use the phrases on household and personal care products targeted at younger consumers.

LK Shields has advised the Reihill family on their signing of an agreement to sell Top Oil to Irving Oil, a Canadian company. Top Oil is an Irish-owned family company with a 200-year trading history. It has a fuel retail network of 180 service stations and fuel terminal in Dublin and sells over 1 bi

Eversheds Sutherland advised H2 Equity Partners on the acquisition of Aquilant from Dublin-based UDG Healthcare for a potential consideration of up to €23 million. Aquilant is a distributor of specialist medical, pharmaceutical and scientific products and services, including outsourced sales, m

A Romanian man has been jailed after being convicted of gangmaster offences in Northern Ireland. Laurentiu Ciurar, 29, was sentenced to three months in prison when he appeared before Craigavon Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

Employment law solicitor Richard Grogan will address members of the Limerick Solicitors Bar Association on key employment law issues in October. Mr Grogan, who writes a regular feature for Irish Legal News, will speak on the topics of "Presenting and Defending Claims in the WRC and Labour Court" and

Amnesty International has called on the UK government to launch a public inquiry into clerical child sex abuse in Northern Ireland, ahead of a visit to Ireland by Pope Francis this weekend. The human rights group said that "only a public inquiry can deliver truth and accountability for victims".

Former First Minister Alex Salmond has launched judicial review proceedings in Scotland's highest civil court against the Scottish government over its handling of sexual misconduct claims made against him. Mr Salmond disclosed yesterday that he had begun proceedings in the Court of Session against L

Monsanto now faces 8,000 lawsuits over its weedkiller product, which is alleged to cause cancer. Werner Baumann, the chief executive of Bayer, which acquired Monsanto earlier this year, confirmed the rise in plaintiffs, up from 5,200.

A toy manufacturer has been fined for producing Peppa Pig kitchen sets for kids, in a landmark ruling for intellectual property rights in China. Jiale Toys Industrial, a company based in Shantou, had been authorised to make Peppa Pig products but a court has now ruled that the firm produced the toys

An American lawyer has admitted his role in uploading porn to file-sharing websites in order to sue people who downloaded it in a $3 million scam. Minnesota lawyer Paul Hansmeier has pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and money laundering in exchange for a sentence of no more than 150 months.

Police have discovered a tunnel in a former KFC restaurant being used to smuggle illegal drugs. The operation was uncovered after a routine traffic stop resulted in the seizure of over 168 kilograms of drugs brought into Arizona from Mexico through the narrow tunnel.

Mason Hayes & Curran has announced the promotion of Karol Fox from senior associate to partner in the firm's banking team.Mr Fox works with international and domestic clients on a range of banking transactions including leveraged finance, acquisition finance, trade finance, commercial real estat