News

Russia has been censured by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) for failing to provide legal recognition and protection for same-sex couples. In a Grand Chamber judgment handed down yesterday, the court held by a 14–3 majority that Russia had violated Article 8 of the European Conv

Protesters in Sri Lanka have embarrassed police after responding to the deployment of water cannons by putting shampoo in their hair. Photos shared widely on social media show grinning protesters taking the novel move when confronted with water cannons at an anti-government protest in the city of Ja

A new "digital toolkit" for communities, campaigners and researchers seeking environmental justice has been launched by Community Law & Mediation (CLM) and Environmental Justice Network Ireland (EJNI). The Manual of Environmental Justice was developed following a comprehensive needs assessment c

Corporate law firm Philip Lee LLP has promoted Tamara Mitchell to senior associate in the firm's media and entertainment practice. A graduate of Dublin City University and University College Dublin, Ms Mitchell worked in a large corporate law firm in Dublin prior to joining Philip Lee in 2019.

Legislation modernising Ireland's historic and archaeological heritage laws has been published by ministers. The Historic and Archaeological Heritage Bill 2023 provides for a single integrated licencing system and statutory codes of practice as well as conferring legal protections on new finds of ar

Stephanie Coughlan has been elected as president of the Galway Solicitors' Bar Association (GSBA) for 2023. Ms Coughlan, a senior associate at RDJ LLP, succeeds outgoing president John Martin, who remains on the new committee as vice-president.

Solicitor Niamh Hodnett is to be be appointed as Ireland's inaugural online safety commissioner. The Online Safety and Media Regulation (OSMR) Act 2022, which was signed into law last month, will replace the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) with a new Coimisiún na Meán.

The UK government has availed itself of section 35 of the Scotland Act to stop the Scottish Parliament's Gender Recognition Reform Bill from receiving Royal Assent. Scottish secretary Alister Jack said he would use section 35 following a review of the bill by UK government lawyers. UK ministers are

German riot police officers were humiliated by a "mud wizard" during efforts to evict climate campaigners in video footage which has gone viral on social media. The abandoned village of Lützerath in Germany's western state of North Rhine-Westphalia has become the site of massive protests agains

Gary Daly and Erin Allen have been elected as the inaugural co-chairs of the new Socialist Lawyers' Association of Ireland, which was founded in Dublin this week. The new group, open to solicitors, barristers, legal academics and law students, aims to operate as a network of radical lawyers to assis

Reddy Charlton partner Elaine McGrath has joined the founding board of social enterprise Common Knowledge (CK). Based in North Clare, Common Knowledge is a non-profit social enterprise working to empower people with the skills for a sustainable life.

Ivor Fitzpatrick and Company Solicitors has announced the appointment of two new partners with the promotion of Michael Commons and Graham Macken. Michael and Graham work on commercial litigation, debt recovery, insolvency and transactional matters in the frm. They work for a variety of clients incl

The Law Reform Commission has published a "plain English" version of its consultation paper on the liability of clubs, societies and other unincorporated associations. The plain English version is designed to generate participation by the general public in the consultation process and to encourage d

Irish Rule of Law International (IRLI) has appointed Anne-Marie Blaney as the NGO's new Northern Ireland programme lawyer. Admitted to practice by the Law Societies of England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland, Ms Blaney is active as an independent mediator, a lecturer in law, and a tutor and

TikTok has been fined €5 million by France's data protection watchdog over violations of EU cookie rules. Regulator CNIL said users of the tiktok.com website could not refuse cookies as easily as accepting them, and were not informed in a sufficiently precise manner of the purposes of different