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Northern Ireland councils are to be given new powers to prepare and publish planning application validation checklists. The Planning (General Development Procedure) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2024 (S.R. No.176) will amend The Planning (General Development Procedure) Order (Northern Ireland

Landmark reforms to the planning process have been approved by the Oireachtas and will be signed into law. The Planning and Development Bill 2023 introduces statutory timelines for all consenting processes and will see An Bord Pleanála reorganised into a new body called An Coimisiún Pl

Families who experience a stillbirth can now register their loss in a public record of stillbirths. The new opt-in register has been introduced this week following the enactment of the Civil Registration (Electronic Registration) Bill 2024.

A man has been sentenced to a year's imprisonment in Iran for having a pet cat. Niloufar Ghazaleh and Mohammad Ali Moghimi, a married couple living in the Middle Eastern country's Isfahan province, drew the ire of authorities after breaking mandatory hijab rules, IranWire reports.

The Law Society of England and Wales is to begin paying Council members for the first time in its history. Over 93 per cent of members at yesterday's AGM voted in favour of the proposal, which could cost the Society around £500,000 in back pay, the Law Society Gazette reports.

The European Law Institute's annual conference is currently under way in Dublin — the first time it has been held in the Irish capital. Over 400 delegates from across Europe are taking part in the event, which is being held across the King's Inns and the Law Society today and tomorrow.

"Significant progress" has been made in implementing the recommendations of a landmark review of the role of experts in the family courts, the Department of Justice has said. The review, published in June 2024, examined the commissioning, availability, content, and use of these reports, which may be

TikTok is facing a fresh lawsuit in the US over the video-sharing platform's alleged harm to children's mental health and well-being. A coalition of 13 states and Washington, D.C., co-led by California and New York, has filed separate enforcement actions against TitTok for alleged violations of stat

Judge Suzanne Kingston and Judge Colm Mac Eochaidh have been formally reappointed to the General Court of the European Union for a further six-year term. The two Irish judges will serve an additional term from 1 September 2025 until 31 August 2031.

New legislation is to address the rights of parents who undertake a donor-assisted human reproduction (DAHR) procedure abroad. The amending bill is being brought hot on the heels of the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024, which was approved by the Oireachtas in the summer.

Dublin firm O'Brien Lynam Solicitors (OBL) is to become part of Keoghs, the legal solutions arm of Davies. UK-based Keoghs was acquired in 2020 by Davies, the specialist professional services and technology business serving insurance, financial services and highly regulated markets, and provides cla

Ireland is to accede to the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), the government has announced. The Optional Protocol supplements the Convention — which Ireland signed in 2007 and ratified in 2018 — by establishing additio

Employment lawyer Mark McAllister has been appointed as chief executive of the Labour Relations Agency for Northern Ireland. Mr McAllister, the LRA's director of employment relations services since 2019, succeeds Don Leeson, who has retired as chief executive after four years.

A woman called police after her home was surrounded by around 100 raccoons demanding food — but officers said "the raccoons haven't committed any crimes". According to 9NEWS, the unnamed woman, who lives in Poulsbo, Washington, has been feeding raccoons in the neighbourhood for around 35 years

Dublin City Council has urged the government to enact legislation banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Councillors unanimously voted in favour of a Sinn Féin motion which highlighted the recent ruling by the International Court of Justice (IC