News

Unhappy customers are suing "Italy's No. 1 brand of pasta" after discovering its products are actually made in Iowa and New York. A federal US judge this week ruled that the class action lawsuit against Barilla, the world's largest pasta manufacturer, can go to trial.

A new pre-action protocol for defamation and other media and communication claims has come into effect in Northern Ireland. The protocol applies to all cases in the Court of Judicature and County Court involving claims in defamation, misuse of private information, breach of confidence, data protecti

Northern Ireland will become the first part of the UK and one of the first countries in the world to introduce miscarriage leave and pay under plans now out for consultation. The two-month consultation follows the recent introduction of the Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Act (Northern Ireland)

UK consumers are at risk of predatory practices by big tech firms because of delays in promised competition legislation, an influential Westminster committee has said. A new report by the business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS) committee notes that the government has not yet published the Di

A judge in the Circuit Court was incorrect in law in directing a jury to return a verdict of not guilty on a count of endangerment in circumstances where the garda investigation did not include an interview with the accused, the Supreme Court has ruled. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission

Finally, a politician you can trust: a cat has been appointed as the mayor of an Italian town and will stay in office for a year. Miao spent her first day as ‘mayor of the animals’ of Civita d’Antino, Abruzzo Region, southern Italy earlier this month.

Tesco has been warned by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) that it could sue the supermarket giant if its UK "checkout-free store" pilot is expanded to Ireland. The NGO wrote to Tesco in the wake of news reports about a man who was allegedly refused access to a store in London without dow

RDJ has announced the renewal of its long-standing partnership with Connacht Rugby. Rugby players Jack Carty, Alex Wootton and Diarmuid Kilgallen joined JP Gilmartin, partner-in-charge of RDJ's Galway office, to highlight the law firm's status as long-standing official legal advisor for the club.

The Law Society of England and Wales's new president has said criminal lawyers should refuse work for which they are not properly remunerated as they demand a 15 per cent increase in legal aid fees, in line with barristers. Lubna Shuja's appointment comes as solicitors have been offered a nine per c

Men should refrain from discussing sport and "opera" in the workplace to avoid excluding women and minorities, according to an English judge. Master of the Rolls, Sir Geoffrey Vos, said that conversations at work dominated by such discussions could prevent women and ethnic-minority people from takin

Spain has abolished the titles of the grandchildren of the fascist dictator General Francisco Franco as well as 30 others linked to him. The Democratic Memory Law, passed earlier this year, came into effect yesterday and removes the amnesty for the atrocities committed under Franco's 40-year rule, w

New regulations strengthening the legal duties of larger energy companies to help energy users save energy have been brought into effect. The European Union (Energy Efficiency Obligation Scheme) Regulations 2022 were signed today by Eamon Ryan, the minister for the environment, climate and communica

A new initiative to support law firms to hire displaced legal professionals has been launched at a conference in Dublin. The Displaced Legal Talent Initiative (DLTI), created by charity Talent Beyond Boundaries (TBB) in collaboration with DLA Piper and Dechert, was unveiled at the PILnet Global Foru

A barrister who claimed legal aid fees for an "obviously impossible" amount of work — in some cases for more than 24 hours' work per day — has been fined £50,000 and suspended from practice for two months. The Bar of Northern Ireland's disciplinary appeal committee has determined t

The new Cork southern region office of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has been officially opened. The WRC now has five regional offices in Carlow, Cork, Dublin, Ennis and Sligo, providing various means of dispute resolution, redress and effective enforcement fee-free.