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The Bar of Ireland has called for the urgent restoration of fees paid to criminal barristers as new figures show that two-thirds abandon a career in criminal law after just six years. Under FEMPI legislation in the aftermath of the financial crisis, professional fees paid to barristers practising cr

Belfast and Newtownards firm Worthingtons Solicitors has announced the promotion of three new partners and one new associate partner. Toni Fitzgerald Gunn, Jonathan Duncan and Naomi Devlin have been promoted to partner while Katie Buchanan has been promoted to associate partner, effective from 1 Jun

A statutory sick pay scheme is set to be phased in over a four-year period beginning in 2022. Ministers yesterday approved the drafting of the general scheme of the Sick Leave Bill 2021, which will initially provide for three days of paid sick leave per year in 2022, rising to five days in 2023 and

Mr Justice Michael White has been appointed to take over the commission of investigation into the handling of child sexual abuse allegations in Waterford in the 1980s. He will replace Mr Justice Barry Hickson, who was appointed as the sole member of the commission in 2018, who is stepping down at th

Personal injury and road traffic accident specialist firm JMK Solicitors has backed a campaign for the introduction of a four-day week across the island of Ireland.

The Bar of Northern Ireland has launched a new service which provides e-bundles for court and is accessible to solicitors when instructing members of the Bar Library. Solicitors can now get easy and portable access to the new e-bundle service which is available across both desktop browsers and mobil

Students will not have to pay more than two months' rent upfront to commence a tenancy under new legislation announced yesterday. The Residential Tenancies (No. 2) Bill 2021 will introduce the restriction for all tenancies, including for students residing in student-specific accommodation, though st

The range of new laws introduced in the UK to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic have not been subject to adequate parliamentary scrutiny, with government guidance and ministerial statements often failing to set out the law clearly, misstating the law or laying claim to legal requirements that did not exi

Michael Gove broke the law by giving a contract to a communications agency run by long time associates of his and Dominic Cummings, the High Court in London has ruled. Lawyers for the Good Law Project accused Mr Cummings of wanting work to be given to a company run by his friends.

An elderly nun faces up to 40 years in prison after embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Catholic school to fuel her gambling habit. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, 79, has pleaded guilty to embezzling over $835,000 from St James Catholic School in Torrance, California, over the course o

The High Court has refused an application by Lidl Ireland GMBH for an injunction prohibiting the publication of two advertisements by the Irish Farmers' Association. Lidl claimed that the advertisements contained allegations that their own-brand milk was not Irish and that they had been misleading c

Legislative plans to introduce statutory sick pay in Ireland are reportedly being considered by ministers today. Tánaiste and Enterprise, Trade and Employment Ministers Leo Varadkar will seek approval for a new bill introducing the right to sick leave on a phased basis beginning from 2022.

Legislation allowing for certain Crown Court trials in Northern Ireland to be heard without a jury will be renewed for what ministers hope will be the last time, the government has said. The House of Lords yesterday approved an Order extending the non-jury provisions of the Justice and Security (Nor

People who may be eligible for criminal injuries compensation following the removal of the same household rule last year have been urged to apply in the next year. Justice Minister Naomi Long today marked the anniversary of the change which lifted the same household rule for victims of abuse and vio

A new single UK workers' rights watchdog is set to take responsibility for tackling modern slavery, enforcing the minimum wage and protecting agency workers. The new watchdog will incorporate HMRC National Minimum Wage Enforcement, the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority and the Employment Agency