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Proposals to significantly expand the spent convictions regime in Northern Ireland for the first time since its introduction more than four decades ago have gone out for consultation. The consultation, to run until 5 March 2021, presents proposals to reform the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Northern

A leak from the Mother and Baby Homes Commission has undermined the confidence of victims and survivors in its work, lawyers have said. Belfast-based KRW LAW LLP, which represents a number of people and survivor groups who gave evidence to the Commission, issued a statement after its final report wa

The Irish Times has published a full obituary of Professor Nial Osborough, naming him as Ireland's greatest legal historian. The emeritus professor of jurisprudence and legal history at UCD Sutherland School of Law passed away late last year at the age of 81.

A female prisoner in Northern Ireland has tested positive for Covid-19 for the first time, the Northern Ireland Prison Service has said. The positive test at Hydebank Wood College comes around four months after the first positive test of a prisoner in Northern Ireland in Maghaberry last September.

A privacy rights group has succeeded in having part of a tribunal decision on the use of wide-ranging warrants by UK intelligence services quashed in its application for judicial review in an English court. Privacy International sought review of a 2016 decision by the Investigatory Powers

Historian Dr Dieter Reinisch looks back at some of the earliest legal challenges to internment, in light of last year's high-profile UK Supreme Court ruling in R v Adams. Last year, the UK Supreme Court ruled the detention of former Sinn Féin President and TD for Co Louth, Gerry Adams, u

Judges should challenge family lawyers who send emails outside acceptable hours, the president of the family courts in England and Wales has said. In an update on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the family courts, Sir Andrew McFarlane said court hearings and emails taking place "without any r

A court in South Korea has ordered Japan to compensate a group of wartime sex slaves. The Japanese government has reacted with anger to an order from a court in Seoul that it pay 100 million won (£67,000) to 12 'comfort women'.

Prisons should offer free cannabis to drug-dependent prisoners to determine whether it could stem overdose deaths and reduce violence, a police and crime commissioner has said. Arfon Jones, North Wales PCC, said if the authorities seriously wanted to reduce violence in prisons, “they should be

The publication of a report detailing government knowledge of 'unidentified aerial phenomena' (UAP) has been ordered. The director of national intelligence and the secretary of defense must provide an unclassified report on UAP, another term for unidentified flying objects, within six months, to the

An Italian pasta maker has apologised after naming a product in apparent tribute to Mussolini's military campaign in Ethiopia. La Molisana has promised to rename the "Abissine" pasta, named after fascist Italy's 1930s colonial war in what was then known as Abyssinia.

The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal against a rape conviction in which the defendant claimed that the trial judge had erred by allowing more than one “recent complaint” witness. Giving the judgment of the Court, Mr Justice John Edwards described the situation as “somewhat u

Employment lawyer Peter Murphy has joined Dublin-based McInnes Dunne Solicitors as a partner. Mr Murphy has specialised in the area of employment law since qualifying as a solicitor, representing and advising both employers and employees.

Corporate law firm BHSM LLP has announced the appointment of Ruth Crawley and JJ McLoughlin as solicitors in the firm. Ms Crawley has joined the firm's commercial real estate department while Mr McLoughlin has joined the litigation and dispute resolution team. Both trained and qualified in one of Ir

High Court judge Mr Justice Maguire has been appointed as a Lord Justice of Appeal in a round of judicial appointments announced this morning. Elsewhere, Mr Justice Huddleston has been appointed as president of the Historical Institutional Abuse Redress Board (HIA), taking over from Mr Justice Colto