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A convicted murderer has failed in an appeal based on the use of bad character evidence in his trial. Darren Murphy was charged with the murder of Olivia Dunlea at her home in Passage West, Cork on 17 February 2013. He pleaded not guilty to murder, but guilty to manslaughter. The plea was not accept

The Courts Service of Ireland has issued updated statements regarding hearings in the High Court, Circuit Court and District Court, which is reproduced in full below. The High Court

The Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland has taken measures to reduce the number of people attending court from today. The latest update, issued yesterday evening, is reproduced in full below. The Lord Chief Justice met yesterday with representatives of the legal profession to discuss measures to

The UK government has come under sharp criticism after unilaterally announcing a new approach to legacy investigations which would "protect veterans from vexatious claims". Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis today set out the government's proposals following a six-month consultation in 2018, w

Writing for Irish Legal News, barrister Andrew McKeown explores the provisions of the Irish Government's emergency coronavirus bill. The Government has published a Bill “to make exceptional provision, in the public interest and having regard to the manifest and grave risk to human life and pub

Police and immigration officers across the UK will be given powers to detain and isolate people to protect public health under emergency measures designed to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. The Emergency Coronavirus Bill, to be introduced at Westminster on Thursday, will set out various measures wh

No new trials will commence in the Crown Court unless they are expected to last three days or less, the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Burnett of Maldon, has announced. He said: "We must make every effort to maintain a functioning court system in support of the administration of justice and rule of law."

Fiona Carroll of the Law Reform Commission explains the body's work to repeal obsolete pre-1922 legislation. When the State was founded, it inherited tens of thousands of pre-1922 legislation, both Acts and Statutory Instruments. Much of this law was obsolete but remained officially in force, and th

People with multiple convictions will no longer have to disclose all old and minor convictions to employers under changes to the criminal record checking scheme. The AccessNI scheme has been changed to ensure only relevant and appropriate criminal record information is disclosed on certificates, bri

Hashem Abedi, 22, the younger brother of suicide bomber Salman Abedi, has been found guilty of murdering 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena in 2017. Murder carries an automatic life sentence with offenders having to serve a minimum prison term before they can apply to the Paro

In collaboration with 19 firms from its international Preferred Firm Network, Burges Salmon has published an interactive report on the regulatory treatment of cryptoassets in jurisdictions throughout the UK and EU. The report, Cryptoassets: A UK and European perspective on the regulation of cryptoas

Hundreds of textbooks have been made freely available online by Cambridge University Press (CUP) until the end of May this year. In an effort to help students amid the coronavirus outbreak, the publisher has made more than 700 textbooks free to access.

A will hastily written on a McDonald's napkin has been formally accepted by a judge. Philip Langan, who recently passed away at the age of 80, wrote the will while sitting in a McDonald's restaurant because he thought he was having a heart attack, a court found.

The High Court has denied two interlocutory applications taken by Kilkenny County Council. Mr Justice Garrett Simons heard the proceedings as part of a judicial review taken by the Mount Juliet Estates Residents Group against Kilkenny County Council pursuant to the statutory procedure provided for u

The Courts Service of Ireland has announced measures to "scale back" the numbers attending court. The latest update, issued on Friday evening, is reproduced in full below. The Courts Service has managed a very successful introduction of measures to scale back the work of the courts, which began toda