News

The Supreme Court, in two separate judgments related to the Freedom of Information Act 2014, has held that public bodies must justify their refusal to disclose confidential or commercially sensitive documents under the Act. The judgment of the court in both cases was delivered by Ms Justice Marie Ba

Insurance risk and commercial law specialist firm BLM has announced the appointment of John Guerin as head of its Belfast and Derry offices. Mr Guerin, a former president of the Law Society of Northern Ireland, joins the firm amid a wider leadership restructure both north and south of the border.

Ireland's first Chinese-born barrister, Fei Liang, will receive the prestigious Trinity Praeses Elit Award this week. Ms Liang made history earlier this month when she was called to The Bar of Ireland. She moved to Ireland in 2008 and qualified as an accountant in 2014 before studying for the bar.

Justice Minister Naomi Long has set out plans to avoid future legislative errors similar to the one which led to over a dozen convictions for certain sexual offences to be set aside. The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) last week announced that it would have to set aside the convictions of 15 indivi

The Law Society of Ireland has welcomed news that the government is to ratify the Lanzarote Convention on child sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. Earlier this month, Ireland became the only Council of Europe member state that had not ratified the Lanzarote Convention, which it signed in October

A former prosecution barrister has been sentenced to 100 hours' community service and given a two-year probation order for making and possessing indecent images of children and possession of extreme pornography. Jonathan Lowry, 60, who was once a leading prosecutor in Belfast and Dungannon Crown Cou

New employment supports set to be introduced by the UK government following the end of the furlough scheme are not sufficient to avoid mass redundancies and significant hardship, Law Centre NI has said. The new Job Support Scheme will run for six months from 1 November 2020, but will only support so

Ireland is struggling to make senior appointments to the Office of the State Pathologist due to a "worldwide shortage of forensic pathologists", the acting chief state pathologist has said. Writing in the foreword to her office's 2019 annual report, Dr Linda Mulligan said a second competition for th

The law schools at Trinity College Dublin and Maynooth University have been recognised for their commitment to advance gender equality for students and staff. Both schools have attained the Athena SWAN Bronze Award from Advance HE, which has never before been awarded to a law school in the State.

Attorney General Paul Gallagher did not set out his ownership of rental properties in writing before advising the government against an extension of Covid-19 restrictions on bans and rent increases, it has emerged. The government maintains that Mr Gallagher complied with his obligations under the Et

A grown woman brought her father to court to break all ties after he cheated in a family game of Ludo. The 24-year-old woman told Bhopal Family Court in the Madhya Pradesh state of India that her father's cheating had broken her trust.

Mason Hayes & Curran LLP has announced the appointment of Sonya Bruen as a partner in its health and prosecutions team. Ms Bruen, who joined the firm in 2011, has particular expertise in the area of fair procedures, judicial review, children's rights and accountability in child protection.

Tully Rinckey LLP has announced that Anna Butler has joined its Dublin office as an associate in the firm's real estate, immigration and litigation departments. Ms Butler previously worked at a leading immigration law firm and has experience across a number of immigration issues such as visa applica

The European Commission has decided to appeal a court ruling that US tech giant Apple did not receive illegal state aid from Ireland and does not have to pay €14 billion in back taxes. The Commission concluded in 2016 that Ireland broke EU state aid rules by granting undue tax benefits to Apple

Amended legislation needs to be made more easily available online, according to a report by the Law Reform Commission. The report on Accessibility of Legislation in the Digital Age, which was published today, has set out a number of recommendations as to how legislation can be made availab