News

Members of the House of Commons Justice Committee are “shocked and appalled” by the treatment of children at a privately run detention centre in Northamptonshire, they said in a report published today. The committee has called on the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to consider taking back

Spain is set to legalise assisted dying, becoming the fifth country in Europe and the sixth in the world to allow terminally ill people to end their life. Legislation providing for the regulation of assisted dying was approved by Spanish MPs this month with 202 in favour, 141 against and two abstent

A court has reprimanded lawyers for using the typeface Garamond to fit more words into page-limited filings. Lawyers in Washington, D.C. were technically within the rules in using Garamond, which is slightly smaller than similar typefaces such as Times New Roman.

The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal from a man convicted under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 for being in possession of drugs with a value of more than €13,000. The man had claimed that the drugs had a market value worth less than €13,000 because, when sold between dealers, the drug

Sir Declan Morgan's successor as Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland will be named by the second week of September. The Office of the Lord Chief Justice today launched a recruitment process to fill the vacancy which will arise when Sir Declan turns 70 this year.

The personal injury discount rate will be dramatically lowered from 2.5 per cent to -1.75 per cent, Justice Minister Naomi Long has announced. The rate will be changed from 31 May through secondary legislation owing to delays in steering the Damages (Return on Investment) Bill through Stormont.

Legislation providing for an additional three weeks of paid parents' leave and benefit has cleared the final stage in the Oireachtas. Once the Family Leave and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2021 is enacted, working parents will be entitled to an additional three weeks of paid leave for each parent,

Northern Ireland will not follow New Zealand in providing parental bereavement leave and pay for couples following a miscarriage. MPs in New Zealand this week approved legislation which will make the country one of only two in the world to provide paid leave in the event of miscarriages and stillbir

Midnight tonight marks the final deadline for submitting case notes to the Hibernian Law Journal for its Case Note Competition 2021. Case notes of 2,000 to 4,000 words are sought by the Journal on any recent seminal judgment of the Irish courts, the EU courts or the European Court of Human Rights.

Thousands of Asda shop floor workers, represented by law firm Leigh Day, have won a significant victory at the UK Supreme Court in their fight for equal pay. The Supreme Court unanimously held in a 26-page judgment that the claimants, who work in the retail business, can use the terms of conditions

Divorcing couples are set to receive a £500 tax-free voucher for mediation in a UK government bid to ease pressure on the courts following the Covid-19 pandemic. The scheme is intended to allow couples to agree on custody and maintenance arrangements, as well as divisions of assets, without th

An employer has been branded childish after paying a departing employee his final wages in pennies – and calling him a "weenie". Andreas Flaten, who lives in the US state of Georgia, told WGCL-TV that he received his final $915 in the form of 90,000 coins.

The Supreme Court has outlined the proper approach to appeals in cases where a party claims to have received incompetent legal representation. The court determined the appropriate procedural stages to an analysis by an appellate court in assessing substandard representation. Further, the court made

The president of the High Court has called for the appointment of 15 to 20 additional High Court judges in anticipation of a post-pandemic deluge of litigation. Ms Justice Mary Irvine told a webinar hosted by The Bar of Ireland that the current bench of 37 judges was not enough to handle the coming

Belfast firm Millar McCall Wylie has welcomed two new trainee solicitors, bringing its total to eight within the last two years.