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The backlog of criminal trials which has built up during the COVID-19 crisis totals roughly half of the number of cases typically heard in a year, according to reports. Chief Justice Frank Clarke announced last week that criminal jury trials are set to resume in the Central Criminal Court this month

Disabled people will continue to see their rights being undermined at times of crisis unless law, practice, and policy underpinning the rights of people with disabilities is made more resilient, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has said. Acting chief commissioner Dr Frank Conaty, accom

An obituary of Lord Hutton, the former Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland and Lord of Appeal in Ordinary who passed away last week, has been published by The Times. The senior judge was born in Belfast in 1931 and began his career at The Bar of Northern Ireland in 1954. He became a QC in 1970 an

A recently discovered handwritten copy of revolutionary and barrister Wolfe Tone's famous 1798 speech from the dock is set to be auctioned for up to €70,000 (around £63,400). The written copy of the speech, delivered by Tone before he was sentenced to death for his role in the Rebellion o

The UK government has named the 10 sites which will host so-called "Nightingale courts" to alleviate the pressure on courts and tribunals resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The sites including Middlesbrough Town Hall, the Knights’ Chamber within the grounds of Peterborough Cathedral, and th

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the most senior liberal judge on the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), has said she will not retire despite undergoing chemotherapy for a recurrence of cancer. In a statement, the 87-year-old judge, who has previously been treated for cancer on a number of occasions,

A man sawed his neighbour's garage in half following a dispute over the boundary line between the two properties. Construction worker Gabriel Brawn used a reciprocating saw to destroy half of the structure after a land surveyor confirmed that the garage straddled the boundary line between the two ho

A full recording of yesterday afternoon's Irish Legal News webinar on access to justice under the new government is now available online.

The mooted introduction of a US-style system of salaried public defenders in Ireland would be a "complete disaster", lawyers have said. The new programme for government includes a commitment to "independently examine the option of a dedicated system of public defenders".

Ireland faces a looming disclosure crisis on par with jurisdictions like England and Wales due to the growing volume of digital evidence and limited resources, a leading criminal barrister has warned. Speaking yesterday at an Irish Legal News webinar on access to justice, Jane McGowan BL, outgoing c

Lawyers Éamonn Conlon and Conor Dignam SC have joined the board of directors of Community Law & Mediation (CLM). Mr Conlon is a solicitor, arbitrator and mediator, as well as a former partner and head of corporate responsibility at A&L Goodbody.

Derry solicitor Karen O'Leary has been appointed to the editorial board of Legal Women, a new quarterly magazine for women in the law. Ms O'Leary heads up the family law practice at Caldwell & Robinson Solicitors, the Derry-based firm which expanded into Dublin last year.

The rent freeze and eviction moratorium introduced in response to the COVID-19 crisis is set to be extended again, ministers have said. The Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act 2020 prohibits rent increases and evictions during the "emergency period", which is currently due to en

Some restrictions on the sale of alcohol in pubs and nightclubs are set to be relaxed under new proposed liquor licensing legislation. Communities Minister Carál Ní Chuilín yesterday announced plans for a bill introducing changes to late opening hours for pubs, Easter trading ar

Same-sex couples in Northern Ireland will be allowed to have religious wedding ceremonies under new regulations laid in Westminster yesterday. The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 will remove the prohibition on religious marriage of same-sex couples from 1 September