News

More than three-quarters of sexual crimes detected in 2018 involved a male suspect and a female victim, according to new statistics. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has for the first time published a breakdown by age and gender of both victims and suspected offenders of serious crimes reported t

Barrister Conall Patton, who was born in Derry and practices in England and Wales, has been appointed as Queen's Counsel. At 38 years old, Mr Patton of One Essex Court is the youngest person to be named a QC in the 2019 competition.

Armagh solicitor Hilary Singleton has been appointed as a non-executive member of the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS). Ms Singleton, who spent two decades as a solicitor specialising in employment law before stepping back from private practice, already holds two other public appoint

Lawyers have experienced an increase in queries from employees who have been asked to return to work despite no change in public health guidance in Northern Ireland. Law Centre NI said recent statements by Prime Minister Boris Johnson had led to confusion in Northern Ireland, where advice for worker

Wendy Hederman, partner at Mason Hayes & Curran, considers the status of "smart contracts" in Irish law. As technology develops, smart contracts are becoming technically feasible in areas such as IoT, share transfers, insurance and financial services transactions. But are “smart contracts&

The number of domestic abuse crimes recorded by police in Northern Ireland have reached a 15-year high. There were 18,640 domestic abuse crimes recorded by the PSNI between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020, an increase of 15 per cent on the previous year and the highest figure recorded since the start

Belfast solicitor Eibhlínn McAleer (née Lynch) has suddenly passed away, the Law Society of Northern Ireland has announced. Ms McAleer qualified as a solicitor in 2007 and had worked in private practice as well as as a personal assistant to Judge Corinne Philpott QC.

A podcast hosted by three law students at Trinity College Dublin has been named Ireland's best student podcast.

Every criminal case brought under the Coronavirus Act 2020 in England and Wales has been scrapped because they were incorrectly charged. Following a review of more than 200 cases brought under coronavirus laws, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said all 44 cases brought under the 2020 Act were inc

Legal mental health charity LawCare has released data on all COVID-19 related contacts it has received to date for Mental Health Awareness Week. Forty-eight legal professionals have contacted the charity with issues related to COVID-19 since 10 March, making up over a third (37 per cent) of all cont

An investigation has been launched into the removal of pews from a former church owned by a prominent ballet boss amid concerns that COVID-19 is providing cover for unauthorised work. The 192-year-old St Stephen's church building in Edinburgh, Scotland has been owned since 2017 by Peter Schaufuss, f

The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal of a man sentenced to life imprisonment for murder who was subsequently transferred to the Central Mental Hospital (CMH). The court was asked to consider whether a long-term prisoner who has been transferred to the CMH, on foot of a diagnosis of mental illn

Matheson will welcome dozens of newly-qualified solicitors and student interns this summer in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic, managing partner Michael Jackson has said. The firm has over 700 employees working from home and has been working hard to translate its in-person training and development pro

US-based non-profit Whistleblower Aid has expanded into Ireland in partnership with Dublin-based O’Sullivan Kenny Solicitors. The organisation, which provides free support to employees who want to report and publicise concerns about their workplace "safely, lawfully and responsibly", rose to p

Law students Kelvin Martins and Niall Mulvihill have been awarded the inaugural renewable energy bursary set up by Arthur Cox for students researching hydrogen and construction law. The bursary is being run this year for the first time in memory of the late Niamh Burke by Arthur Cox and her family.