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Judicial review proceedings have been brought against the UK government for failing to have a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter on stage at its daily coronavirus briefings. Sheffield lawyer Chris Fry sent a pre-action protocol letter to the government at the end of March on behalf of an 85-yea

The state of Georgia cannot sue a charity for republishing an annotated version of its official legal code, the Supreme Court of the United States has narrowly ruled. The annotated code, produced by legal publisher LexisNexis, was only available for a fee until Public.Resource.Org republished it onl

The Supreme Court has dismissed an application to appeal of a man sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of murder and robbery in 1996. Mr Justice Peter Charleton held that the application brought by Anthony Buck, who was convicted of the murder and robbery of a 22-year-old man in

Legislation to create a new domestic abuse offence for Northern Ireland is being debated at the second stage in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Addressing a small number of MLAs in the chamber earlier this afternoon, Justice Minister Naomi Long said she was pleased to bring the bill forward, "even th

A significant "spike" in complaints to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) put the body under strain in 2019, according to its annual report. The WRC's adjudication service received 8,309 complaint applications in 2019, encompassing 20,939 individual complaints, the report states.

The PSNI's budget has fallen by more than £200 million in real terms over the past decade, according to a new report. Publishing his findings, Northern Ireland's Comptroller and Auditor General, Kieran Donnelly, said the PSNI had focused on "short-term cost reductions" which means the force "h

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has written to the Garda Commissioner over the "wholly inappropriate" involvement of armed gardaí in the response to coronavirus. The group wrote to Garda Commissioner Drew Harris yesterday afternoon following reports from across the State about ar

A round-up of deals involving Irish law firms. Submit your deals to newsdesk@irishlegal.com. Arthur Cox Listing Services has acted as listing agent for Firmenich Productions Participations SAS on its inaugural €1.5 billion Eurobond.

Félim Ó Maolmhána examines, in response to an earlier Irish Legal News article, how many lawyers have served in the Oireachtas. I was struck by Mr Benjamin Bestgen’s piece, “The Ship of Fools” (8 April 2020) featured in this publication. Mr Bestgen makes some v

An emergency hardship fund has been established for barristers to support junior lawyers in financial distress as many do not qualify for the UK government's coronavirus support scheme. The Barristers’ Benevolent Association has created the fund and the four Inns of Court are making packages t

Poland's most senior judge and one of the strongest critics of the country's controversial justice reforms has firmly criticised the government as her term in office comes to a close. Malgorzata Gersdorf, who became the first woman to hold the position of first president of the Supreme Court on her

The death penalty can be handed down for the theft or destruction of manhole covers, Chinese judges have been told. A statement from the country's top legal and judicial bodies reminds judges that suspects can be charged with "endangering transportation" or "endangering public safety", which have a

The next government should requisition land for housing and overhaul the examinership process to help businesses survive the coronavirus crisis, the Master of the High Court, Edmund Honohan SC, has said. In an interview with the Irish Independent, the quasi-judicial office-holder set out a series of

A new facility allowing solicitors to top up their suspense accounts through card payments will be piloted from today, the Land Registry has announced. In a note to practitioners, Christine Farrell, the registrar of titles, said testing on the enhanced LandWeb Direct system has been completed.

A furniture business has secured a High Court injunction preventing its eviction after it was unable to pay its rent as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Design Features Ltd, represented by Dublin law firm Sherwin O'Riordan, argued that the threatened eviction was not permissible under the lease