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Top law firms in Northern Ireland are supporting a new initiative aimed at encouraging professionals in the diaspora to make Belfast their home. The inaugural BelfastforLife expo in March has backing of businesses including Carson McDowell, Tughans, Allen & Overy, Herbert Smith Freehills and Bak

A man has asked a judge to let him resolve a dispute with his ex-wife and her lawyer through "trial by combat" with samurai swords. David Ostrom, 40, told the court that he could secure the Japanese swords within 12 weeks to allow for the trio to "resolve our disputes on the field of battle".

A girl who initially accepted a €21,000 damages assessment from the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) for injuries sustained in a road traffic accident has been granted an order rejecting this assessment and a declaration that the PIAB can authorise legal proceedings. Finding that the i

Ireland's judge at the European Court of Human Rights has been elected as one of five section presidents. Síofra O'Leary began her two-year term as head of the court's fifth section at the start of the year.

Corporate law firm MKB Law has announced a six-figure refurbishment of its Belfast offices ahead of plans to boost its headcount by 15 per cent over the next three years. The full-service law firm currently has a team of 40 staff focusing on corporate, property, financial, debt recovery, dispute res

A prominent human rights lawyer has suggested landlords could face prosecution for requesting sexual favours in lieu of rent. Solicitor Noeline Blackwell, the chief executive of Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, claimed the practice is an offence under the Sexual Offences Act 2017, but other legal experts

The House of Lords Constitution Committee has recommended that a clause to introduce significant new ministerial powers on how courts may depart from CJEU interpretations of retained EU law should be removed from the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill. The committee said this measure is inap

A round-up of deals involving Irish law firms. Submit your deals to newsdesk@irishlegal.com. Walkers has acted as Ireland and Cayman Islands counsel to Airborne Capital securitisations worth $637 million.

A complete redrafting of the UK's immigration rules would increase legal certainty and save almost £70 million over ten years, the Law Commission has said. The law reform body for England and Wales, which published its report on Simplifying the Immigration Rules today, noted that the Immigrati

The Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) will tomorrow launch a new research report examining the experiences of prisoners with disabilities, and the difficulties they face navigating prison services. The report, entitled Making Rights Real for People with Disabilities in Prison, presents the findings of

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has challenged candidates in the upcoming general election to commit to eight "human rights advances". The civil liberties group today launched its election manifesto, which sets out "immediate goals in the larger project to shape a society where everybod

Reform of gambling legislation in Northern Ireland is "long overdue", gambling law expert James Griffiths has said. Mr Griffiths, a senior associate at Pinsent Masons in Belfast, has welcomed a consultation launched by the Department for Communities (DfC) on the regulation of gambling.

The restrictions imposed by Hungary on the financing of civil organisations from abroad are not compatible with EU law as they infringe the principle of free movement of capital and a number of fundamental rights, in the opinion of Advocate General Campos Sánchez-Bordona. In 2017, Hungar

A woman was arrested after allegedly telling police she worked for the CIA, while wearing a hat that said "FBI". Police were called to a petrol station in South Bend in the US state of Indiana after a woman showed up and tried to access their CCTV footage.

Alliance Party leader Naomi Long has been elected as Northern Ireland's justice minister after the five main political parties signed up to a deal to restore devolution. Independent unionist MLA Claire Sugden, who held the justice brief from 2016 to 2017, had expressed her interest in resuming the r