News

A man who brought a religious discrimination claim against the Hilton Belfast hotel with support from the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland has agreed to a £10,000 settlement without admission of liability. Jonathan Kerr, who describes himself as a "practising Judaeo-Christian", to

Plans to extend entitlement to paid statutory sick leave from five days to 10 days have been abandoned by the government. The Sick Leave Act 2022 introduced a statutory right to paid sick leave for the first time and was meant to be phased in from 2023 to 2026.

Northern Ireland MPs have backed a call for the UK government to establish an independent public inquiry into the UK's involvement in the Gaza war. An open letter penned by Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader turned independent MP, has been signed by 30 other MPs and five Lords.

Police have seized seven tigers from a septuagenarian who claimed they were his "emotional support animals". Nevada man Karl Mitchell, 71, took the big cats out on walks and allowed members of the public to interact with them, videos he posted to social media show.

A prominent British businessman identified as the subject of allegations of sexual harassment and bullying by a member of the House of Lords, who used parliamentary privilege to circumvent a court injunction, did not suffer a violation of his privacy rights, the European Court of Human Rights has ru

The first major update to the National Planning Framework (NPF) has been agreed by government ministers and will soon be presented to the Oireachtas for approval. The draft revised NPF, which can now be accessed online, is the product of a revision process started in June 2023.

EU commissioner Michael McGrath was welcomed to University College Dublin this week to deliver a guest lecture on the European Commission’s role in upholding the rule of law.

Judge Geoffrey Shannon is to receive one of eight alumni awards to be presented by the University of Galway next month. Previously the government's special rapporteur on child protection from 2006 to 2019, he was appointed as a Circuit Court judge in 2023.

McCann FitzGerald has been recognised as Ireland's law firm of the year and Europe's best financial services regulatory practice at the 2025 IFLR Europe Awards in London. The prestigious awards  celebrate the legal industry’s most innovative work and honours the deals, teams, and firms th

The Corporate Enforcement Authority (CEA) has appointed Andrew Harbison as director of digital investigations and analytics. Mr Harbison is one of the most experienced practitioners in the fields of digital investigations and electronic discovery in Ireland.

Herbert Smith Freehills and US firm Kramer Levin are set to merge to create a new global law firm called Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer. The combination of the two firms has been approved by their respective partnerships and is expected to take place on 1 June 2025.

Global executions have reached their highest figure since 2015, with over 1,500 people executed across 15 countries in 2024, according to a new report. According to Amnesty International's Death Sentences and Executions 2024, 1,518 executions were recorded in 2024 — the highest number since 20

A public survey has been launched to help inform the development of new voluntary guidelines related to the payment of child maintenance. The development of guidelines to help inform parents on how to make private child maintenance arrangements was one of the recommendations of a Department of Justi

A Belgian royal with an allowance of nearly €400,000 per year has failed in a legal bid to be recognised as a self-employed worker entitled to social security. Prince Laurent, brother of the Belgian king, asked the Brussels Labour Court to recognise him as self-employed and his princely endowme

Alcohol labelling laws set to be introduced in Ireland in 2026 may need to be "examined again" in light of the global trade war, finance minister Paschal Donohoe has said. The labelling provisions in section 12 of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 are currently set to come into force from 22 May