News

Government officials and politicians in Ukraine have reportedly been encouraged to pre-book "VIP cells" in the event of their arrest. Remand centres in over a dozen cities are now offering gift certificates for "luxury cells", which are valid for six months from purchase, the BBC reports.

There is reason to be "cautiously optimistic" about a rise in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the second half of 2020, a senior corporate lawyer has said. Stephen Keogh, head of corporate and M&A at William Fry, said 2020 is "likely to represent one of the lowest, if not the lowes

Barristers' chambers Francis Taylor Building has announced the appointment of Professor Gordon Anthony of Queen's University Belfast as an academic tenant. Professor Anthony, an expert in public law and a qualified barrister in Northern Ireland, joins the chambers' academic panel, which aims to "fos

Belfast solicitor Ian Coulter, former head of one of Northern Ireland's largest commercial law firms, has denied fraud offences linked to the sale of NAMA's Northern Ireland property loan book in 2014. The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) yesterday announced that Mr Coulter, 49, and businessman Fran

An Garda Síochána's response to domestic abuse during the COVID-19 crisis is "the best it has ever been in Ireland", a new report suggests. The Policing Authority yesterday published its half-year assessment of policing performance, which highlights in particular the success of Operati

A full recording of yesterday afternoon's Irish Legal News webinar on data protection in the post-pandemic world is now available online.

Justice Minister Naomi Long has backed calls for the UK government to publish three controversial contracts struck with three companies for PPE at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Good Law Project, led by founder Jo Maugham QC, has issued three sets of judicial review proceedings in relation

The number of prisoners released on a temporary basis in Northern Ireland has declined by more than a third over five years, figures show. A total of 666 prisoners were released on a temporary basis on at least one occasion in 2015, but the number has declined in each consecutive year.

Argentina's former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is suing Google after a search for her name allegedly identified her as the country's "thief in chief". She alleges that Google displayed her position as "thief in chief of Argentina" on 17 May 2020 instead of vice-president of Argen

The long-awaited review of protections for vulnerable witnesses in the investigation and prosecution of sexual offences has backed proposals for anonymity to be extended to defendants in all sexual assault trials, as well as greater supports for complainants. The review, chaired by Tom O’Malle

The Bar Council of Ireland's response to the long-awaited review of protections for vulnerable witnesses in the investigation and prosecution of sexual offences is reproduced in full below. We welcome the publication this morning of the Report on the Review of Protections for Vulnerable Witness

Insurance companies should pay plaintiffs' legal costs in test cases concerning COVID-19 claims on business interruption insurance policies, the Central Bank of Ireland has said. The Central Bank has published its COVID-19 and business interruption insurance supervisory framework, which aims to seek

International law firm DAC Beachcroft, which recently celebrated 10 years in Dublin, saw its pre-tax profits grow by seven per cent to £56 million in the 2019/20 financial year. Profit per member grew three per cent to around £590,000, maintaining the "above £500k" benchmark for th

Irish tech expert Dr Johnny Ryan FRHistS has joined the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) as a senior fellow in its information rights programme. Dr Ryan joins ICCL from Brave, where he was chief policy and industry relations officer reporting to CEO Brendan Eich, the inventor of JavaScript.

More than 16,500 offenders were referred to the Probation Service from courts across the State last year. The latest annual report, published yesterday, details "another busy year" for the service and measures its performance against its strategic plan for 2018 to 2020.