News

Kapil Summan, editor of our sister publication Scottish Legal News, reviews Trials of the State: Law and the Decline of Politics by Jonathan Sumption. Though apt to be caricatured as some sort of anti-judge in the post-prorogation world, iconoclast jurist Jonathan Sumption—in this, h

One of the first-ever remote hearings of the Supreme Court of the United States was interrupted by the sound of a toilet flushing. The mystery flush was clearly audible during live-streamed oral hearings in Barr v American Association of Political Consultants, Inc yesterday afternoon.

The Bar of Ireland has pushed back against reports that it is considering proposals to expand the use of non-jury trials during the COVID-19 crisis. A report in The Irish Times, citing an anonymous barrister said to be involved in the process, said the Bar Council is currently "researching the idea"

Criminal defence solicitor Cahir O'Higgins, one of the highest-earning legal aid lawyers in the State, has denied five charges of theft and perverting the court of justice. The charges relate to the alleged theft of €400 from a defendant in July 2016 and the subsequent producing of documents to

The Irish legal landscape is in a "huge period of flux" due to the number of international law firms expanding into Dublin for the first time, the head of Maples and Calder has said. Speaking to Business Plus, managing partner Nicholas Butcher said the legal market was "highly competitive" while the

Mortgage approvals fell by nearly ten per cent over the year to March 2020, according to new figures. However, the impact of COVID-19 on the mortgage market won't be clear until the figures for April are released, the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) warned.

Hayes solicitors partner Jeremy Erwin and associate solicitor Cian Clinch highlight a recent High Court decision which provides welcome guidance on applications for summary judgment. On 29 November 2019, the Supreme Court, in Bank of Ireland Mortgage Bank v O'Malley [2019] IESC, overturned a decisio

Eversheds Sutherland partner Matthew Howse and principal associate Damian McElholm consider the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. As each day passes, the economic challenges presented by COVID-19 are further illuminated. With the jobs retention scheme portal now open for applications,

Human rights advocate Mary Lawlor has taken up her post as UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders. Ms Lawlor has decades of experience in human rights, having helped to grow Irish-based NGOs as a previous director of Amnesty International in Ireland and a founder of Front L

A new crime novel from Northern Ireland lawyer-turned-author Steve Cavanagh is set to be released later this year. Fifty-Fifty, to be released in September, follows the case of two sisters suspected of murder who accuse each other of the crime.

The establishment of an independent Historical Investigations Unit (HIU) outside of the PSNI risks turning Northern Ireland into a "police state", two senior lawyers have claimed. Writing in the News Letter, Belfast solicitor Neil Faris and Peter Smith CBE QC, who served on the Patten Commission, sa

A cache of illegal weapons including crossbows, tasers and guns designed to fire teargas canisters have been seized from self-styled "zombie hunters". The illegal weapons were recovered by Swedish border guards from a German couple who arrived in a car marked "Zombie Response Team".

The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal of a minor who argued that he should be entitled to be considered for enhanced remission in the same way as adult prisoners are under the Prison Rules. Background

More remote hearings should take place in the High Court as "a way of tiding us over until we get back to physical hearings", a senior judge has said. Mr Justice David Barniville, a High Court judge and president of the Association of Judges of Ireland (AJI), told The Irish Times that the technology

Same-sex female couples will be recognised as the co-parents of children born through donor-assisted human reproduction under a legal framework finally brought into force. Health Minister Simon Harris yesterday confirmed that Part 2 and 3 of the related regulations in the Children and Family Relatio