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International legal business DWF has appointed two directors, one senior associate, four associates and nine solicitors in Belfast over a year of significant growth.

The Department of Justice has appointed Jacqui Durkin as chief inspector of criminal justice for Northern Ireland. Ms Durkin will assume leadership of Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJINI) at the end of November for an initial three-year term.

An 158-year-old law criminalising abortion in Northern Ireland will be repealed at midnight tonight under a law passed by MPs this summer. Under section 9 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Act 2019, sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 are repealed in Northern I

Pupils from Carndonagh Community School in Co Donegal have become the first to take part in a video conference with Supreme Court judges under a new initiative aimed at helping young people understand the work of the court.

The Court of Session in Edinburgh has delayed a decision on whether the Prime Minister has complied with a law that compels him to seek a Brexit extension. Boris Johnson sent an unsigned letter to Brussels requesting a delay, accompanied by a signed letter saying he thought that doing so would be a

Dozens of damages claims brought by Irish hauliers against Europe's biggest truck manufacturers who allegedly engaged in anti-competitive practices will most likely be heard in 2020. The claims arise out a determination by the European Commission in 2016 which found that five major truck manufacture

The provision of state-funded counselling and emotional support for rape victims in England and Wales has increased their participation in the criminal justice system, according to a new report published by the Irish Department of Justice. Dr Deirdre Healy, director of the UCD Institute of Criminolo

A move to block the release of a film based on the Panama Papers scandal, involving law firm Mossack Fonseca, has failed. Lawyers for Jurgen Mossack and Ramon Fonseca claimed in a federal court in Connecticut that The Laundromat, which has been released on Netflix, defames them.

School officials have come under fire for making pupils wear cardboard boxes on their heads while they sit exams – in order to stop them from cheating. Children sitting a chemistry paper at Bhagat Pre-University College in the Indian state of Karnataka were made to wear the boxes, with holes i

A 29-year-old man has been sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment for the murder of a 55-year-old man who he described as being “kind to everyone” and someone who would “give you his last penny if he had it”. Considering the appropriate tariff after mitigation to be one of 15 ye

Lawyers in the post-truth era can "enable journalists under attack to fight back and win", according to the senior barrister who helped deliver a court victory for two Northern Ireland journalists. Barry MacDonald QC, part of the legal team for Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey, spoke at the fifth a

The murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane was followed by "nothing less than an assault on the rule of law and the very fabric of a democratic society", a senior barrister has said.

The Association of Judges of Ireland (AJI) raised concerns about the quality of applicants for appointment to the bench in a letter to the Public Service Pay Commission two years ago. The letter, written by Mr Justice George Birmingham in his capacity as association president, outlines concerns amon

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has welcomed the Supreme Court's judgment in a case that explored the lawfulness of the procedures under which someone can be kept in a hospital or nursing home, and made a ward of court. In its judgment, delivered by Ms Justice Iseult O’Malley, t

The Court of Session in Edinburgh is considering another Brexit case – an attempt to stop the UK government from passing its proposed EU withdrawal agreement. Jolyon Maugham QC, who lodged the petition, believes the deal falls foul of legislation stopping Northern Ireland from forming par