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Ireland's present defamation laws pose a "major threat to press freedom", the Press Council of Ireland has warned. Seán Donlon, chairman of the Press Council, said the Defamation Act 2009 had led to juries making "substantial awards which were subsequently deemed excessive by higher courts, i

The Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI) opened 169 legal cases last year, a 17 per cent increase on the year before, according to new figures. The NGO, which runs an independent law centre, has called for urgent immigration reform as it launches its Impact Report 2018.

Ireland's family law system is "broken and failing the most vulnerable in our society", solicitor Helen Coughlan has warned. Ms Coughlan, vice-chair of the Law Society's family and child law committee, made the remarks to the annual general meeting of Treoir, the national federation of services for

Legal rights group FLAC has appointed Ingrid Colvin as its new volunteer and clinics co-ordinator. Ms Colvin, who has worked in the community and voluntary sector for over 20 years, will build volunteer capacity in FLAC clinics in Dublin and Cork, through working with local Citizens Information Cent

A civil servant working for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has been found guilty of breaking the Official Secrets Act in connection with the prosecution of a suspected murderer. Jonathan Lennon, 35, denied four counts of disclosing information to three named men about the arrest of a susp

Barrister Deirdre Conroy, who launched the landmark D v Ireland case in the European Court of Human Rights, has been elected to Dublin City Council. The case centred on a person “D”, later identified as Ms Conroy, who sought an abortion outside the State after receiving a diagnosis of fa

A man convicted of possessing explosives and making hoax bomb threats has failed in an appeal against his conviction which focused on his Irish language rights during the trial. Lawyers for Dónal Billings, 67, whose trial at the non-jury Special Criminal Court was heard in both Irish and Engl

Cork barristers presented €7,500 to two cancer charities after a fundraising coffee morning in memory of their late colleague, Jane Anne Rothwell BL.

A set of six historic bollards which used to mark the boundary of Kilkenny Courthouse have been sold at auction for €4,600. The 19th-century bollards were removed from the courthouse around a decade and a half ago during renovations by the Courts Service.

A decision not to include Sikhs among ethnic groups in the 2021 census could face a legal challenge. Lawyers for the Sikh Federation have written to ministers warning them that it would be unlawful not to include a Sikh ethnicity tickbox on the form, as the Office of National Statistics (ONS) recomm

By Brian Welsh, CEO of Insight Legal In most industries, the process of transferring software suppliers will involve some degree of migrating data from your current system to a new system. Today’s legal sector is no different, and you would expect your new supplier to charge some sort of fee t

A motorist was spared a costly fine after a white dove passed in front of speed cameras at the perfect moment. Police in the German city of Viersen joked that the "Holy Spirit", often represented by a dove, had intervened to stop them identifying the driver of the car.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the arrest of a 26-year-old man, who had applied for residency on the basis of his father’s marriage to an EU national, was unlawful and that he was not detained in accordance with the law. The arrest was made prior to the refusal of his application, and Mr Jus

The Data Protection Commissioner, Helen Dixon, has been reappointed by the Government for a second five-year term. Ms Dixon was initially appointed to the role in September 2014 and has overseen the significant expansion of the remit of the Data Protection Commission (DPC), particularly following th

Arthur Cox partner Paul Robinson passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on the weekend, the firm has announced. The M&A lawyer, who was based in Dublin but originally from Co Donegal, joined the firm as a trainee more than two decades ago.