News

The Judicial Council Bill is expected to clear the Oireachtas today after it returns to the Seanad for a final vote. The landmark bill, which was introduced in 2017, was passed by the Dáil with amendments last Thursday.

Children, young people and their families are "struggling to navigate" a family law system that is "crying out for reform", the Children's Rights Alliance has warned. The alliance today launched the first annual report of its helpline and legal advice clinics, which aims to help ensure all children

Sir Anthony Hart, the retired High Court judge who chaired the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry, has passed away. His 2017 report on abuse at 22 residential homes for children between 1922–95 recommended a redress scheme for abuse survivors, which has still yet to be implemented.

A judge has held that survivors of child sexual abuse in National Schools cannot be excluded from the State's ex-gratia payment scheme on the basis that they have not established a prior complaint against their abuser. Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O'Neill was appointed in 2017, in the wake of a landma

The Law Society of Ireland has commended a Sinn Féin TD for "exposing the soaring super-profits" of insurance companies, who have blamed high insurance premiums on fraudulent personal injury claims. Pearse Doherty, Sinn Féin's finance spokesperson, challenged representatives of major i

The State is failing to meet its international legal obligations by not carrying out vulnerability assessments of asylum seekers, the Irish Refugee Council (IRC) has warned. Nick Henderson, IRC chief executive, told RTÉ's This Week programme that such assessments are a "major feature" of the

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) has settled a case against the Department for Communities to back-pay state pension entitlements to a transgender woman. Frances Shields, who received her Gender Recognition Certificate in February 2015 and applied for her State pension in April 2

The UK government's practice of making substantial changes to bills late in the legislative process, which inhibits proper scrutiny, should be brought to an end, a House of Lords committee has recommended. The Lords Constitution Committee makes the recommendation in its Passage of Bills Through Parl

Staff at KOD Lyons have raised over €7,500 for adult respite centre Cúnamh Iveragh by taking part in the famous Ring of Kerry Charity Cycle.

A student librarian has received a prestigious Ulster University award supported by international law firm Allen & Overy. Geraldine Colgan from Ballyduff, Ashford has become the second recipient of the award, presented annually to the student who achieves the highest marks on the library and inf

The UK government’s bulk surveillance powers will be examined by the highest chamber of the European Court of Human Rights this week, the latest stage in a long-running legal battle over the UK’s use of previously-secret surveillance powers and its sharing of massive amounts of private c

A man driving a hearse in a carpool lane was rapped after being told his dead passenger didn't count. The driver was pulled over after police spotted him driving solo in an "HOV lane", reserved for vehicles with at least one passenger.

The Chief Constable of the PSNI has lost an appeal against the decision that the brother of a 13-year-old boy who was murdered in 1976 had a legitimate expectation that an overarching investigation into collusion would be carried out by an independent police team. Stating that it was the Chief Const

The Chief Justice of Ireland, Mr Justice Frank Clarke, highlighted a number of initiatives to create a stronger online presence for the courts at today's launch of the Courts Service annual report for 2018. The report highlights an increase in domestic violence complaints, strong sentences in rape c

Belfast firm Millar McCall Wylie has announced the appointment of solicitor and former barrister Clare Lenaghan as head of the firm's family and matrimonial law team. Ms Lenaghan, who has more than 25 years' experience as a barrister and has now qualified as a solicitor, will lead the established te