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International law firm Pinsent Masons has announced the appointment of Naoise Harnett as a corporate financial services partner in Dublin. Mr Harnett, who will start in the summer, is joining from William Fry, where he is currently a partner in the insurance and reinsurance department.

Proposals to amend the Constitution to remove the requirement for spouses to live apart for a minimum of four years out of the preceding five before they can be granted a divorce have been published. Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan yesterday announced the Government's wording for the amendment of

Two major research projects aimed at identifying how to reform and develop youth justice in Ireland have been announced by the Government. The first project, the GYDP Action Research Project, will work with 15 of the 106 Garda Youth Diversion Projects (GYDPs) across the country over a two-year perio

Representatives of the top courts in each of the 28 EU member states visited Dublin this week for a two-day seminar. The Association of Councils of State and Supreme Administrative Jurisdictions of the European Union (ACA-Europe) seminar was hosted by the Supreme Court of Ireland and its president,

Employment law solicitor Richard Grogan of Richard Grogan & Associates writes on the competence of the Adjudication Officer to determine certain sums. In case ADJ10415, the Adjudication Officer (AO) admitted that it was beyond the legal competence of the AO to determine the amount to be awa

The European Parliament has voted to approve a controversial new copyright directive which critics say will limit freedom of expression online. MEPs adopted the directive in plenary by 348 votes in favour, 274 against and 36 abstentions, marking the end of a legislative process that began three year

Over 300 applications have been made to the Domestic Violence and Abuse Disclosure Scheme (DVADS) in Northern Ireland since its introduction one year ago. New figures from the PSNI, which operates the scheme, reveal that 326 checks have been made and 40 people, identified as being at risk, have been

Rachel Penny, employment partner at Carson McDowell, considers the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to cover up wrongdoing in the workplace. Headlines were made towards the end of last year when the former Northern Ireland secretary Lord Hain used parliamentary privilege to name retail tycoon

Swingeing cuts to legal aid have had a devastating effect on parts of Wales, with some towns having no law centres or legal aid lawyers, The Guardian reports. Before the introduction of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (Laspo) in 2013, legal aid would have accounted for 40 p

A law student who lied that she was a "sex slave" for a senior government lawyer could be jailed after she was convicted of stalking yesterday. Sana Musharraf, 33, a Muslim, said she was afraid she would be killed by Islamists if they learned she lost her virginity to Jason Whiston, 52, deputy direc

An amateur footballer who attacked a referee for giving him two yellow cards has been jailed for six months. The player had already been made subject to a ten-year ban on playing football.

A woman who suffered a blow to the head when she collapsed in the en-suite of her hospital room, has been awarded €63,112 in damages after the High Court found the post-operative care she was given was negligent. Mr Justice Robert Barr rejected the first part of the woman’s claim, in whic

A judge has said he will take a hard line against professional street beggars who fly to Northern Ireland every six weeks on begging shifts. Judge Barney McElholm made his pledge at Derry Magistrates' Court upon sentencing a 30-year-old mother of seven from Bucharest to two months' imprisonment

Law professors at Trinity College Dublin have differed over the question of whether a university newspaper was justified in covertly recording an alleged initiation ceremony to a student society, Independent.ie reports. The University Times said it acted in the public interest and cited the High Cou

Sexual offences rose by 10 per cent last year, new figures show. Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said the increase came at a time of "significant public focus on sexual assault” with the #MeToo movement.