News

The "substandard quality" of social housing in Ireland breaches human rights, the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) has ruled. In its ruling, the ECSR found that the State was failing to take sufficient and timely measures to ensure an adequate standard of housing for families in local auth

Les Allamby A landmark challenge to Northern Ireland's abortion laws opened before the UK Supreme Court today and will run until Thursday.

Ciaran O'Hare A victims' campaigner taking forward a judicial review aimed at clarifying the circumstances in which a border poll would be held has invited the Irish government to join as a notice party.

The Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) has launched the first in a series of three annual reports providing a comprehensive report on human rights and best practice in Ireland's penal system. IPRT has developed 35 standards against which Ireland’s penal system will be independently tracked, monitored

The number of legal aid claims arising from Crown Court cases in Northern Ireland has fallen by a third in three years, The Irish News reports. The newspaper has revealed that the number of claims fell from a high of 6,484 in 2013 to just over 4,500 in 2016.

Irish citizen Ibrahim Halawa has returned home to Ireland following his four-year detention in Cairo and eventual acquittal. Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said he was "delighted" that Mr Halawa had returned home.

The number of practising solicitors in England and Wales has reached an all time high of 140,000, the Law Society Gazette reports. Data shows that there are now 15,000 more solicitors than five years ago.

Pictured: The Bar Boat Team with Chair of the Bar Charity Committee Adele O’Grady QC, with Welcome Organisation CEO Sandra Moore and Fundraising Manager Kieran Hughes Northern Ireland barristers raised over £6,000 for a homelessness charity by taking part in a Dragon Boat Race on the River Lagan.

A man who sought to challenge issues of his inheritance by way of judicial review has had his appeal to the Supreme Court dismissed. Patrick Reen argued that the public house which had been established by his great-grandfather in 1860 should have been inherited by him in turn, like his father and gr

Judge James McNulty has made a public intervention over the tracker mortgage scandal for a second time, insisting in an Irish Examiner column that it is "a matter of justice and truth". In a follow-up to his January column, in which he called for whistleblowers to help prosecute banks which overchar

Niall Kiernan Dublin lawyer Niall Kiernan is planning to bring a tracker mortgage scandal test case to the High Court next year, The Irish Times reports.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe Legislation to give effect to the Government's planned increase in stamp duty on non-residential property transactions has been published.

Peter Madden Belfast lawyer Peter Madden, managing partner at Madden & Finucane Solicitors, has been elected president of the Solicitors' Criminal Bar Association at its recent AGM.

Josepha Madigan A private member's bill allowing for social media companies to be slapped with unlimited fines if they fail to remove posts that risk prejudicing criminal trials will be published this week.

The Department of Justice is examining the legality of the Comptroller & Auditor General helping to oversee the management of court funds. The Courts Service of Ireland is presently responsible for the management of funds held on behalf of wards of court - people deemed by the courts to be unabl