News

Pictured (l-r): Hannah Megarry, Rory Copeland, Lisa McGrady and Danielle McKeefry The four trainees who joined Pinsent Masons in Belfast last year have all been retained as newly-qualified solicitors, the firm announced as it welcomed four new recruits to its training programme.

A new US report has identified Ireland's blasphemy law as the least restrictive in the world, the Irish Independent reports. The US Commission on International Religious Freedoms (UCIRF) examined the 71 countries with blasphemy laws and their compatibility with international human rights laws.

The Equality Commission of Northern Ireland helped a woman who was made redundant during her maternity leave settle her sex discrimination case against her employers for £9,000. Áine Magorrian took a case against her employers SALIIS Ltd alleging sex discrimination, unlawful discrimination on grou

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan has urged the United States and North Korea to "scale down" the "megaphone diplomacy" between the two countries amid an escalation of hostile rhetoric. Mr Flanagan said it was "important in the context of international relations that any disputes or differences of o

Families of the victims of the Birmingham pub bombings have raised over £10,000 for a planned judicial review over the naming of suspects. The families have been crowdfunding for their legal bid to overturn a coroner's ban on naming suspects at forthcoming inquests into the deaths of 21 people in t

A plumbing company has won permission to appeal a high-profile employment ruling to the UK Supreme Court. Pimlico Plumbers is appealing the decision of the Court of Appeal in London that it should have classed Gary Smith as a "worker" rather than self-employed.

Courts across England and Wales are asking visitors to sip from any bottles they have in order to prove they do not contain acid, following a spate of attacks over the past few months, The Times reports. The test is intended to prevent attacks against lawyers, judges, defendants, witnesses, jurors a

The Board of Management of a secondary school in Athenry have been granted an order of certiorari, quashing the decision of an appeals committee which had directed the school to admit a pupil contrary to its enrolment policies. Ms Justice Úna Ní Raifeartaigh found that the committee had erred in c

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan Employers, trade unions, educational institutions and members of the public are to be invited to contribute to a public consultation on tackling the gender pay gap.

Robert O'Shea The newly-appointed head of Dublin-based firm Matheson's corporate and commercial department has said Ireland remains the best small country in the world to do business.

New figures have revealed a 11.6 per cent increase in Irish residential house prices over the past year, contrasted against a 3.7 per cent decline in Northern Ireland over the same period. Figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that residential property prices in Dublin increased by 1

A child abuse survivors' group has spoken of hope that interim payments for historical child abuse victims could be agreed this week with David Sterling, head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service. Margaret McGuckin of Survivors and Victims of Institutional Abuse (SAVIA) is on the expert panel meeti

People in Northern Ireland could face a fine of up to £1,000 for riding an electric bicycle without a motorcycle license, it has been revealed. The Department of Infrastructure has confirmed that NI laws have not yet been brought in line with the rest of the UK, where a license is not required to r

Director of Public Prosecutions, Alison Saunders New advice to be issued to prosecutors will urge them to present more evidence about the relationship and sexual history of male defendants in rape trials, the London Evening Standard reports.

Six books have been shortlisted for the Peter Birks Book Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship. The award will be handed out at the annual Society of Legal Scholars (SLS) conference dinner at The Honourable Society of King’s Inns in Dublin early next month.