News

Japanese crime syndicates have reportedly begun using Pokémon trading cards to launder vast amounts of money. The former head of a crime syndicate told Japanese magazine Shunkan Gendai that his organisation used the cards to transport stolen money abroad, according to a translation published

Hilkka Becker, chairperson of the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT), has been appointed as an adjunct professor in law at Maynooth University School of Law and Criminology. An expert in migration and asylum law, Ms Becker has a distinguished career spanning over 25 years in leadership

Northern Ireland firm Cleaver Fulton Rankin has promoted eight of its solicitors across five legal practice areas. Dispute resolution lawyer Maria McNally, private client lawyer Brid McColgan and commercial real estate lawyer Michael Boyce have been promoted to director, raising the firm's total num

Nine new partners have been appointed at Matheson, with seven promoted internally and two joining the firm. Energy and infrastructure lawyer Owen Collins, commercial litigation and dispute resolution lawyer Aishlinn Gannon, private client lawyer Maeve Lochrie, international business group lawyer Se&

A new "rapid response protocol" is to be established for Defence Forces personnel who are charged with serious criminal offences in the civilian courts following a report by Peter Ward SC. Mr Ward was appointed in June to undertake a high-level analysis of the application of military law and process

The Bar of Ireland has backed proposals to include non-citizens on juries for the first time. The Department of Justice recently consulted on recommendations made by the Law Reform Commission in a paper on jury reform published more than a decade ago.

McCann FitzGerald partners Megan Hooper, Paul Lavery, and Orlaith Sheehy have been appointed to lead the firm's diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) efforts. The trio have taken over from outgoing DE&I partners Niall Best, Eleanor Cunningham and Laura Deignan, who the firm thanked for thei

Sarah Jones has been awarded the inaugural Paul Anthony McDermott Memorial Scholarship to support her journey to becoming a barrister. The scholarship was awarded on the fifth anniversary of the barrister and law lecturer's tragic passing in 2019 at the age of 47.

New language rights for Irish speakers and additional Irish language obligations on public bodies are to come into effect this week. The final provisions of the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021 will come into force on 21 December 2024 in line with a statutory deadline.

James Colville has been appointed as head of insurance and managing partner in the Dublin office of global legal business DWF. Mr Colville, who will take up both posts in January, brings a wealth of experience, having qualified, trained, and worked in both England and Ireland with firms such as Gree

An American politician has been roundly mocked after sharing an image of a downed "drone" which was actually a Star Wars prop. Doug Mastriano, a US army veteran and Republican member of the Pennsylvania Senate, later claimed he was joking after he posted the image of the TIE fighter to X, formerly T

Facebook owner Meta has been fined €251 million by the Data Protection Commission (DPC) following a personal data breach. Around 29 million Facebook accounts globally, including around three million based in the EU/EEA, were impacted by a data breach reported by Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (

Callan Tansey partner Caroline McLaughlin has been elected president of the Sligo Solicitors Bar Association (SSBA). Ms McLaughlin is joined on the new committee by Joanne Irwin of Damien Tansey Solicitors LLP as secretary, Noel Kelly of Noel Kelly Solicitors as treasurer, and Carol Ballantyne of Mu

Northern Ireland's criminal courts will grind to a halt in January after criminal barristers announced a significant escalation of their industrial action over legal aid fees. Members of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) are to withdraw from appearing in all legally aided Crown Court cases listed b

The European Commission has opened formal proceedings against TikTok in response to concerns about foreign interference in the Romanian presidential election. TikTok is suspected of breaching the Digital Services Act (DSA) in relation to its obligation to properly assess and mitigate systemic risks