News

Barrister Molly Joyce has been appointed as acting executive director of the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT). Having worked as the legal and public affairs manager in IPRT since November 2020, Ms Joyce has this month assumed the position of acting executive director while IPRT's executive director S

A distinguished Pakistani lawyer was shot dead at Peshawar High Court on Monday. Latif Afridi, a champion of human rights who took on the Taliban and the country's notoriously powerful military, was shot six times at point-blank range.

Adults who groom children into a life of crime will face up to five years' imprisonment under legislative plans announced today. The Criminal Justice (Engagement of Children in Criminal Activity) Bill 2023 will, for the first time, create specific offences where an adult compels, coerces, induces or

A grey-haired banker who complained about being nicknamed “Christine Lagarde” has failed in a £4.6 million discrimination claim after a judge ruled that jokes about grey hair were “part of the irritation of day-to-day office life”. Elisabeth Maugars joined the London of

The law in England and Wales must be toughened up to make intentionally deceiving a person into engaging in sexual activity a crime, according to a new report published today. The latest Criminal Law Reform Now Network (CLRN Network) report calls for a change to the law, which would make deceiving a

Russia has been censured by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) for failing to provide legal recognition and protection for same-sex couples. In a Grand Chamber judgment handed down yesterday, the court held by a 14–3 majority that Russia had violated Article 8 of the European Conv

Protesters in Sri Lanka have embarrassed police after responding to the deployment of water cannons by putting shampoo in their hair. Photos shared widely on social media show grinning protesters taking the novel move when confronted with water cannons at an anti-government protest in the city of Ja

A new "digital toolkit" for communities, campaigners and researchers seeking environmental justice has been launched by Community Law & Mediation (CLM) and Environmental Justice Network Ireland (EJNI). The Manual of Environmental Justice was developed following a comprehensive needs assessment c

Corporate law firm Philip Lee LLP has promoted Tamara Mitchell to senior associate in the firm's media and entertainment practice. A graduate of Dublin City University and University College Dublin, Ms Mitchell worked in a large corporate law firm in Dublin prior to joining Philip Lee in 2019.

Legislation modernising Ireland's historic and archaeological heritage laws has been published by ministers. The Historic and Archaeological Heritage Bill 2023 provides for a single integrated licencing system and statutory codes of practice as well as conferring legal protections on new finds of ar

Stephanie Coughlan has been elected as president of the Galway Solicitors' Bar Association (GSBA) for 2023. Ms Coughlan, a senior associate at RDJ LLP, succeeds outgoing president John Martin, who remains on the new committee as vice-president.

Solicitor Niamh Hodnett is to be be appointed as Ireland's inaugural online safety commissioner. The Online Safety and Media Regulation (OSMR) Act 2022, which was signed into law last month, will replace the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) with a new Coimisiún na Meán.

The UK government has availed itself of section 35 of the Scotland Act to stop the Scottish Parliament's Gender Recognition Reform Bill from receiving Royal Assent. Scottish secretary Alister Jack said he would use section 35 following a review of the bill by UK government lawyers. UK ministers are

German riot police officers were humiliated by a "mud wizard" during efforts to evict climate campaigners in video footage which has gone viral on social media. The abandoned village of Lützerath in Germany's western state of North Rhine-Westphalia has become the site of massive protests agains

Gary Daly and Erin Allen have been elected as the inaugural co-chairs of the new Socialist Lawyers' Association of Ireland, which was founded in Dublin this week. The new group, open to solicitors, barristers, legal academics and law students, aims to operate as a network of radical lawyers to assis