News

Arthur Cox has welcomed 44 newly-qualified solicitors as associates in the firm following the completion of their traineeships. The new associates join various practice groups around the firm, with the largest number joining the corporate and M&A team, followed by the finance and litigation, dis

Queen's University Belfast School of Law has launched a new Global Intellectual Property and Technology Centre (G-IPTech) aimed at becoming a global hub of excellence for intellectual property and technology law. Professor Giancarlo Frosio has been appointed as director of the centre, an interdiscip

Alessandra Grosariu and Patricia O’Reilly have been named as the incoming editors-in-chief of Volume XXVII of the Trinity College Law Review, marking the first time that the position has been shared since the journal's foundation. The pair initially joined the journal as junior editorial board

Matheson LLP has appointed Alison Bearpark as a partner in the construction and engineering team within the firm's commercial real estate department. Ms Bearpark, who joins Matheson from another Irish law firm where she was partner, has 15 years’ experience both in Ireland and internationally,

The Bar of Northern Ireland’s rule of law committee has announced the commencement of a new series of events and discussions, the “Advancing the Rule of Law Series”. The aim of the “Advancing The Rule of Law Series” is to encourage awareness of the importance of the rul

The chief inspector of criminal justice in Northern Ireland, Jacqui Durkin, has called for a "fundamental reset" within the PSNI and the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) to improve the quality of prosecution files and speed of case progression. Ms Durkin said clear objectives coupled with governance

Northern Ireland's Department of Justice has published a summary of responses to a recent public consultation on increasing the minimum age of criminal responsibility. The 12-week consultation launched by then-justice minister Naomi Long in October 2022 sought views on whether the age at which a chi

Ogier Leman partner Bláthnaid Evans has been recognised at the third annual Irish Women's Awards.

McCann FitzGerald LLP has announced a number of new and extended family support policies for its staff of more than 600 people in Ireland. The policies extend the firm's existing supports for maternity, paternity and compassionate leave, and introduce new supports for those undergoing fertility trea

Belfast-based Diamond Heron Solicitors has promoted Cherry Hill to associate solicitor. Ms Hill specialises in property, with experience selling new build properties on behalf of local property developers and acting for private clients in the sale and purchase of residential properties, remortgages,

An employer was entitled to sack a man who spent up to six hours of his daily eight-hour shift in the bathroom, a court has ruled. In one week, company records showed that the employee took 22 bathroom breaks ranging in length from 47 to 196 minutes.

The European Commission has confirmed that it will bring legal proceedings against the Polish government over a controversial new law ostensibly aimed at curbing Russian influence in the country. The decision comes two days after Poland's justice minister condemned the Court of Justice of the Europe

Legislation allowing for the general and indiscriminate retention of communications traffic and location data on national security grounds, subject to judicial approval, is to come into force. Having returned from maternity leave, justice minister Helen McEntee yesterday signed a commencement order

Helen McEntee has returned to her post as justice minister following a six-month period of maternity leave. She previously became the first Irish government minister to give birth in office when her first child was born in April 2021, after which she took six months' maternity leave under a novel ad

Northern Ireland's criminal justice system is "not fit for purpose", the commissioner designate for victims of crime has said. Geraldine Hanna, who was appointed to the post a year ago, told the BBC that victims of crime are withdrawing from cases as a result of court delays.