News

Criminal legal aid fees will be increased by eight per cent next year in a move that comes as a disappointment to lawyers who hoped to see full fee restoration in Budget 2025. Some €9 million has been allocated to the criminal legal aid budget to cover the costs of the fee increase from 1 Janua

A man has been jailed for six months for his leading role in a decade-long effort to create "giant sheep hybrids" using illegal cloning techniques. Arthur “Jack” Schubarth, 81, admitted smuggling parts of the largest sheep in the world — Marco Polo argali sheep (Ovis ammon polii) &

The Irish government has begun unveiling Budget 2025, with criminal lawyers hoping for a break-through in a long-running campaign for fee restoration. This is the first government budget since the Bar Council led criminal barristers out on an unprecedented withdrawal of services across three days th

Global law firm Clyde & Co welcomed representatives from Northern Ireland's insurance industry to Tesla's flagship centre in Belfast for a unique event discussing the barriers to improved take-up of electric and hybrid vehicles.

The UK's Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) has today begun examining the PSNI surveillance complaint brought by investigative journalists Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey. The two journalists were arrested in 2018 following the release of No Stone Unturned, their documentary about the 1994 Loughi

McCann FitzGerald LLP has delivered its first lecture as part of a new sustainability-focused curriculum for students at University College Cork (UCC). Éamon Ó Cuív, partner at McCann FitzGerald and newly-appointed adjunct professor at UCC’s School of Law, addressed studen

The Bar of Northern Ireland is looking for its new charity partner for 2025/26. Every year, the Bar's charity committee undertakes a number of fundraising initiatives in support of its charity partner.

Beauchamps LLP will remain official legal advisors to Leinster Rugby under an extension to their long-standing partnership. The firm's relationship with Leinster Rugby has been going for longer than 10 years and has now been extended for a  further two seasons, with an option of a third. 

A new action plan to address child criminal exploitation (CCE) in Northern Ireland has been launched. A four-page document sets out the cross-departmental, multi-agency plan to improve the government's response to the criminal exploitation of young people and to embed this within the child protectio

A company which claimed to have invented "the world's first robot lawyer" has agreed to pay a nearly $200,000 settlement over its marketing claims. DoNotPay faced action from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) after allegedly claiming its AI-powered tool could "sue anyone with the click of a butt

The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor is to consider investigating Belarus for alleged crimes against humanity carried out against the country's civilian population. Belarus has not ratified the Rome Statute but has been referred by Lithuania, which argues that "part of the elemen

Lawyer Paul Tweed has said he is exploring the possibility of bringing a group action against Big Tech companies in the Irish courts. Mr Tweed told The Journal that he is discussing with with cyberpsychology professor Mary Aiken the possibility of a legal action focused on screen addiction.

Dr Kevin Brown and Dr David Capper have been appointed as professors in Queen's University Belfast School of Law. Professor Brown is an expert in criminal justice and researches the relationship between the criminal law and society, particularly the impact of law on the most vulnerable.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has renewed calls for an independent investigation into the 2001 murder of Sunday World journalist Martin O'Hagan. Mr O'Hagan, who was secretary of the NUJ's Belfast and district branch, was killed in front of his wife Marie by members of the Loyalist Voluntee

Coimisiún na Meán has been given new powers to enforce EU laws aimed at tackling online terrorist content. Having been designated as the competent Irish authority under the EU Terrorist Content Online Regulation (2021/784), Coimisiún na Meán can now impose administrative