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An 88-year-old man who spent nearly 50 years on death row has been acquitted in Japan. Iwao Hakamada was sentenced to death in 1968 after being convicted of murder and arson in connection with the killing of his boss and his boss's family two years previously.

A lawyer representing thousands of officers involved in the PSNI data breach has welcomed proposed mediation in the case. The unprecedented PSNI data breach last year saw the names, roles and other personal details of all serving police officers and civilian staff inadvertently published on its webs

Lewis Silkin's joint managing partners Jo Farmer and Richard Miskella joined colleagues in running the Belfast City Half Marathon on Sunday in support of The Sutton Trust.

The European Commission has launched a new social media campaign aimed at bringing the idea of the rule of law closer to EU citizens and raising awareness of its impact on people's everyday lives. The campaign will focus on the six core principles defining the rule of law — equality before the

Nearly two-thirds of in-house lawyers in Ireland are using AI in their legal work, a new survey suggests. Irish Tech General Counsel (ITGC) surveyed over 60 attendees at an event in founding sponsor William Fry's office this morning.

The government has been quizzed on plans that will see murderers who turn 18 after the offence but before sentencing dealt with under common law instead of statute. The Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024 provides that a child who commits murder but turns 18 years old before sentencing will no lo

Criminal barristers in England and Wales are demanding a 15 per cent rise in pay to match settlements secured by other public sector workers. They also want the UK government to establish an independent pay review body to try and bring an end to the repeated industrial disputes that resulted in thei

Belfast firm KRW Law LLP has appointed Gary Duffy as an associate solicitor. Mr Duffy holds master's degrees in history and politics as well as human rights law.

Crates of bananas delivered to a discount supermarket chain were found to contain €7 million worth of cocaine. The drugs — 95 kilograms in total — were delivered to a number of stores in cities across the western German state of North-Rhine Westphalia, police said.

Several people have been arrested in Switzerland, known for its liberal laws on assisted dying, in connection with a woman's death in a so-called "suicide pod". Prosecutors in Schaffhausen, the country's northern-most canton, were notified on Monday by a law firm that an assisted suicide with the Sa

Missouri has executed a convicted murderer who maintained his innocence for more than two decades, despite last-minute appeals from both defence and prosecution lawyers for a delay. Marcellus Williams, 55, was already serving a lengthy prison sentence for burglary offences when he was convicted in 2

Judicial review proceedings have been brought against the Law Society of Northern Ireland in relation to the disclosure of orders of the Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal for Northern Ireland. Granite Legal Services is challenging a decision by the Law Society's registrar not to hand over copies of

A group campaigning for Traveller and Roma rights has expressed disappointment that the government has abandoned plans to legislate on hate speech. Justice minister Helen McEntee announced on the weekend that hate speech laws could not be brought forward in the absence of a "consensus" on the matter

FLAC was able to answer just over a fifth of the 50,000 calls to its legal information and referral telephone line last year, according to its latest annual report. Early legal assistance was provided in response to just 12,472 queries, with the NGO calling on the government to establish a properly-

Belfast firm MKB Law has appointed two new solicitors and a legal executive. Chris Quinn joins the firm as a solicitor in its private client team, advising clients on matters including wills and estate planning and administration. He also offers guidance on enduring powers of attorney and controller