News

Six out of ten school leaders say the complexities of legal compliance around data protection and privacy is their biggest challenge, a survey by Mason Hayes & Curran has found. The firm, which hosts Ireland’s largest dedicated education law team, polled more than 400 educators at its rece

DWF has been reappointed to BT Group's legal panel, marking another milestone in its partnership with the multinational telecommunications company. The legal panel will be in place for the next three years and is comprised of 11 firms - a reduction from the previous 15. DWF and the other 10 firms wi

NI solicitor Leona O’Neill MBE has been profiled by the Belfast Telegraph for her work fundraising for people with sarcoma, a rare form of soft tissue and bone cancer. She established The Boom Foundation in April 2013 after losing her fiancé Philip to sarcoma. He died six weeks before t

Specialist domestic abuse prosecutors could be introduced to help make Northern Ireland's new domestic abuse law more effective, a report has suggested. Jacqui Durkin, the chief inspector of criminal justice in Northern Ireland, yesterday published her review of how Part 1 of the Domestic Abuse and

A man who perpetrated a massive psychic mass-mailing fraud scheme which stole more than $175 million from over 1.3 million victims has been jailed for 10 years. Over two decades, Patrice Runner, 57, sent millions of letters purporting to be individualised, personal communications from well-known so-

Virtually no family lawyers support government proposals to reallocate most divorce, judicial separation, and co-habitation proceedings to the District Court, a new survey suggests. The Family Lawyers Association surveyed its 286 solicitor and barrister members ahead of a summit on the Family Courts

Children's rights campaigners have called for stricter regulation of social media algorithms to protect children from harmful online content. The Children's Rights Alliance wants Coimisiún na Meán and the Irish government to take urgent action in the wake of an RTÉ Prime Time in

Northern Ireland parents should no longer be able to avail of the "reasonable punishment" defence to justify physically punishing a child, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) has said. A new report published by the charity, which represents children's doctors in the UK, calls f

A range of human rights experts including Professor Colin Harvey are set to address a Belfast conference organised by Sinn Féin's Commission on the Future of Ireland next month. The 'Rights in a New Ireland' conference will be chaired by Ailbhe Smyth, who played a key role in the marriage equ

McCann FitzGerald has secured three awards at the Managing IP EMEA Awards 2024 in London, including Practitioner of the Year for partner Fiona O’Beirne. Ms O'Beirne was recognised for her continued excellent work in the field of patent litigation and other intellectual property disputes. Her p

A referendum on Ireland's participation in the Unified Patent Court (UPC) will no longer take place in June, the government has said. Ministers previously announced in January that a referendum paving the way for Ireland to ratify the UPC agreement would take place alongside the European and local e

Draft legislation providing for a package of ongoing supports to survivors of abuse in residential institutions is to be published. The text of the Supports for Survivors of Residential Institutional Abuse Bill, which provides for supports in areas including health, advocacy and education, was appro

The Law Reform Commission has proposed a new statutory and regulatory framework for adult safeguarding in a 1,000-page report published today. Following extensive research and analysis of existing domestic law and policy and a comprehensive review of adult safeguarding legislative frameworks in othe

The UK's lack of legislation protecting striking workers from disciplinary sanctions short of dismissal is in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights, the UK Supreme Court has unanimously ruled. Trade union UNISON brought the case on behalf of care worker Fiona Mercer, who was suspended by

A rare posthumous presidential pardon is to be granted to two men convicted and executed in relation to an 1882 murder following research by Dr Niamh Howlin. Sylvester Poff and James Barrett were convicted of the murder of Thomas Browne in October 1882 and executed in January 1883.