Education

The Circuit Court has overturned a decision by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) to award €3,000 to a father who claimed to have suffered gender discrimination by his daughter’s secondary school. The child had been enrolled in the school by the mother without the consent of the fat

Emily Paisley, associate at Eversheds Sutherland in Belfast, explores what Northern Ireland parents can do if their child is refused admission to their preferred secondary school, or has been unplaced. As pupils look towards the summer holidays and the school year begins to wind down in May, parents

Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal has dismissed a challenge to a High Court decision refusing leave to judicially review a School Expulsion Appeal Tribunal. The court rejected the student’s claim that alternative options to expulsion had not been considered. The appellant, now aged 18,

Legal actions taken against the Department of Education more than doubled in 2020, as the Leaving Cert was cancelled and replaced with calculated grades. Almost 310 legal cases have been filed in the courts against the Department of Education since 2016 – an average of almost five per month.

A commencement order has been signed to bring legislation providing a legal definition of bullying and requiring schools to record incidents of bullying into effect in September. The Addressing Bullying in Schools Act (NI) 2016, which was passed with the support of all political parties, will commen

Legislation providing a legal definition of bullying and requiring schools to record incidents of bullying will finally be brought into effect in September. The Addressing Bullying in Schools Act (NI) 2016, which was passed with the support of all political parties, will commence from 1 September 20

The Law Society of Ireland and the King's Inns should not have a monopoly on training solicitors and barristers, the Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) has suggested in a new report. In its 105-page report, the legal regulator called for the development of a clear definition of the competenc

A home-schooled Leaving Cert student has launched judicial review proceedings against the Department of Education after it refused to give him a calculated grade based on estimates from his tutor, his mother. The case brought by Elijah Burke opened before Mr Justice Charles Meenan in the High Court