Northern Ireland

Concerns have been raised that Westminster legislation to recognise overseas qualifications could affect lawyers in Northern Ireland and Scotland without their input. The Professional Qualifications Bill, currently at committee stage, would treat individuals seeking to practise particular profession

The Department of Justice is to seek permission from MLAs to publish a modern slavery and human trafficking strategy every three years instead of every one year. Writing in the foreword to the fourth annual strategy, Justice Minister Naomi Long said the government's "understanding of these crimes an

Widely-supported proposals to abolish the so-called "rough sex" defence, strengthen the law around image-based sexual abuse and widen the scope of the law on abuse of trust could fall to the wayside for over a year due to a political deadlock. Justice Minister Naomi Long was quizzed by MLAs yesterda

A public consultation will be launched within weeks on how the criminal justice system should treat cases of non-fatal strangulation. Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJINI) recommended in June 2019 that the Department of Justice should review how potential inadequacies in current legis

All windows at Newtownards Courthouse will be upgraded and replaced over the summer, Justice Minister Naomi Long has confirmed. Mrs Long told MLAs the plans are "well advanced" and will "address long-standing maintenance issues and improve energy efficiency".

Pro-life campaigners have formally lodged proceedings in Belfast against regulations giving the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland powers to direct the commissioning of abortion services. Belfast law firm Hewitt & Gilpin has been instructed by the Centre for Bioethical Reform Northern Irela

The PSNI has been urged to end its joint programmes with the Israeli police and security services following renewed violence in occupied Palestine. Amnesty International said the force "must ensure it is not implicated in Israel's human rights violations" following an investigation by The Detail whi

A pair of solicitors who made the courageous decision to open a new practice at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic have celebrated a successful first year of business.

The Children's Law Centre (CLC) has teamed up with charity Angel Eyes NI to empower visually impaired children and young people to access equal education, advocate for their rights and influence decision makers. The new collaborative EqualEyes project, which will provide expert-led workshops to 125

The UK government last year blocked the public release of 155 sets of Northern Ireland Office (NIO) documents dating from the Troubles, an investigation has found. The NIO told the Advisory Council on National Records and Archives (ACNRA) that it wanted to retain or close 155 sets of documents datin

The High Court has determined that the requirement for an applicant under the Gender Recognition Act 2004 to prove they are suffering from a medical “disorder” was incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. The court held that a diagnosis of a disorder was an antiquated n

Northern Ireland's construction sector is lagging behind the recovery in other UK regions, according to a new report published by RICS and law firm Tughans. A survey of construction businesses in Northern Ireland found a net balance of +8 per cent reporting rising workloads in Q1 2021, up from -18 p

Northern Ireland's unemployment rate remains low in comparison to the rest of the UK but the end of furlough in September will be the "big test", employment law expert Andrew Lightburn has said. Mr Lightburn, director at the Belfast office of DWF, welcomed the latest NISRA figures showing that North

DWF has expanded its team in Belfast with nine new appointments, including senior associates, associates, solicitors and a paralegal, taking its headcount in Northern Ireland to over 100. Tomás McLaughlin, Aine McGuinness and Kathleen Gillespie have been appointed as senior associates, while

The Children's Law Centre (CLC) in Northern Ireland has secured a £675,000 funding boost from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation's Youth Strategic Investment Fund. The law centre, established in 1997, is one of five organisations receiving support in the latest round of the Fund and the only one based