Northern Ireland

A £15 million plan to develop part of Belfast’s Crumlin Road Gaol into a whisky distillery has been given the go-ahead by Belfast City Council. Its planning committee approved the application, which will also see part of the old prison's 'A' wing transformed into a tourist centre, the Be

Committal proceedings against a former soldier charged with murder on Bloody Sunday began yesterday in Derry. Soldier F is accused of the murder of James Wray and William McKinney, on January 30th, 1972, when British troops fired on civil rights demonstrators, killing 13 people.

The search for the next Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland has begun in advance of Sir Declan Morgan's retirement later this year. Sir Declan, who assumed the top judicial post in 2009, will reach the mandatory retirement age of 70 in January 2022.

Belfast-based Ó Muirigh Solicitors has announced the appointment of Niall Bradley as a solicitor. Mr Bradley brings over eight years' experience working in a law firm specialising in defence insurance litigation. He has acted for a number of market-leading national and international insurance

Proposals to raise the age of criminal responsibility in Northern Ireland from 10 to at least 12 have not progressed due to "a lack of political support", Justice Minister Naomi Long has said. Mrs Long yesterday gave a update on the implementation of the 31 recommendations of the 2011 Youth Justice

Employment solicitor Leanne McKeown of Rosemary Connolly Employment & Equality Solicitors looks across the water at one of the first tribunal rulings on employees who refuse to wear masks. In the case of Kubilius v Kent Foods Ltd, the Employment Tribunal in GB held that an employer had acted fai

The temporary suspension of the requirement to hold a public event as part of pre-application community consultation on major planning applications has been extended until the end of September 2021. The latest extension will allow major planning applications to continue to be submitted during the Co

Christine Smith QC has been appointed to chair the public inquiry into the work of a Southern Trust urologist. The "historic appointment" makes Ms Smith the first woman to chair a public inquiry in Northern Ireland, The Bar of Northern Ireland has said.

Plans to change the way damages are calculated in Northern Ireland could leave people with life-changing injuries under-compensated and relying on the state, personal injury lawyers have warned. The Northern Ireland Assembly is now debating the Damages (Return on Investment) Bill, which follows a pu

Any changes to the Human Rights Act 1998 could "significantly undermine Northern Ireland's unique constitutional settlement", The Bar of Northern Ireland has said. In its submission to the UK government's review of the law, the Bar said it "would not support any amendments to the HRA as part of this

Belfast lawyer Paul Tweed has been profiled in the US edition of Grazia as "the most powerful man in Hollywood". The fashion magazine describes Mr Tweed, partner at Gateley Tweed, as "one of the most formidable defamation lawyers in the world, with a client list that reads like a who's who of the la

A consultation on proposals to place adult safeguarding on a statutory footing has been extended for a further four weeks. The proposed Adult Protection Bill aims to respond to the 2019 scandal around safeguarding failings, including allegations of abuse, at Muckamore Abbey Hospital and Dunmurry Man

Retired Belfast solicitor Ted Jones has passed away, the Law Society of Northern Ireland has said. Mr Jones qualified as a solicitor in September 1973. He founded corporate law firm Jones & Company Solicitors in 1998 and served as its principal partner until his retirement in 2012.

Law firm Carson McDowell and Belfast Chamber of Commerce have launched a new series of events aimed at starting a debate around the future growth and development of Belfast. The "Re-Energising Belfast" series of four virtual events will consider some of the key development challenges and opportuniti

Human rights experts Professor Phil Scraton and Dr Maeve O'Rourke have been appointed as part of a three-person team to establish the terms of reference for a fully independent investigation into mother and baby homes and Magdalene laundries in Northern Ireland. The "truth recovery design team" will