Northern Ireland

A ban on children's outdoor sport in Northern Ireland during the Covid-19 pandemic is a "clear violation" of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, a Magherafelt lawyer has said. Stephen Atherton, director at John J McNally & Co Solicitors, has announced his intention to bring a judicial

The PSNI has made "considerable progress" in improving how business crime is dealt with in Northern Ireland, the criminal justice watchdog has found. Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJINI) has published a follow-up review which found that fix of six recommendations made in 2017 had bee

The UK government has launched a public consultation on the continued use of non-jury trials in Northern Ireland until 2023. Under the Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007, the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland can decide when a trial should take place without a jury.

Judge Stephen Fowler QC has been appointed as Recorder of Belfast, the most senior County Court judge in Northern Ireland. He succeeds Judge David McFarland QC, who has held the post since 2012 and was elevated to the High Court earlier this month.

A number of properties in Northern Ireland have been seized by National Crime Agency (NCA) officers, working as part of the Paramilitary Crime Task Force (PCTF), following a High Court order.

Belfast firm Millar McCall Wylie has welcomed two recently-qualified solicitors and two new trainees as part of a continued commitment to supporting new legal talent despite economic uncertainty. Newly-qualified solicitors Hayley Cummings and Ross White have joined the firm's corporate law team and

Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly will face no further action following complaints that an "offensive" tweet breached the NI Policing Board's code of conduct. The Board received multiple complaints about a tweet Mr Kelly posted in September to mark the anniversary of the infamous 1983 Maze Prison esc

The first legacy inquest to take place under the five-year plan set out by the Lord Chief Justice, Sir Declan Morgan, is set to begin at the end of the month. The 10 inquests set to be heard in the first year of the Lord Chief Justice’s plan to clear the entire backlog of 56 outstanding legacy

Proposals to provide victims of domestic abuse with greater access to legal aid in family law cases have been approved by the Northern Ireland Assembly. MLAs debating the Domestic Abuse and Family Proceedings Bill agreed to back an amendment brought by Rachel Woods, Green MLA for North Down, in the

Staff at Belfast and Newry firm JMK Solicitors have been working remotely from across Europe during the Covid-19 pandemic. Izabella Andrzejewska, a member of the JMK graduate programme, has availed of the opportunity to work full-time from her home in Poland, around 1,500 miles away from Belfast.

A review of support measures for prison officers suffering from work-related stress has been delayed by at least a month and a half. The review was announced by Justice Minister Naomi Long in June and was originally due to be completed by the end of October.

Co Antrim firm Armstrong Solicitors has announced the promotion of conveyancing lawyer Joanne Moore to director. Ms Moore, who joined the firm in 2016, has spent most of her career in residential conveyancing.

A new report which blasted the PSNI's approach to Black Lives Matter protests in Northern Ireland as "not lawful" raises questions about institutional racism in the force, a law firm has said. Belfast firm Phoenix Law, which is representing a number of people under investigation as a result of BLM p

Children facing criminal trial will only be remanded into custody as a "last resort" under proposed legislation to be brought before Stormont next year. Justice Minister Naomi Long said a number of changes to bail and remand legislation for children would be included in the Justice (Miscellaneous Pr

Care and supervision units (CSUs) in Northern Ireland prisons are set to be reviewed following concerns about the length of time some prisoners have spent in them. Late last month, investigative journalists at The Detail found that there were 611 occasions between 1 November 2016 and 31 October 2019