Northern Ireland

Commercial law firm Tughans remains the top M&A firm in Northern Ireland by deal count, according to the latest report from Experian Market IQ. There were just 58 transactions in Northern Ireland in the first half of 2020, a 65 per cent decline on the 65 during the same period last year, and Tug

Two retired police officers identified as suspects in fatal shootings during riots in Belfast at the start of the Troubles will not be prosecuted, the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) has said. Prosecutors examined the deaths of 20-year-old Hugh McCabe, nine-year-old Patrick Rooney and 28-year-old S

A woman has been jailed for nine months after spitting in the face of a key worker at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Belfast woman Pauline Burns, 56, pleaded guilty in Belfast Crown Court to one count of common assault on 4 April 2020.

Barristers Jenny Cunningham BL and Taryn Graham BL have been elected as new co-chairs of the Young Bar Association.

Workers in Northern Ireland who are laid off while furloughed will receive redundancy pay based on their normal wage under new laws being brought in next month. A spokesperson for the Department for the Economy (DfE) confirmed to Irish Legal News today that the changes being brought into effect in E

A focus on improving statistics and meeting targets is having a negative impact on victims' and witnesses' experience of the criminal justice system, a new report has found. Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJINI) has warned that an insufficient emphasis on the personal experiences of t

The first issue of the Journal of Elder Law and Capacity for 2020 has been published online as an "e-issue". A hard copy of the journal, launched by the Law Society of Northern Ireland last May, will be sent to subscribers later in the year.

Manufacturing firms in Northern Ireland face "real challenges" and will need government support to survive COVID-19 and Brexit, Tughans has warned. The firm made the comments following the findings of a new survey of 130 businesses, carried out by Perceptive Insight on behalf of Tughans and Manufact

Professor Kieran McEvoy, a professor of law and transitional justice at Queen's University Belfast, has been admitted as a fellow of the British Academy. Professor McEvoy, who was admitted to the Royal Irish Academy last year, is a leading figure internationally on societies transitioning from confl

The Next 100 Years, the successor project to the First 100 Years, has opened its annual Inspirational Women in Law Awards for nominations. The Next 100 Years is dedicated to achieving equality for women in law and the awards, which are in their fifth year, are an opportunity to recognise women in th

A review of legislation allowing for roads to be closed for special events such as street parties or sporting events has begun. Councils, sporting bodies and other organisations have raised concerns about the operation of the Roads (Miscellaneous Provision) Act (Northern Ireland) 2010.

Responses to the public consultation on sentencing policy will be published in August, Justice Minister Naomi Long has said. The public consultation was launched last October as part of the first review of sentencing policy in Northern Ireland since 2005.

Belfast-based Cleaver Fulton Rankin has maintained top ranking for its private client department in the latest Chambers High Net Worth Guide. The team, led by director Michael Graham, is one of the largest specialist private client teams in Northern Ireland and has consistently ranked "Band 1" in th

The Northern Ireland Executive should be "very slow to interfere" with the current 12-person jury in criminal trials in the face of the COVID-19 backlog, an experienced criminal lawyer has said. According to newspaper reports over the weekend, a reduction in the size of juries from 12 to seven or ni

Retired solicitor Paul Kennedy has unexpectedly withdrawn from the recruitment process for the Northern Ireland Assembly’s commissioner for standards. Mr Kennedy was nominated earlier this month for the role, which has responsibility for ensuring that MLAs uphold high standards of conduct in p