Northern Ireland

A female engineer who alleged she was subjected to unlawful sex discrimination has settled a case against her former employer for £5,000 with support from the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland. Grants Electric Services (NI) Ltd settled the case with former employee Amy Verner without ad

The Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) has launched a consultation on moving to smoke-free prisons. The consultation, which runs until the end of November, follows the successful implementation of smoke-free prisons in Scottish, English and Isle of Mann prisons in recent years.

A public consultation on sentencing policy has been launched by the Department of Justice following a major review. The public consultation paper has been developed through extensive research of approaches to sentencing, and highlights issues raised during engagement with partner organisations and o

Legislation to establish a redress scheme for victims and survivors of historical institutional abuse in Northern Ireland will be debated in the House of Lords today. The second reading of the Historical Institutional Abuse (Northern Ireland) Bill will take place this afternoon.

Bars and law societies across Europe are today highlighting the importance of criminal legal aid in ensuring access to justice as part of European Lawyers' Day 2019. The fifth annual European Lawyers' Day, an initiative of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE), is also highlighting

The Bar of Northern Ireland has announced the launch of a new mobile app designed to meet the needs of busy practitioners. The "Bar of NI" app provides easy and portable access to a range of useful information, resources and services at the touch of a button from a mobile device.

A senior legal academic has called on Queen's University Belfast to make a "full public apology" over its historical involvement in electrical aversion therapy for gay men. Professor Phil Scraton, emeritus professor in QUB School of Law, said the university's response to revelations over its involve

A new £54 million accommodation block at Maghaberry Prison has been officially opened. Davis House is the largest capital build undertaken by the Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) in over 30 years and the largest within the Department of Justice since its establishment in 2010.

Global law firm Baker McKenzie has appointed the first two trainee solicitors from its Belfast Centre as associates in London. Luke Hackett and Lesley-Anne Wilson applied for a training contract through the Belfast office when the trainee programme was created in 2016.

The prosecution of a woman who bought abortion pills for her teenage daughter has been formally dropped following the decriminalisation of abortion in Northern Ireland yesterday. This morning, Belfast Crown Court formally discharged the mother from prosecution on two charges of unlawfully procuring

European law firm Fieldfisher has announced plans to expand its presence in Belfast after doubling the size of its Legal Solutions Hub in the city's landmark Titanic Quarter. The firm has signed a lease with the building's landlords, Robinson Family Ltd, for an additional 3,000 foot of office space

A last-ditch attempt to stop the decriminalisation of abortion in Northern Ireland by rushing a bill through Stormont in a single day has failed. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which is opposed to abortion in all circumstances, attempted to introduce the Defence of the Unborn Child Bill 2019 y

International legal business DWF has appointed two directors, one senior associate, four associates and nine solicitors in Belfast over a year of significant growth.

The Department of Justice has appointed Jacqui Durkin as chief inspector of criminal justice for Northern Ireland. Ms Durkin will assume leadership of Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJINI) at the end of November for an initial three-year term.

An 158-year-old law criminalising abortion in Northern Ireland will be repealed at midnight tonight under a law passed by MPs this summer. Under section 9 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Act 2019, sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 are repealed in Northern I