Northern Ireland

The new Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, Marie Anderson, has formally taken up her role with a promise to build on the independence of the organisation and ensure the investigation of complaints meets modern Ombudsman standards. Ms Anderson, a solicitor by profession, is the fourth person to h

Plans to extend abortion access and same-sex marriage to Northern Ireland have been approved by the House of Lords, following revisions to the process and timetable. MPs voted last week to amend the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill to include provisions on abortion and marriage which will

Law firm TLT has reported a seven per cent rise in turnover from £82 million in 2017/18 to £87.6 million this year, representing an increase of nearly 50 per cent over the last five years. The firm said its financial performance this year has been underpinned by success in several of its

A schoolteacher who launched a sex discrimination case against her employer with the support of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland has settled the case for £5,000. Catherine McCormick, who continues to teach at the school, alleged that she was overlooked for the post of temporary hea

Westminster will legislate to introduce a new offence of coercive control in Northern Ireland, former Justice Minister Claire Sugden has announced. In a statement this morning, Ms Sugden said she had been informed by Northern Ireland's Department of Justice that the UK Government's Domestic Abuse Bi

Kerri Bradley, HR director at Belfast firm Cleaver Fulton Rankin, was recognised with a special accolade at a networking lunch to honour the Business First Top 40 Under 40. Ms Bradley, who was named in the list in April, won the public vote for "The People's Choice" award after 10,951 votes were tal

UK law firm TLT has announced the appointment of Caitriona Morgan as a legal director in Belfast. Ms Morgan, who joins from Cleaver Fulton Rankin, specialises in insolvency and business restructuring and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to further enhance TLT's insolvency offering.

John Dugdale, associate at A&L Goodbody in Belfast, writes on the latest legal developments concerning "smash & grab" adjudications. So-called "smash & grab" adjudications have been the subject of much debate in the construction industry in the last 18 months. This follows the case of S&

Northern Ireland lawyers are preparing to join Lawyers with Pride at Belfast Pride for a fourth year running. Lawyers with Pride was set up in 2016 to “ensure that the LGBT community know that they can access justice without fear or bias”.

Human rights activist Ellen Murray will deliver Amnesty International's annual Belfast Pride lecture this year on the theme of transgender rights. Ms Murray is executive director of not-for-profit organisation TransgenderNI and an international trans human rights consultant focusing on healthcare an

The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) has launched a public consultation on its updated policy covering the prosecution of road traffic offences. The policy document explains the approach of the PPS in taking prosecutorial decisions in respect of road traffic offences.

Amnesty International has welcomed a recommendation from the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee that compensation for victims of Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) should progress as quickly as possible through Parliament. A redress scheme was one of the key recommendations of the Historical Insti

The routine fast-tracking of legislation relating to Northern Ireland is "constitutionally unacceptable", a key Westminster committee has said. The House of Lords select committee on the constitution said the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill could have been "introduced earlier and proceed

Abortion access and same-sex marriage will be extended to Northern Ireland through secondary UK legislation if a Northern Ireland Executive is not formed by October under plans approved by MPs yesterday. In a free vote, MPs voted by 332-99 and 383-73 to support amendments to the Northern Ireland (Ex

Belfast-based Carson McDowell has announced a year-long partnership with local charity Cancer Fund for Children.