Northern Ireland

An Oireachtas committee has called on the Irish government to bring an inter-state case against the UK in the European Court of Human Rights in relation to its controversial legacy law. The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023, which ends criminal investigations and civil c

Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal has refused John Miller leave to appeal his conviction for the murder of his fiancée Charlotte Murray. Delivering judgment for the Court of Appeal, Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan determined that the trial judge had appropriately decided to leav

No prosecutions will be brought against 16 people referred by the investigation into the Provisional IRA informer codenamed "Stakeknife", Northern Ireland's Public Prosecution Service (PPS) has said. The decisions, which concern murders committed between 1981 and 1993, follow the death earlier this

There remain significant barriers to abortion access in Northern Ireland four years on from decriminalisation, according to a new report. Amnesty International's 159-page report, Legal but not local: Barriers to accessing abortion services in Northern Ireland, lays bare "the failures and wide-rangin

Belfast solicitor Brian Speers, chair of the Law Society Mediation Service (LSMS) in Northern Ireland, writes on an important case for those interested in developments regarding mediation. On 29th November 2023, the Court of Appeal in England and Wales issued its judgment in the case of James Church

Northern Ireland's new strategy for victims and survivors of the Troubles has been published for consultation. The new strategy — the first update since 2009 — aims to ensure the right trauma-informed and victim-centred services are in place to empower and support victims and survivors,

Pupils from Coleraine Grammar School have won the Northern Ireland regional heat of the annual Bar Mock Trial Competition and will progress to the UK final in London next year. The Bar Mock Trial Competition aims to help young people understand how the law touches every aspect of their lives, gainin

The Law Society of Northern Ireland has named The Boom Foundation as its charity of the year for 2024. The Boom Foundation is the only charity in Northern Ireland dedicated to supporting patients suffering from sarcoma cancer, and was established by Leona Rankin in April 2013 after his fiancé

DWF has welcomed newly-qualified solicitors Andrew Newell, Anne Kelly, Paula Breen, Shauna Lee Warwick and Sarah Bissett to its Belfast office. Mr Newell and Ms Kelly take up permanent roles following the completion of their training contracts with the firm, while the other three are new joiners, al

A&L Goodbody has welcomed five newly-qualified solicitors to its 130-strong team of lawyers and business support professionals in Northern Ireland. Niamh Flanagan, Liam Fox and Holly Johnston will all assume assistant solicitor roles in the firm’s litigation department, with Eoin Culliton

Northern Ireland barrister James Stitt examines a Scottish case with significance for clinical negligence practitioners. Once more, a Scottish case has provided an opportunity for a substantial development of the law in the field of clinical negligence.

Staff at Newry-headquartered Fisher & Fisher Solicitors have been given £125 worth of vouchers for local businesses as a Christmas treat.

Professor Luke Moffett's Reparations and War has been awarded the Kevin Boyle Book Prize by the Irish Association of Law Teachers (IALT). Published by Oxford University Press this year, Professor Moffett's book draws on hundreds of interviews to examine the history, theoretical justifications, and p

Northern Ireland's former justice minister has criticised delays and backlogs in the courts as failing and re-traumatising victims of crime. Claire Sugden, the independent MLA for East Londonderry who served as justice minister from 2016–17, said the average time taken to conclude a criminal c

A new consultation is seeking views on changes to the legislative framework around anti-social behaviour in Northern Ireland, including making anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) cheaper and easier to obtain. The joint public consultation by the Department of Justice and the Department for Communit