Northern Ireland

A decision by Northern Ireland's agriculture minister to order a halt to checks on goods moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland has been branded "a breach of international law" by Ireland's European commissioner. Mairead McGuinness, the European commissioner for financial stability, finan

The newly-formed committee of the Northern Ireland Young Solicitors Association (NIYSA) has elected its vice-chair, secretary, treasurer and other officers for 2022. The NIYSA committee, which was elected at its AGM last month, elected its officers following its first monthly meeting of the year.

Northern Ireland's planning system is not working efficiently and has failed to meet many of its main performance targets in recent years, a new report has found. The report, produced by Northern Ireland's comptroller and auditor general Kieran Donnelly CB and the local government auditor Colette Ka

The Bar of Northern Ireland and the Law Society of Northern Ireland have issued a stark joint warning over proposed cuts to Northern Ireland's justice budget, which the professions say will undermine access to justice. Representatives of the barrister and solicitor professions have been meeting with

Belfast-based MKB Law has been named as the only Northern Ireland firm selected as finalists at the Chartered Institute of Credit Management's (CICM) Credit Awards 2022. The firm's specialist debt recovery and insolvency team represents a number of businesses in the credit industry within Northern I

Global legal business DWF has announced the appointment of Sinéad Ryan as a partner in Dublin and the promotion of partners James Morrison and Mark Taggart in Belfast. The firm has announced 34 senior promotions as part of its worldwide promotions round, with 17 new partners, four other senio

Belfast-based Millar McCall Wylie (MMW) has celebrated a "record year" after enjoying a 25 per cent increase in turnover and transaction volume in 2021. The firm plans to grow its headcount from 50 by a further 20 per cent over the course of the year, largely thanks to increased deals activity in No

The High Court of Northern Ireland has dismissed an application alleging cross-cutting from ministers who challenged a decision of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in relation to bonfires in Belfast. The ongoing bonfire dispute, which was previously covered by Irish Legal News here, was

Alan Hunter, the former chief executive of the Law Society of Northern Ireland, has been appointed to the board of the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (CCNI). Mr Hunter, who has held a number of leading positions within the Law Society and the Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Commissio

A public consultation launched today is seeking views on the model and scope of proposed hate crime legislation to be brought forward in the next Northern Ireland Assembly mandate. A major judge-led review recommended in 2020 that Northern Ireland should adopt a statutory aggravation model of hate c

Vulnerable prisoners in Northern Ireland have been held in solitary confinement for long periods in breach of UN rules, a watchdog has said in a damning report. Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJINI) led an independent review into conditions in care and supervision units (CSUs) in Nort

Belfast-based specialist commercial, technology, intellectual property and media law firm Forde Campbell has joined UK-headquartered Lewis Silkin. Forde Campbell directors Mathew Forde, Rory Campbell and Katey Dixon will become partners in Lewis Silkin's Northern Ireland practice, working alongside

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) is to re-examine the case of a man convicted in 2012 of the first murder of a serving police officer in Northern Ireland since the Good Friday Agreement. Brendan McConville is one of two men currently serving a prison sentence for the 2009 murder of PSNI o

Northern Ireland prisons will resume in-person visits from Monday, the Northern Ireland Prison Service has confirmed. Visits were suspended shortly after Christmas 2021 in response to the increased risk posed by the Omicron variant.

New legislation providing for a specific offence of stalking and introducing new stalking protection orders (SPOs) is closer to becoming law after completing consideration stage in Stormont. MLAs yesterday approved a series of amendments to the Protection from Stalking Bill which were developed