Northern Ireland

Belief marriages overseen by humanist celebrants would have equal legal status with religious marriage under plans put out to consultation in Northern Ireland. The Department of Finance is seeking feedback on a number of changes to marriage laws, including an increase in the minimum age for marriage

Northern Ireland's Crown Court has ruled that a "self-centred" murderer with 51 prior convictions will not be eligible for parole for at least 21 years. The court examined the violence of the murder, and the state of the defendant, determining that both were aggravating factors, which warranted exte

There have been no convictions under Northern Ireland's "ground-breaking" mental capacity laws nearly two years after they were brought into effect. The Mental Capacity Act (NI) 2016 fuses together mental capacity and mental health law for those aged 16 and over within a single piece of legislation,

Sinn Féin has launched a bill to ban zero-hour contracts in Northern Ireland. Jemma Dolan, the party's workers' rights spokesperson, will launch the bill in the Northern Ireland Assembly today.

The needs and interests of victims must be central to the criminal justice system, Northern Ireland's justice minister Naomi Long has said to mark the 40th anniversary of Victim Support Northern Ireland. Speaking at the anniversary event, Mrs Long outlined her Department's ongoing work to better und

Northern Ireland firm Cleaver Fulton Rankin has announced four promotions across its insolvency and business restructuring, planning and environment, and marketing and business development teams. Maria McNally has been promoted to associate director within the insolvency and business restructuring t

Just eight people were convicted of rape in Northern Ireland in the 2020/21 financial year amid a significant decrease in court business during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) received a total of 1,568 files involving a sexual offence in 2020/21, a decrease of 6.9 per cen

Alison Cassidy, partner at DAC Beachcroft in Belfast, comments on Northern Ireland's low personal injury discount rate. It has been over five months since the Department of Justice made a shock announcement to change the personal injury discount rate (PIDR) from +2.5 per cent to -1.75 per cent, leav

Portadown-based JPH Law, part of The Law Group, has announced the acquisition of TD Gibson & Co Solicitors. The combination of the two firms – both based on Church Street – creates a firm with more than 25 solicitors, specialising in all areas of legal practice.

An asylum seeker who feared being kidnapped and chained has been granted a fresh decision by Northern Ireland's High Court after an "unfair" and "irrelevant" ruling by the Secretary of State for the Home Department. The applicant, a citizen of Somalia, successfully challenged the Home Office decisio

A cross-party process to help draw up a bill of rights for Northern Ireland has stalled because of opposition from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to the appointment of Professor Colin Harvey to a panel of experts. Widely regarded as one of Northern Ireland's top legal academics, Professor Harve

Belfast-based O'Reilly Stewart Solicitors has welcomed six new solicitors to its ranks following two new hires and four newly-qualified solicitors staying on after their training contract. The firm has recruited Helen Winter to its commercial team and Thomas Greenaway to its property team.

KRW LAW LLP has announced the appointment of Shane Coleman to its human rights civil litigation team. Mr Coleman, from Tyrone, will work on wrongful arrest and Police Ombudsman (PONI) complaints, as well as helping to service the firm's increasing historical institutional abuse (HIA) redress caseloa

A&L Goodbody (ALG) has been ranked as Northern Ireland's top legal adviser by both value and volume of total M&A deals in 2021 so far. According to the latest report from global information services company Experian, ALG's Belfast office acted on 46 deals worth over £1.1 billion in the

A&L Goodbody (ALG) has announced the appointment of Aisling Byrne as a partner in the firm's employment team in Belfast, bringing its total number of partners in Northern Ireland to 19. Ms Byrne has over 20 years' experience in employment and equality law, advising on issues ranging from employm