Coronavirus

Police and immigration officers across the UK will be given powers to detain and isolate people to protect public health under emergency measures designed to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. The Emergency Coronavirus Bill, to be introduced at Westminster on Thursday, will set out various measures wh

No new trials will commence in the Crown Court unless they are expected to last three days or less, the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Burnett of Maldon, has announced. He said: "We must make every effort to maintain a functioning court system in support of the administration of justice and rule of law."

Hundreds of textbooks have been made freely available online by Cambridge University Press (CUP) until the end of May this year. In an effort to help students amid the coronavirus outbreak, the publisher has made more than 700 textbooks free to access.

The Courts Service of Ireland has announced measures to "scale back" the numbers attending court. The latest update, issued on Friday evening, is reproduced in full below. The Courts Service has managed a very successful introduction of measures to scale back the work of the courts, which began toda

A mother of a child with underlying health problems has launched an emergency judicial review of ministers' decision not to close schools across Northern Ireland. Solicitor Darragh Mackin of Phoenix Law is representing the woman, who is lodging proceedings against the Minister of Education, the Mini

A court in Derry held a hearing outside due to concerns that one of the accused could have coronavirus. Three men and a woman had been due to appear in Derry Magistrates' Court on hijacking charges, but all four had their charges read in the vehicles used to bring them to court.

The trial of a former British soldier accused of the attempted murder of a 27-year-old man in 1974 could proceed via Skype because of the coronavirus outbreak. Lawyers for Dennis Hutchings, 79, told Belfast Crown Court on Friday that their client has a chest infection and was advised by doctors to s

The Courts Service of Ireland issued the below update on coronavirus yesterday evening at 6.30pm. The Courts Service is introducing measures starting tomorrow (Friday 13 March), which will scale back the number and size of court hearings. In many ways it will be business as usual, but with mitigatin

Employment and asylum appeal hearings have been postponed to help slow the spread of coronavirus. The Workplace Relations Commission and the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) have all announced no hearings will take place until at least 29 March 2020.

The Courts Service of Ireland issued the below update on coronavirus yesterday afternoon, which Irish Legal News is republishing in full. The Courts Service continues to follow the instructions set out in the HSE’s official communications on the coronavirus.

Jason O'Sullivan, solicitor and public affairs consultant at J.O.S Solicitors, offers a practical guide to Irish businesses on steps to take in preparation for the coronavirus crisis. “It will be like nothing in our living memory” was the dire warning delivered this week by Taoiseach Leo

Immigration judges in the US have forced officials to backtrack on an order to remove courthouse posters providing coronavirus advice in English and Spanish. The National Association of Immigration Judges (NAIJ) issued advice to judges recommending they display posters from the Centres for Disease C

The Courts Service of Ireland has said it has "no current plans to cancel court sittings" because of coronavirus, but is keeping contingency plans under constant review. Additional sanitisation of public offices and courtrooms has been arranged and hygiene supplies for public offices and hand saniti

A fundraising CPD event hosted by Lawyers Against Homelessness has been cancelled due to coronavirus. The initiative, a collaborative effort between barristers and solicitors, has raised over €165,000 through CPD events for the Capuchin Day Centre since it was established in late 2017.

Contingency plans are being drawn up for the possibility of courthouses being closed due to coronavirus, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan has said. Mr Flanagan yesterday addressed a special sitting of the Dáil to set out preparations in the justice sector for the possibility of a COVID-19 ou