Northern Ireland

Queen's University Belfast (QUB) law student Vivien Loughrey has been presented with the JMK Solicitors Prize, worth £3,000. Ms Loughrey received the prize after achieving the highest mark in her tort law module, as well as meeting the widening access criteria set by the university.

Delayed work to establish a dedicated mental health court in Northern Ireland will not resume until at least next year and possibly later, it has emerged. Scoping work on the pilot mental health court was "paused due to the Covid-19 pandemic", justice minister Naomi Long said earlier this month.

Research commissioned by Northern Ireland's Youth Justice Agency (YJA) will establish "if and why" children and young people from a Catholic background are more likely to be detained in custody. Around three-quarters of young offenders held in Woodlands Juvenile Justice Centre are from a Catholic ba

A statutory public inquiry into mother and baby institutions and Magdalane laundries in Northern Ireland will take place as part of an "integrated truth investigation", the Northern Ireland Executive has announced. Ministers have agreed all recommendations in the report produced by the truth recover

The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has come under pressure from US legislators to speak out against the UK government's controversial plans to end all criminal investigations and prosecutions linked to killings during the Troubles. A bipartisan group of 21 members of the US Congress, led by

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