Northern Ireland

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

Two solicitors have been appointed as notaries public by the Lady Chief Justice of Northern Ireland. Warrenpoint solicitor Rosemary Connolly and Limavady solicitor Caroline McConnell were appointed to the office with effect from yesterday.

More work needs to be done to encourage and support victims of domestic violence to free themselves from abusive behaviour, one of Northern Ireland's top family lawyers has said. Claire Edgar, partner at Francis Hanna & Co Solicitors, yesterday addressed a conference on domestic abuse hosted by

Northern Ireland's High Court has denied leave for judicial review to an applicant who believed that being forced to rely on in-patient mental health treatments violated his rights under Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The court held that systems in place to provide ment

Northern Ireland's justice minister has urged the UK government to restrict or regulate online anonymity in new legislation tackling online harms. A Westminster committee is currently carrying out pre-legislative scrutiny of the Online Safety Bill, which will require online platforms like Facebook a

Work to establish specialist mental health and domestic violence courts in Northern Ireland has been delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic, justice minister Naomi Long has said. Mrs Long said scoping work on the pilot mental health court had been "paused due to the Covid-19 pandemic and refocusing of res

The Lady Chief Justice’s Office and the Bar Council of Northern Ireland have announced the launch of a new Legal History Project reflecting on 100 years of law in Northern Ireland. The project will curate and commission a new series of public and internal events, resources and personal histori

Northern Ireland's High Court has ruled in favour of a convicted arsonist freed more than 33 years ago who submitted that a law preventing convictions of more than 30 months' imprisonment from ever becoming spent breaches his human rights. The court was persuaded to make a declaration that Article 6

Belfast-based MKB Law has announced the promotion of three solicitors to associate director. Residential property specialist Emma Smyth, family law solicitor Áine Toner, and corporate and commercial property expert Lynsey Henderson have been promoted in response to increased demand for servic

Around 7,500 defendants in Northern Ireland were waiting for their first court hearing at the start of October, according to new figures. Justice minister Naomi Long said the figure "is consistent with levels noted prior to the pandemic", when the number stood at around 7,200 defendants.

Northern Ireland's justice minister has set out her commitment to upgrading the courts and tribunals system in the north-west following a visit to the Bishop Street courthouse in Derry. Jury trials have not taken place at the courthouse since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic because it has not bee