Northern Ireland

Employment solicitor Leanne McKeown of Rosemary Connolly Employment & Equality Solicitors looks across the water at one of the first tribunal rulings on employees who refuse to wear masks. In the case of Kubilius v Kent Foods Ltd, the Employment Tribunal in GB held that an employer had acted fai

The temporary suspension of the requirement to hold a public event as part of pre-application community consultation on major planning applications has been extended until the end of September 2021. The latest extension will allow major planning applications to continue to be submitted during the Co

Christine Smith QC has been appointed to chair the public inquiry into the work of a Southern Trust urologist. The "historic appointment" makes Ms Smith the first woman to chair a public inquiry in Northern Ireland, The Bar of Northern Ireland has said.

Plans to change the way damages are calculated in Northern Ireland could leave people with life-changing injuries under-compensated and relying on the state, personal injury lawyers have warned. The Northern Ireland Assembly is now debating the Damages (Return on Investment) Bill, which follows a pu

Any changes to the Human Rights Act 1998 could "significantly undermine Northern Ireland's unique constitutional settlement", The Bar of Northern Ireland has said. In its submission to the UK government's review of the law, the Bar said it "would not support any amendments to the HRA as part of this

Belfast lawyer Paul Tweed has been profiled in the US edition of Grazia as "the most powerful man in Hollywood". The fashion magazine describes Mr Tweed, partner at Gateley Tweed, as "one of the most formidable defamation lawyers in the world, with a client list that reads like a who's who of the la

A consultation on proposals to place adult safeguarding on a statutory footing has been extended for a further four weeks. The proposed Adult Protection Bill aims to respond to the 2019 scandal around safeguarding failings, including allegations of abuse, at Muckamore Abbey Hospital and Dunmurry Man

Retired Belfast solicitor Ted Jones has passed away, the Law Society of Northern Ireland has said. Mr Jones qualified as a solicitor in September 1973. He founded corporate law firm Jones & Company Solicitors in 1998 and served as its principal partner until his retirement in 2012.

Law firm Carson McDowell and Belfast Chamber of Commerce have launched a new series of events aimed at starting a debate around the future growth and development of Belfast. The "Re-Energising Belfast" series of four virtual events will consider some of the key development challenges and opportuniti

Human rights experts Professor Phil Scraton and Dr Maeve O'Rourke have been appointed as part of a three-person team to establish the terms of reference for a fully independent investigation into mother and baby homes and Magdalene laundries in Northern Ireland. The "truth recovery design team" will

Northern Ireland's courts backlog has eased slightly since the height of the pandemic, with around 10,000 criminal cases outstanding at the start of February. Justice Minister Naomi Long said the 10,000 total was up on 8,100 cases in March 2020 but "down significantly" from a peak of 12,800 in Septe

The number of defendants brought back to court for breach of their bail conditions has risen by around 50 per cent in five years, new figures reveal. Provisional figures show there were 2,286 bail revoked orders made in 2019, a 50 per cent increase from 1,523 in 2015 – with a substantial incre

The £108 million redevelopment of Magilligan Prison has been delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic but progress has still been made, Justice Minister Naomi Long has said. Magilligan is a medium- to low-security facility near Limavady which holds more than 450 male prisoners with six years or less t

The High Court has determined that a Health and Care Trust did not act unlawfully after it reduced the level of social care to two profoundly disabled adults due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The court said that the decision taken by the Trust to reduce care services from March 2020 was r

Defendant insurance specialist firm Horwich Farrelly has reported continued growth in Northern Ireland, with Eva Bashford and Sarah McLeigh joining the team. Ms Bashford joins the firm as a partner, bringing over 15 years' experience of dealing with claims in both Northern Ireland and the Republic o