Northern Ireland

Plans to modernise the civil and family justice system over the next year have been set out by Justice Minister Naomi Long. Speaking in Stormont this morning, Mrs Long said she would take forward changes before the next election to make the civil and family justice system "more accessible for citize

Mr Justice Michael Humphreys has been appointed as deputy chairman of the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland. The Boundary Commission is an independent and impartial public body which reviews UK Parliament constituency boundaries in Northern Ireland in line with the Parliamentary Constituencie

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis has laid regulations in Westminster giving him the power to direct Stormont to commission abortion services. The Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021 will come into force on 31 March 2021 and will allow Mr Lewis to direct Northern Ireland ministers, d

Trainee solicitors Rebecca Lucas and Robert Bellingham of the Institute for Professional Legal Studies (IPLS) have triumphed in the Northern Ireland heat of the Client Consultation Competition. Ms Lucas, who trains with McQueenie Boyle Solicitors, and Mr Bellingham, of Tughans, will now go on to com

The UK government will intervene to commission abortion services in Northern Ireland following Health Minister Robin Swann's failure to do so, according to reports. Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis is this week expected to introduce regulations which will give him the power to direct the com

A survivor of abuse at Rathgael and Lisnevin Training Schools has launched the first judicial review challenge against the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) redress board. KRW LAW LLP has lodged an application for judicial review with the High Court on behalf of Cyril Glass, a leader of the Survi

A £15 million plan to develop part of Belfast’s Crumlin Road Gaol into a whisky distillery has been given the go-ahead by Belfast City Council. Its planning committee approved the application, which will also see part of the old prison's 'A' wing transformed into a tourist centre, the Be

Committal proceedings against a former soldier charged with murder on Bloody Sunday began yesterday in Derry. Soldier F is accused of the murder of James Wray and William McKinney, on January 30th, 1972, when British troops fired on civil rights demonstrators, killing 13 people.

The search for the next Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland has begun in advance of Sir Declan Morgan's retirement later this year. Sir Declan, who assumed the top judicial post in 2009, will reach the mandatory retirement age of 70 in January 2022.

Belfast-based Ó Muirigh Solicitors has announced the appointment of Niall Bradley as a solicitor. Mr Bradley brings over eight years' experience working in a law firm specialising in defence insurance litigation. He has acted for a number of market-leading national and international insurance

Proposals to raise the age of criminal responsibility in Northern Ireland from 10 to at least 12 have not progressed due to "a lack of political support", Justice Minister Naomi Long has said. Mrs Long yesterday gave a update on the implementation of the 31 recommendations of the 2011 Youth Justice

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