Northern Ireland

Plans for a new joint “care and justice campus” for children and young people lack clarity and should have involved more consultation with children and young people, the Children's Law Centre (CLC) has said. A consultation was launched last October on proposals for a new combined campus

A review led by barrister Peter Coll QC has concluded that Belfast City Council was not pressurised into giving special treatment to the funeral of republican Bobby Storey. Mr Coll was appointed last September to review the council's handling of the funeral after it allowed up to 30 mourners into Ro

Legislation protecting private renters in Northern Ireland from eviction have been extended to the end of September 2021. The Private Tenancies (Coronavirus Modifications) Act requires landlords to give tenants a 12 week notice to quit period before seeking a court order to begin proceedings to evic

Belfast barrister Adele O'Grady QC has been admitted to the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL) as its newest Fellow, as well as its first-ever from Northern Ireland. The prestigious organisation is a worldwide association of practising lawyers recognised by their peers as the most experi

The PSNI's use of discretion and penalty notices to deal with low level offences has improved but more work remains to be done, the criminal justice watchdog has said. Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJI) has published a follow-up review assessing progress in the implementation of reco

A victims' rights campaigner is taking the European Commission to court over its short-lived threat to invoke Article 16 during the EU vaccine crisis. Solicitor Ciaran O'Hare of Belfast firm McIvor Farrell Solicitors has been instructed to bring a judicial review to the General Court of the European

Michael Humphreys QC has been sworn into office as a High Court judge in Northern Ireland. Mr Justice Humphreys graduated from Oxford University in 1993 and was called to The Bar of Northern Ireland in 1994. He took silk in 2011.

Employment solicitor Leanne McKeown of Rosemary Connolly Employment & Equality Solicitors highlights a recent ruling from Great Britain which Northern Ireland employers should note. The recent GB case of Allay (UK) Ltd v Mr S Gehlen (2021) demonstrates the continuing duty on employers to review

A new temporary body has been established to enforce environmental law in England and Northern Ireland following Brexit. The Interim Environmental Governance Secretariat (IEGS) has been established in response to the European Commission no longer having an environmental oversight role after the UK's

A Belfast-based member of the UK Labour Party has launched legal proceedings over the party's refusal to stand election candidates in Northern Ireland. Keith Gray, who wants to be a Labour candidate, has instructed KRW LAW LLP to challenge the party's long-standing position of only running in Great

Complainants in sexual offence cases in Northern Ireland will have access to fully qualified sexual offences legal advisors (SOLAs) from April, Justice Minister Naomi Long has confirmed. The pilot scheme fulfils one of the recommendations of retired Court of Appeal judge Sir John Gillen's high-profi

Northern Ireland firm MKB Law has unveiled a new brand identity and website as part of its ongoing business development plans. The firm has grown to 35 staff members and offers services in all areas of law, with a particular focus on corporate, property, dispute resolution, debt recovery, employment

Justice Minister Naomi Long will next week meet with the family of an 18-year-old student killed by a drunk driver to discuss the initial findings of a major sentencing review. The family of Enda Dolan, who was killed in October 2014, have called for tougher sentences for drunk drivers ever since Da

Attorney General Brenda King has ordered a fresh inquest into the shooting of six Catholic men in the New Lodge area of north Belfast in February 1973. The British Army initially said all six men had been shot by soldiers, but later said it appeared that loyalist paramilitaries were responsible for

A growing backlog in Northern Ireland's employment tribunals is creating an access to justice crisis, lawyers have warned. Killymeal House, the home of the Industrial Tribunals and the Fair Employment Tribunal, is currently "closed until further notice".