Northern Ireland

A focus on improving statistics and meeting targets is having a negative impact on victims' and witnesses' experience of the criminal justice system, a new report has found. Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJINI) has warned that an insufficient emphasis on the personal experiences of t

The first issue of the Journal of Elder Law and Capacity for 2020 has been published online as an "e-issue". A hard copy of the journal, launched by the Law Society of Northern Ireland last May, will be sent to subscribers later in the year.

Manufacturing firms in Northern Ireland face "real challenges" and will need government support to survive COVID-19 and Brexit, Tughans has warned. The firm made the comments following the findings of a new survey of 130 businesses, carried out by Perceptive Insight on behalf of Tughans and Manufact

Professor Kieran McEvoy, a professor of law and transitional justice at Queen's University Belfast, has been admitted as a fellow of the British Academy. Professor McEvoy, who was admitted to the Royal Irish Academy last year, is a leading figure internationally on societies transitioning from confl

The Next 100 Years, the successor project to the First 100 Years, has opened its annual Inspirational Women in Law Awards for nominations. The Next 100 Years is dedicated to achieving equality for women in law and the awards, which are in their fifth year, are an opportunity to recognise women in th

A review of legislation allowing for roads to be closed for special events such as street parties or sporting events has begun. Councils, sporting bodies and other organisations have raised concerns about the operation of the Roads (Miscellaneous Provision) Act (Northern Ireland) 2010.

Responses to the public consultation on sentencing policy will be published in August, Justice Minister Naomi Long has said. The public consultation was launched last October as part of the first review of sentencing policy in Northern Ireland since 2005.

Belfast-based Cleaver Fulton Rankin has maintained top ranking for its private client department in the latest Chambers High Net Worth Guide. The team, led by director Michael Graham, is one of the largest specialist private client teams in Northern Ireland and has consistently ranked "Band 1" in th

The Northern Ireland Executive should be "very slow to interfere" with the current 12-person jury in criminal trials in the face of the COVID-19 backlog, an experienced criminal lawyer has said. According to newspaper reports over the weekend, a reduction in the size of juries from 12 to seven or ni

Retired solicitor Paul Kennedy has unexpectedly withdrawn from the recruitment process for the Northern Ireland Assembly’s commissioner for standards. Mr Kennedy was nominated earlier this month for the role, which has responsibility for ensuring that MLAs uphold high standards of conduct in p

A review of support measures for stressed prison officers has moved forward with the appointment of two professionals to lead the review. Siobhan Keating, a consultant psychologist in Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, and Gillian Robinson, the HR director of the Probation Board for Northern Irel

Barristers in Northern Ireland have reportedly been told that the size of juries in criminal cases could be reduced from 12 to nine or seven members to help clear the COVID-19 backlog. The Office of the Lord Chief Justice, the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service, The Bar of Northern Irelan

The number of property transactions in Northern Ireland has started to bounce back following the reopening of the housing market last month. There were 1,320 property transactions in Northern Ireland in June 2020, up from 540 in May and 410 in April, according to new HMRC figures.

An obituary of Lord Hutton, the former Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland and Lord of Appeal in Ordinary who passed away last week, has been published by The Times. The senior judge was born in Belfast in 1931 and began his career at The Bar of Northern Ireland in 1954. He became a QC in 1970 an

Derry solicitor Karen O'Leary has been appointed to the editorial board of Legal Women, a new quarterly magazine for women in the law. Ms O'Leary heads up the family law practice at Caldwell & Robinson Solicitors, the Derry-based firm which expanded into Dublin last year.