Northern Ireland

New laws governing private tenancies in Northern Ireland will come into effect next month. Sections 1 to 6 of the Private Tenancies Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 will come into law from 1 April 2023, requiring private landlords to take certain actions.

Northern Ireland’s High Court has dismissed an application for judicial review which challenged cross-border license travel requirements. The court found that the restrictions were proportionate, especially given the ease of cross-border travel on the island of Ireland.

The Bar of Northern Ireland has called for a "whole society approach" to tackling domestic abuse at a conference marking one year since the commencement of landmark legislation. More than 200 legal and lay professionals attended the conference marking the anniversary of the Domestic Abuse and Civil

New X-ray body scanners are set to be introduced in Northern Ireland prisons to tackle the trafficking of illegal contraband including drugs. The scanners are similar to those which have already been introduced in England, Wales and Scotland, the Northern Ireland Prison Service said.

Northern Ireland's restrictions on school transport during the pandemic breached the human rights of disabled children, the High Court has ruled. The Children's Law Centre (CLC) brought judicial review proceedings on behalf of two disabled children after a referral for specialist legal services by t

The Law Society of Northern Ireland will next week publish a special podcast to mark International Women's Day 2023. The podcast will feature Paddy Kelly, former barrister and director of the Children's Law Centre; Maria McCloskey, director of The PILS Project; Ursula O'Hare, director of the Law Cen

Belfast solicitor Colette Diamond has passed away. Ms Diamond qualified as a solicitor in Northern Ireland in 1982 and worked in Francis Keenan Solicitors.

Belfast-based Diamond Heron Solicitors has appointed Lesanne Green as an associate solicitor in the firm's private client team. Ms Green qualified as a solicitor in 1998 and joins the firm having worked in a well-respected rural practice for the previous 18 years.

Colin Murray, professor of law and democracy at Newcastle University, considers the Windsor Framework. It takes a long time for the fury and animosity to subside over an event like Brexit. We’ve spent seven years going back and forward over the reasons why imposing a customs and regulatory bor

The Northern Ireland Assembly will have veto powers over new EU goods laws as part of the new Windsor Framework agreed between the UK government and the European Commission. The framework, agreed by UK prime minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen yesterday, is in

A new draft protocol governing the use of restorative interventions in the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland has been published. Then-justice minister Naomi Long last year ordered a review of the 2007 protocol which governs the work of community-based restorative justice (CBRJ) organisatio

Over 90 newly-admitted solicitors have been warmly welcomed to the Northern Ireland solicitors' profession at an admission ceremony held at the Assembly Buildings in Belfast. The solicitors were presented by David A. Lavery CB, registrar of solicitors, to the Lady Chief Justice for Northern Ireland,

Lawyers are unlikely to be replaced with AI-powered chatbots any time soon, a Northern Ireland law firm has said after reviewing the reliability of legal advice produced by ChatGPT. SG Murphy Solicitors put ChatGPT, probably the best-known AI chatbot, to the test by asking it a number of standard le

Personal injury specialist firm Kearney Law Group has announced the appointment of two new claim specialists to its team in Belfast. Lee Donaghy has been appointed to the newly-created role of claims and business development manager and Ryan Abram has been named senior claims consultant.

Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal has upheld a decision permitting evidence of sexual assault in the context of a family court application where the same evidence was rejected as hearsay in a criminal trial. The facts of this case are explicit and reader discretion is advised.