Suella Braverman, the UK government's chief law officer, has reportedly advised ministers that unilateral action on the Northern Ireland Protocol would now be lawful because it is causing "societal unrest". The attorney general said previous advice which said overriding the agreement would breach in
Northern Ireland
A consultation on the introduction of minimum unit pricing for alcoholic drinks in Northern Ireland has been extended until Friday 27 May. The Department of Health has proposed that alcoholic drinks should have a minimum price of 50p per unit, which is the law in Scotland.
UK government plans to address the legacy of the past represent a "full-frontal attack on the rule of law" in spite of revisions making an amnesty conditional on co-operation with authorities, campaigners have said. Yesterday's Queen's speech, setting out the government's legislative programme for t
Roger McMillan, managing partner and head of healthcare at Belfast-based Carson McDowell, has been named as a recipient of the 2022 Industry Defender Award by the board of directors of the Medical Professional Liability (MPL) Association. The award is presented to individual defence lawyers who have
Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal has dismissed a claim that a prisoner’s human rights were infringed when his housing benefit was denied for four months during his period of imprisonment. The court found that there had been no discrimination between treatment of convicted and unconvict
Lawyers for the relatives of two victims of the Troubles have sought to have their challenge to the UK government's controversial legacy plans heard in the UK Supreme Court. Patricia Burns, daughter of Thomas Burns, and Daniel McCready, nephew of James McCann, had their case rejected by Northern Ire
Tributes have been paid to Northern Ireland media law expert Paul McDonnell after he passed away on Thursday. Mr McDonnell, formerly a partner at McKinty and Wright (now part of DAC Beachcroft) and a consultant at Carson McDowell, had been an in-house lawyer at the Belfast Telegraph and Sunday Life
European law firm Fieldfisher has announced plans to double the size of its Belfast office's graduate legal professional programme following the successful completion of the scheme's first year. All five inductees in the scheme's first programme, run in partnership with the University of Law, secure
Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal has delivered a judgment on the appropriate method for calculating custody expiry dates for prisoners facing concurrent sentences. The court rejected the argument that the calculation of a release date for one offence must take into consideration any period o
The first of our new regular round-up of deals involving Northern Ireland law firms. Submit your deals to newsdesk@irishlegal.com. Tughans has advised Vyta, a leader in the fast-growing IT asset disposition (ITAD) market, on both its significant investment from private equity firm MML Growth Capital
A Northern Ireland Crown Court sitting in Belfast has determined that James McVeigh will go 18 years without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to the 2019 murder of Paul Smyth. The court’s decision was impacted by aggravating factors, such as the fact that McVeigh was out on bail
Cleaver Fulton Rankin has been shortlisted in the 'Excellence in Innovation' category at the Belfast Telegraph Business Awards 2022. The category recognises businesses that have placed innovation at the forefront of recent developments, including adopting a culture of continuous improvement and demo
Belfast-based Carson McDowell has announced the appointment of four new partners in its Belfast and Dublin offices. In Belfast, Hilary Griffith, Richard Dickson and Damian McElholm have been appointed as partners in the corporate, real estate and banking and finance teams respectively. In Dublin, Ka
Northern Ireland lawyer Conor McCann has joined Australian firm Celtic Legal as an overseas qualified solicitor in the firm's commercial practice. Based in Toowong, Queensland, Celtic Legal is a boutique law firm specialising in commercial law, insolvency and debt recovery.
Northern Ireland’s High Court has dismissed a man's claim to reverse a bankruptcy order where it was argued that his delay in selling cattle had been caused by pending litigation and the pandemic. In addition, the debtor's request for an extension of time to set aside the statutory demand upon