A diplomat who allegedly kept a woman as a slave will not enjoy diplomatic immunity from suit if the facts against him are proven, the UK Supreme Court has ruled. Lord Briggs and Lord Leggatt, with whom Lord Stephens agreed, gave the joint majority judgment. Lord Hamblen and Lady Rose gave a dissent
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Sara Phelan SC has been elected as the next chair of the Council of the Bar of Ireland, taking up the role from September 2022. Succeeding Maura McNally SC, who has held the post for two years, she will become only the third woman to ever serve as Bar Council chairperson.
Allen & Overy (A&O) has raised over £30,000 for pregnancy and baby loss charity Sands in Northern Ireland and across the UK following a three-year pro bono and community investment partnership. Sands works to save babies’ lives and to make sure that the right care and support is
The Irish Prison Service (IPS) will be placed on a full statutory footing with a non-executive board and other structures aligning with best practice under new government plans. The IPS is currently a non-statutory agency of the Department of Justice. It has approximately 3,500 staff and an annual b
Law firms which support neurodiverse individuals and embrace their unique talents have access to a valuable source of highly skilled talent, an event organised by the disAbility Legal Network has heard. The "Neurodiversity in the Legal Sector" event, hosted by Matheson, focused on the strengths neur
Criminal barristers across England and Wales have begun strike action in protest over inadequate legal aid fees. The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) refused the offer of a 15 per cent uplift in fees, saying it was insufficient in the wake of deep cuts to the legal aid budget and pointed out that it w
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) in Great Britain relied on the wrong legal basis to disclose motorists' personal data to private car parking companies seeking to recover unpaid parking charges, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has ruled. In a six-page opinion published this
The High Court has criticised a personal insolvency practitioner for providing misleading information to creditors in a proposal which would have written off most of a €13 million debt. The court said that the PIP had “fallen well below the appropriate ethical standards” expected of
Uncertainty remains as to the correct interpretation of Article 82 of GDPR for the right of data subjects to obtain compensation for breaches of data. Rose Caroline McGrath BL and Mark Finan BL consider some of the approaches which are emerging from the references to the CJEU and the UK case law tog
Northern Ireland's High Court has struck out a negligence claim against publishers of personal information relating to a young offender. However, the court also denied the Daily Mail's request to strike out proceedings on the basis of want of prosecution and abuse of process. The court found that al
The Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) has today published its Annual Report 2021, providing an overview of its performance and output for the year. 2021 was the second full year that the LSRA operated as the independent complaints handling body for complaints about solicitors and barristers
It emerged in March that nearly two-thirds of disabled people employed in the Irish legal sector have not disclosed their disability status at work. Many in the industry believe this concerning statistic emphasises the need for more awareness around the topic. The worrying finding came from a survey
A journalist who was sued by pro-Brexit businessman Arron Banks for libel in relation to a TED talk video and a tweet has won in the High Court of Justice (Queen's Bench Division). The court found that although the statements in the video were defamatory, there was a legitimate public interest defen
Barrister Paul Marshall details why the UK government’s failure to reform the rules around computer evidence means the Post Office Horizon scandal could be the tip of a miscarriages of justice iceberg. James Cartlidge MP’s statement on behalf of the government – “We have no p
Northern Ireland's High Court has rejected all grounds of appeal against an extradition warrant to Poland. Although Poland’s courts had a "general systemic deficiency", the court held that this did not create a presumption that the applicant would be denied a fair trial. The applicant, Kamil C

