Connor Beaton

The government has broken a commitment made just days ago for the long-awaited Family Court Bill to be published by the end of March 2022. Justice Plan 2022, launched by justice minister Helen McEntee on Monday, gave "Q1 2022" as the date for the publication of the bill, which will establish a Distr

St Patrick’s Day has long been a date of special significance in the Irish diaspora calendar, with Irish communities across the world marking the occasion with parades and céilís. This year in particular will see millions of people celebrating the day together for the first time

Gardaí are influencing the selection of criminal defence solicitors for detainees in the absence of a consistent and transparent process, new research suggests. A new paper by legal academics Professor Yvonne Daly and Dr Vicky Conway, published in the Journal of Law and Society, explores the

The late Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore "embodied" the case for always having a judge from Northern Ireland on the Supreme Court bench, Lady Hale has said. The former Supreme Court president reflected on the importance of the court having judges from all parts of the United Kingdom as she addressed a virtu

Northern Ireland will not follow New Zealand in providing parental bereavement leave and pay for couples following a miscarriage. MPs in New Zealand this week approved legislation which will make the country one of only two in the world to provide paid leave in the event of miscarriages and stillbir

Solicitors are facing potential misconduct investigations over the alleged non-payment of hundreds of thousands of euros in fees due to barristers, in one case dating as far back as 15 years ago, new figures reveal. Data obtained by Irish Legal News shows that the Legal Services Regulatory Authority

The mooted introduction of a US-style system of salaried public defenders in Ireland would be a "complete disaster", lawyers have said. The new programme for government includes a commitment to "independently examine the option of a dedicated system of public defenders".

Ireland faces a looming disclosure crisis on par with jurisdictions like England and Wales due to the growing volume of digital evidence and limited resources, a leading criminal barrister has warned. Speaking yesterday at an Irish Legal News webinar on access to justice, Jane McGowan BL, outgoing c

Irish barrister Fergal Gaynor has been shortlisted as one of four candidates for election as the next prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The search for a successor to Gambian lawyer Fatou Bensouda, who has held the role since 2012 and will step down next June, began just over a ye

Up to four new High Court judges are being sought in Northern Ireland at a time when low pay, pension cuts and the increasingly demanding and unsociable nature of the job are driving a judicial recruitment crisis. The Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Commission (NIJAC) is currently advertising

Major Irish law firms including Matheson, William Fry and Eversheds Sutherland are continuing to make strategic hires and welcome newly-qualified solicitors, trainees and interns in spite of the COVID-19 crisis, Irish Legal News can reveal. Top-level hires completed in recent weeks have included con

Remote courts technology "may or may not" suit cases where spoken or sign language interpreters are needed, the Courts Service has said. A pilot of remote hearings began in the Irish courts this week but the technology remains "very much in its infancy", a spokesperson told Irish Legal News.

A criminal defence lawyer has acted remotely for a client in a police interview in a Northern Ireland first. A digital mechanism was put in place after Ciarán Kerr-Johnston, solicitor at Belfast-based Brentnall Legal Ltd, issued pre-action proceedings against the PSNI on behalf of a client wh

This week marks the 30th anniversary of the world’s largest unsolved art theft, in which 13 pieces worth around $500 million, including paintings by famous artists such as Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas and Manet, were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

A further delay to a long-awaited review into the care of vulnerable people in Northern Ireland's prisons has been condemned as "unacceptable". Justice Minister Naomi Long yesterday admitted that the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) had been "unable" to complete the review by Marc