News

Legislation to toughen penalties for making fraudulent claims in the Irish courts will skip pre-legislative scrutiny and go straight to committee stage. The Oireachtas business committee has agreed to allow the Civil Liability and Courts (Amendment) Bill 2019, which was brought forward by Fianna F&a

A pilot scheme to allow solicitor firms to lodge, pay and track applications for licensing online has been extended to counties Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim and Louth. The Courts Service of Ireland plans to fully roll out the online e-licensing system next year, with substantial cost and time savings for

The jailing of two sex workers, including one who is pregnant, shows that Ireland's sex purchase laws are "not fit for purpose", a sex workers' rights group has said. Two women were jailed for nine months last week after a judge in Naas District Court found them guilty of keeping or being in charge

Lawyers have been invited to march with a new LGBT+ network for lawyers at Dublin Pride this month. The OUTLaw Network, which was launched in January, is marching as a community group for the first time in this year's parade on Saturday 29 June 2019.

More insurance fraudsters need to be prosecuted to deter others from pursuing exaggerated and fraudulent claims, a partner at Ronan Daly Jermyn has said. Over 200 insurance professionals attended the firm's annual insurance conference in Dublin, which heard from keynote speakers including Detective

A man who challenged his dismissal by an NHS trust for stalking and harassment, on the basis it had availed itself of private material including WhatsApp data, has had his application unanimously declared inadmissible by the European Court of Human Rights. The case concerned George Garamukanwa&rsquo

Glasgow School of Art has failed to claim back £500,000 in tax after a court ruled that a door between two buildings could not be classified as a fire exit. The art school, whose world-famous Mackintosh Building has burned down twice in four years, had wrongly reclaimed VAT on the door.

A woman whose car was rear-ended at traffic lights has been awarded €85,000 in general damages for pain and suffering caused by the accident. Stating that the extent of the injuries caused by the low speed crash were worsened as a result of existing degenerative changes in the woman’s spi

Dillon Eustace has announced the appointment of partner Shane Coveney and consultant Fiona O'Neill. The two appointments are the latest in a series for the firm, which has now grown to over 200 employees and 40 partners in total.

Arthur Cox has announced the appointment of Elizabeth Upton as of counsel in the firm's litigation and dispute resolution group. Ms Upton has extensive experience defending mass claims and in managing high value and complex commercial disputes.

A Supreme Court judge has criticised the conduct of Irish rape trials for allowing denials from the accused to be read to the jury without cross-examination. Writing in the Irish Judicial Studies Journal, Mr Justice Peter Charleton and researcher Ciara Herlihy said the practice was not allowed in th

Northern Ireland solicitors Jill Downing and Libby Jackson have been recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours List 2019. Ms Downing, a partner at Co Antrim firm Magennis & Creighton, has received an OBE for services to children and families and to voluntary work in the community in Northern Ir

Dr Kevin Sweeney, author of Arrest, Detention and Questioning: Law and Practice, explores the law in Ireland and the EU on access to information in criminal proceedings in his article for Irish Legal News. In the Sunday Times newspaper of June 2, 2019, the chairwoman of the Irish Criminal Bar Associ

The managing director of personal injury specialist firm JMK Solicitors has been awarded a fellowship from the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL). Maurece Hutchinson has become one of only three Northern Ireland-based legal professionals to currently hold the accreditation.

A civil servant working for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has been given an 11-month prison sentence for breaking the Official Secrets Act by leaking information about the prosecution of a suspected murderer. Jonathan Lennon, 35, was found guilty in May on four counts of disclosing infor