News

A failed challenge to the outcome of the abortion referendum which was likened by Mr Justice George Birmingham, president of the Court of Appeal, to "a frustration of the democratic process", may be appealed to the Supreme Court. Earlier this week, Mr Justice Birmingham upheld the High Court's refus

A Russian national, a publisher and a religious association suffered a violation of their ECHR right to freedom of expression, the European Court of Human Rights has unanimously held. The case concerned anti-extremism legislation in Russia and a ban on publishing and distributing Islamic books.

Kellie O'Flynn, solicitor in the litigation and dispute resolution team at William Fry, writes on the implications of the GDPR for litigation in Ireland. With the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) now in effect, one of the emerging considerations is whether its provisions – specific

Emily Paisley, a solicitor specialising in debt recovery for businesses at Worthingtons Solicitors in Belfast, writes on debt recovery in Northern Ireland. The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) recent survey (Financial Lives 2017) found that personal debt levels in Northern Ireland are the h

Calls have been made to refer Burmese military figures involved in human rights abuses to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Findings of the UN independent fact-finding mission into human rights abuses in Burma were welcomed by the Burma Human Rights Network, which called on the UK an

Lawyers in the private client team at Matheson have joined their colleagues in launching a podcast providing updates on issues impacting private clients. The firm already has an employment law podcast series which has been running since late 2014 and a pensions and benefit law podcast series.

Smokers in Scottish prisons are to be offered vaping kits for free ahead of a ban on tobacco in Scottish jails this autumn. The proposal is part of a plan to help inmates give up smoking and will cost about £200,000.

Belfast firm Francis Hanna & Co Solicitors has published a two-and-a-half-minute video sharing the story of their client Siobhan McLaughlin, whose UK Supreme Court challenge to the rules governing the payment of a Widowed Parent’s Allowance will conclude tomorrow.

A man convicted of smuggling around £130,000 worth of gold out of the Royal Canadian Mint in his rectum has been granted a reduced fine on appeal. Leston Lawrence, 35, was fined around £147,500 last February by Justice Doody after being convicted of stealing the nugget-sized pieces of go

A woman who campaigned for a No vote in the abortion referendum has had her appeal to challenge the outcome of the referendum dismissed in the Court of Appeal. Upholding the High Court's refusal to grant the woman leave to present a petition, Mr Justice George Birmingham, President of the Court of A

A new report from the Personal Injury Commission (PIC) chaired by retired judge Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns has ruled out a legislative cap on damages awards, the Sunday Business Post reports. The Commission's second report, due to be published next month, says that such a cap would amount to an unco

Dillon Eustace recently acted as advisors to Deutsche Bank AG London Branch who provided the financing for the recent management buy-out of Seniors Money Ireland. Conor Keaveny, partner in the law firm's banking and capital markets team, led the transaction with support from partner John-Hugh Coller

The Department of Justice is planning to appoint an expert to advise on the introduction of electronic monitoring for people on bail, the Irish Examiner reports. The Criminal Justice Act 2017 provides for electronic monitoring as part of the conditions of bail, but this has not yet been put into pra

A shareholder of two private medical clinics has called for the new abortion legislation to allow shareholders in private hospitals to be bought out at market value if the hospitals carry out abortions, the Sunday Business Post reports. James Sheehan, a director of Blackrock Medical, which holds sha

The Law Society of Scotland is drawing up plans to allow first-year trainee criminal lawyers to appear in court because there are too few entrants to the criminal legal aid sector, The Times reports. There are currently between 25 and 30 trainees at criminal legal aid firms, in addition to those at