News

There remains a backlog of 66,000 summonses in the Irish courts, down by less than half from the pandemic peak of 122,000 in October 2020, according to new figures. The 66,000 figure — most of which (45,000) are in Dublin — stands in contrast to a pre-Covid average of around 13,000, acco

A major US city has scrapped a twinning agreement it inadvertently struck with a self-declared micronation led by a wanted sex offender. In January, a delegation from the self-declared "United States of Kailasa" met with the mayor of Newark, New Jersey and signed a sister-city agreement at a public

Ireland's new media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán, has been formally established with effect from today. The new authority is responsible for overseeing the regulation of broadcasting and video-on-demand services and for introducing the new regulatory framework for online safety.

Ukraine has won a significant hurdle in a seven-year-long English court dispute over a $3 billion Russian loan, with the case now set to proceed to a full trial before the High Court. In an 85-page judgment handed down this morning, the UK Supreme Court unanimously held that the Law Debenture Trust

JMK Solicitors has been named as Northern Ireland's busiest personal injury firm for a ninth consecutive year. The firm was instructed in 1,512 cases last year, more than double that of the next busiest firm, according to figures obtained from the Compensation Recovery Unit inside the Department for

A woman who complained of sexual harassment and victimisation after a staff Christmas party has been awarded £18,857 by the Industrial Tribunal. Shirley Lyons, who worked as a designer/sales consultant with Starplan in Portadown from June 2013 until April 2018, was supported by the Equality Co

A referendum to allow Ireland to participate in the Unified Patent Court (UPC) should take place this November alongside the planned referendum on gender equality, the government has been told. The Unified Patent Court Agreement, establishing a common patent court for EU member states, is set to fin

An abortion rights activist in Poland has been sentenced to eight months of community service after being found guilty of facilitating abortion. Justyna Wydrzyńska was convicted by a court in Warsaw of helping a pregnant woman to access abortion pills for an at-home abortion.

Giving someone the middle finger is a "God-given" right which belongs to "every red-blooded Canadian", a judge has ruled. Judge Dennis Galiatsatos said it is "not a crime to give someone the finger" as he dismissed a criminal harassment charge brought against a man in Quebec following complaints fro

Philip Lee has appointed Eimear Collins as a partner in the firm's dispute resolution and litigation group. Ms Collins is a qualified mediator and has a strong practice in property and landlord and tenant disputes. She also regularly advises and represents clients in complex contractual, commercial

A new campaign is seeking to raise awareness of the support, services and redress available for victims and survivors of historical institutional abuse in Northern Ireland. From this week, advertisements will be running in regional and local newspapers and on social media platforms to ensure victims

A review of PSNI strip-searches of children and young people in custody will be carried out after concerns were raised by the Children's Law Centre (CLC). The Northern Ireland Policing Board said its human rights adviser will "review the compliance with human rights in how the PSNI addresses childre

Lawyers must continue to challenge the Northern Ireland courts to properly protect victims and survivors of domestic abuse, a prominent family lawyer has said. Claire Edgar, family law partner at Francis Hanna & Co Solicitors, was among the speakers at The Bar of Northern Ireland's recent confer

Mason Hayes & Curran LLP has been named Leading Legal/Financial Consultancy of the Year at the 2023 Irish Wind Industry Awards. Sponsored by SSE Renewables, the awards celebrate the very best within the Irish wind industry and the commitment of key stakeholders to cutting carbon emissions and ma

Hilkka Becker, the chairperson of the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT), has joined the board of directors of the Irish Centre for European Law (ICEL). Four people — Karen Banks, Attorney General Rossa Fanning SC, Professor Brigid Laffan MRIA and Professor Aoife Nolan &mdas