News

A district judge in Northern Ireland who openly questioned why buying sex is a criminal offence but selling sex is not will now receive "specific guidance" on the issue. The comments made by Judge Ted Magill during a criminal trial were "inappropriate", the Lord Chief Justice, Sir Declan Morgan, agr

Brian Hunt, partner at Ronan Daly Jermyn, explores the history of gambling law reform in Ireland. The regulation of betting activities has always been distinct from that which applied to gaming and lotteries. The licensing of bookmakers in Ireland was first provided for by the Betting Act of 1926 (l

Credit unions can hold their annual general meetings online in whole or in part under new legislation approved by the Oireachtas. The Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2020 will allow credit unions to hold their AGMs in spite of Covid-19 restrictions.

LK Shields partner Jeanne Kelly has been appointed to the board of the British Irish Chamber of Commerce. Ms Kelly is a leading IP, technology and privacy lawyer with more than 20 years' experience.

Human rights "do not take a back seat during public emergencies", the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has said following a year of little progress on key rights issues. Launching its latest annual statement in a virtual event, the rights watchdog said there had been progress on some fronts

More gay and bisexual men will be eligible to donate blood in Northern Ireland following a further relaxation of the law. Until 2016, men who have had sex with other men were banned for life from donating blood in Northern Ireland.

A six-year-old boy has cost his mother over €13,000 by buying virtual gold rings for real money in his favourite mobile game. Real estate broker Jessica Johnson was cleared out over the course of a month by her young son when he went on a spending spree in the Sonic Forces mobile game.

The Court of Appeal has found a Centra shop and a security company liable for personal injuries which were sustained in a brawl outside the store premises. The plaintiff, Mr Cian McCarthy, suffered significant brain injuries when he was assaulted by a pedestrian after he was ejected by security staf

SME-focused solicitor firm Sherwin O'Riordan has announced the appointment of Deirdre Ardagh and Rachel Connolly as partners. Ms Ardagh, a former barrister and a CEDR-accredited mediator with over 10 years' experience, heads the firm's corporate and commercial department.

Personal injury lawyers have launched legal action against Northern Ireland's Department of Justice (DOJ) over its decision not to set an interim personal injury discount rate pending legislation to introduce a new mechanism for setting the rate. The Department ran a consultation this summer on how

Most in-house lawyers in Ireland have experienced symptoms of burn-out, a new survey suggests. Over 170 in-house counsel were invited to reflect on their mental wellbeing at a recent William Fry CounselConnect virtual conference.

A £14 billion claim against Mastercard on behalf of 46 million UK customers can go ahead, the UK Supreme Court has ruled in a landmark judgment. The court agreed that the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) made numerous errors of law in refusing to certify a mass consumer collective action brou

Two judicial review applications brought over the length of NHS waiting lists in Northern Ireland are set to be heard by the High Court in Belfast early next year. Solicitor Ciaran O'Hare of McIvor Farrell Solicitors is representing litigants May Kitchen and Eileen Wilson in the cases concerning "in

Legal rights group FLAC has welcomed the introduction of new social welfare regulations addressing some of their concerns and recommendations in relation to the Covid Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP). The new regulations state that a person will not be required to seek employment outside that occ

No prisoners will benefit from temporary release for Christmas this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Justice Minister Naomi Long has announced. In-person prison visits will be re-introduced over the holiday season, but the Christmas home leave scheme has been put "on pause".