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Dr Sandra Duffy comments on last week’s English Court of Appeal ruling on transgender children’s access to puberty blockers. On Friday 17th September, the Court of Appeal for England and Wales handed down its decision in the appeal of Bell v Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust. This judgment

A round-up of human rights stories from around the world. Hong Kong group supporting human rights lawyers in China is latest to disband amid police pressure | Hong Kong Free Press

Possession of class A drugs such as heroin, cocaine and MDMA may incur a police warning rather than prosecution under a new "diversion from prosecution" policy for drugs announced by Scotland's Lord Advocate, Dorothy Bain QC. In a statement, Ms Bain said: "I have decided that an extension of the rec

European affairs minister Thomas Byrne has said the government is taking EU criticism of the low number of Irish judges "very, very seriously". Speaking at a virtual meeting hosted by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) yesterday morning, Mr Byrne said the judicial planning working group an

Lady Hale will deliver a speech on "Northern Ireland in the Supreme Court" at a virtual event hosted by the Belfast Solicitors Association (BSA) next week. Brenda Hale, Baroness Hale of Richmond, served as president of the UK Supreme Court from 2017 until her retirement in January 2020.

A three-person independent group has been established the report on the government's progress on scrapping direct provision. The government intends to phase out the direct provision system of accommodation for asylum seekers by 2024, following a white paper published earlier this year.

UK government plans to end all criminal prosecutions linked to the Troubles are "incompatible with the United Kingdom's international obligations", the European commissioner for human rights has said. In a letter to Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis, the Council of Europe's commissioner for h

Government plans to bring down legal costs should be "accelerated" to make the Irish economy more competitive and productive, the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council (NCPC) has said. In its 2021 report, the NCPC – which reports to the government – said the cost of legal ser

The High Court has dismissed an application to hold police responsible for dismantling a dangerous bonfire, finding that the threat of “widespread unrest” outweighed the effects of the anti-social and unlawful behaviour. The emergency application was brought by AB, who lives in the vicin

A judge who was caught playing cards during a remote court hearing in a case worth nearly €100,000 has apologised. Madam Justice Jolaine Antonio, a judge of the Alberta Court of Appeal in Canada, admitted in a letter that there was "no excuse for causing litigants and their counsel to feel unhe

A harrowing incident in which a baby died in Europe's largest women's prison, with the 18-year-old mother giving birth in her cell alone despite repeated calls for help, "should never have happened", a watchdog has said. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) for England and Wales yesterday publi

The UK Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by a travel agent against a decision that it could not set aside a contractual agreement with an airline with a monopoly on flights between the UK and Pakistan for reasons of lawful act economic duress. Times Travel UK had originally brought a claim again

Cian Clinch, partner at Hayes solicitors LLP, discusses recent case law from the High Court which highlights that online anonymity is not absolute. The expectation of online anonymity has become so common in our increasingly digital society that individuals often feel immune to the legal consequence

International law firm Ashurst, which expanded into Ireland earlier this year, has announced new Inclusion, Diversity and Belonging (IDB) targets to be achieved by 2026. The new targets, set by the board in consultation with the executive team and the Committed to Change Advisory Group, comprise:

ByrneWallace LLP has announced the appointment of Martin Cooney as head of the firm's infrastructure, construction and energy (ICE) group. Mr Cooney has been a partner and head of the firm's construction law practice since joining ByrneWallace in November 2017.