News

Proposals to reform trade union legislation in Northern Ireland for the first time since devolution have gone out to consultation. The Trade Union Freedom Bill, brought forward by People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll, aims to "allow trade unions to strike more efficiently and effectively".

Northern Ireland surveyors expect their workload to continue to decline in the next 12 months, according to a survey conducted by RICS and law firm Tughans. The Q2 2020 RICS & Tughans Construction and Infrastructure market survey results predictably show a contraction in output in Northern Irela

Downing Street is planning to set prosecution targets in rape cases for police and lawyers, according to reports. The Prime Minister's crime and justice taskforce is to set targets for police to refer evidentially strong rape cases to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), The Guardian reports.

Amnesty International has warned that plans to deploy the Navy to prevent asylum seekers crossing the English Channel would be "unlawful, reckless and dangerous". Home Secretary Priti Patel has tasked Dan O'Mahoney, director of the joint maritime security centre and a former Royal Marine, with preve

Government officials and politicians in Ukraine have reportedly been encouraged to pre-book "VIP cells" in the event of their arrest. Remand centres in over a dozen cities are now offering gift certificates for "luxury cells", which are valid for six months from purchase, the BBC reports.

There is reason to be "cautiously optimistic" about a rise in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the second half of 2020, a senior corporate lawyer has said. Stephen Keogh, head of corporate and M&A at William Fry, said 2020 is "likely to represent one of the lowest, if not the lowes

Barristers' chambers Francis Taylor Building has announced the appointment of Professor Gordon Anthony of Queen's University Belfast as an academic tenant. Professor Anthony, an expert in public law and a qualified barrister in Northern Ireland, joins the chambers' academic panel, which aims to "fos

Belfast solicitor Ian Coulter, former head of one of Northern Ireland's largest commercial law firms, has denied fraud offences linked to the sale of NAMA's Northern Ireland property loan book in 2014. The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) yesterday announced that Mr Coulter, 49, and businessman Fran

An Garda Síochána's response to domestic abuse during the COVID-19 crisis is "the best it has ever been in Ireland", a new report suggests. The Policing Authority yesterday published its half-year assessment of policing performance, which highlights in particular the success of Operati

A full recording of yesterday afternoon's Irish Legal News webinar on data protection in the post-pandemic world is now available online.

Justice Minister Naomi Long has backed calls for the UK government to publish three controversial contracts struck with three companies for PPE at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Good Law Project, led by founder Jo Maugham QC, has issued three sets of judicial review proceedings in relation

The number of prisoners released on a temporary basis in Northern Ireland has declined by more than a third over five years, figures show. A total of 666 prisoners were released on a temporary basis on at least one occasion in 2015, but the number has declined in each consecutive year.

Argentina's former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is suing Google after a search for her name allegedly identified her as the country's "thief in chief". She alleges that Google displayed her position as "thief in chief of Argentina" on 17 May 2020 instead of vice-president of Argen

The long-awaited review of protections for vulnerable witnesses in the investigation and prosecution of sexual offences has backed proposals for anonymity to be extended to defendants in all sexual assault trials, as well as greater supports for complainants. The review, chaired by Tom O’Malle

The Bar Council of Ireland's response to the long-awaited review of protections for vulnerable witnesses in the investigation and prosecution of sexual offences is reproduced in full below. We welcome the publication this morning of the Report on the Review of Protections for Vulnerable Witness