News

UK law firm Shoosmiths has announced the appointment of corporate lawyer Grant Edwards as a partner in Belfast. Mr Edwards is dual-qualified in Northern Ireland and England and Wales and has worked with venture capital and private equity funds across the UK on their investments in Northern Ireland.

NGOs, civil society organisations and other stakeholders have been updated on the proposed regularisation scheme for long-term undocumented migrants. James Browne, the minister of state for law reform, youth justice and immigration, delivered an update on the scheme after reviewing submissions recei

Commercial property lawyer Rosemary Stevenson has graduated from Queen's University Belfast (QUB) with a first class honours degree and top of her class – for a second time. Mrs Stevenson, who completed her law degree at QUB in 1993, returned to the university to study history while continuing

A portrait of the late Ms Justice Mella Carroll, the first woman to serve as a High Court judge, has been unveiled by Dublin City University (DCU). Ms Justice Carroll served as the university's chancellor from 2001 and as chair of its governing authority before her untimely passing in 2006.

The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 has been signed by the president, setting Ireland on its path to net zero carbon emissions.  The Act means that Ireland is now on a legally binding path to net-zero emissions no later than 2050, and to a 51 per cent re

The now 81-year-old daughter of influential English judge Lord Devlin has told an inquiry that she suffered sexual abuse at his hands throughout her childhood and adolescence. Clare Devlin spoke to The Observer over the weekend about her experience of her late father, who served on the High Court fr

Rumpole of the Bailey is to make a return – albeit in a very different form. The famous series is being revived three decades after Leo McKern's last closing speech at the Old Bailey. The series was created by Sir John Mortimer, whose daughter, Emily, is updating it for modern times.

A woman managed to dupe the legal profession into believing she was qualified to practise law for three years. Sessy Xavier, 27, from Kerala in India allegedly forged documents to join the Alappuzha Bar Association.

The Supreme Court has referred a case to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in which the appellants challenged the legal basis for their surrender to the UK on foot of a European arrest warrant. The appellants had claimed that the EAW system between Ireland and the UK was invalid beca

It is "plausible" that security services had "a real prospect of preventing the Omagh bombing", a High Court judge in Belfast has ruled. In a judgment delivered this morning, Mr Justice Mark Horner called for new Article 2-compliant investigations to take place on both sides of the border.

A 12-person programme board has been established to oversee the scrapping of direct provision. Today's announcement is in line with government plans to phase out the direct provision system of accommodation for asylum seekers by 2024, following its white paper set published earlier this year.

Legislation to enhance and update the legal framework for adoption will be introduced to the Northern Ireland Assembly after the summer recess. The Adoption and Children Bill aims to remove unnecessary delay and uncertainty for children by bringing Northern Ireland in line with the changes made in t

Forensic Science Ireland (FSI) has reported that it has made significant progress with the construction of its new laboratory, which is due to open in summer 2022. Minister for justice, Heather Humphreys, with director of FSI, Chris Enright, at the FSI’s new labs in Backweston, Dublin

The post-Brexit UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) risks damaging trust between the UK and devolved administrations, according to a think tank. In a new report, the Institute for Government said that the UKSPF, which will replace EU ‘structural funds' and will be launched in April 2022, could a

Criminologist Phil Scraton, professor emeritus at Queen's University Belfast School of Law, has joined a distinguished team of patrons of Include Youth, a rights-based charity working with young people. The team of six patrons, which include some of Northern Ireland's top athletes, will work closely