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A citizens' assembly on drug use will take place in "the latter part of this year", Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said. Mr Martin was pressed on the timetable for the citizens' assembly, promised in the programme for government, in the Dáil yesterday by Holly Cairns, the Social Democrat

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has identified economic equality, justice, respect and recognition, future-proofing and the public sector duty as its five key priorities for the next three years. The rights watchdog today published its strategy statement for 2022-24, its third strateg

Proposed cuts to Northern Ireland's justice budget would create "legal aid deserts" with access to justice severely curtailed or completely non-existent in many local towns, Stormont's justice committee will be warned today. Representatives from the Law Society and the Bar will tell MLAs that propos

Legal rights group FLAC has welcomed the Irish government's acceptance of four UN recommendations on civil legal aid. Ireland has accepted over 200 recommendations arising from the UN Human Rights Council's recent review of Ireland's human rights record through the universal period review (UPR) mech

A security guard has been sacked after defacing a valuable Russian painting by drawing eyes on its blank-faced figures with a ballpoint pen. The guard took a pen to Anna Leporskaya's avant-garde painting Three Figures on his first day working at the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center in Yekaterinburg

International law firm Bird & Bird has announced plans to open its first Irish office in Dublin this summer. The firm, which has over 1,400 lawyers in 30 offices across Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, said its Irish base would initially focus on the areas of privacy and

Eugene F Collins LLP and international law firm Addleshaw Goddard LLP have announced a formal agreement to merge with effect from today. The combined business will trade as Addleshaw Goddard LLP, with EFC managing partner Mark Walsh becoming head of Ireland for a three-year period. All EFC partners,

Plans to enhance and reform the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) in a bid to encourage more claimants and respondents to use it have been given the go-ahead by ministers. The government has approved the general scheme of the Personal Injuries Resolution Board Bill and has now given the gree

Legislation to make decisions taken by Northern Ireland's charity regulator before 2019 lawful has cleared all stages in the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Charities Bill was introduced in response to concerns raised by the charity sector following the Court of Appeal's ruling in McKee & Others

Our regular round-up of deals involving Irish law firms. Submit your deals to newsdesk@irishlegal.com. Matheson has advised JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. on the restructuring of its existing EU credit institutions by way of a simultaneous cross-border merger of JPMorgan banks in Ireland, Luxembourg and

Three lawyers have been appointed to Northern Ireland's Civil Legal Services Appeal Panel, which adjudicates appeals against civil legal aid decisions. Séamus McIlroy, a barrister and former solicitor who served as director of legal services for the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland from

A draft bill to strengthen protections for whistleblowers in Ireland has been published. The Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022 will transpose the EU Whistleblowing Directive into Irish law, and will extend the scope of existing laws to provide protections for volunteers, shareholders, boar

Six people have been appointed to the board of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), allowing it to resume functioning. Virginija Petrauskaite, a solicitor with the Irish Refugee Council, has joined the board alongside George Maybury, Stephen Driver, Sinead Gogan, Barry O'Brien and Brendan McGin

Two directors at Cleaver Fulton Rankin have been shortlisted at the Women in Business NI Awards 2022. Kerry McCloy, innovating and legal technology director, has been shortlisted for the 'Outstanding Innovation' award, which recognises an individual that has used entrepreneurial flair and innovation

Proposals to reform the compensation scheme for victims of violent crime and place it on a statutory basis have been put out for consultation by the Law Reform Commission. The consultation paper, published today, examines the nature of awards of criminal injuries compensation; who is eligible to rec