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All windows at Newtownards Courthouse will be upgraded and replaced over the summer, Justice Minister Naomi Long has confirmed. Mrs Long told MLAs the plans are "well advanced" and will "address long-standing maintenance issues and improve energy efficiency".

Matthew Austin and Mary Gill of Hayes solicitors LLP explain how the proposed new rescue process for small and micro businesses will operate. The Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment announced on 10 May 2021 that it has secured government approval for the priority drafting of the Companies

Pinsent Masons has announced an employee rewards package for the last financial year and confirmed repayment of the UK government furlough money, The Lawyer reports. The firm said it was restoring salaries to the 98 per cent of staff who took part in its reduced working hours scheme in 2020 and that

Property law firm McKenna & Co Solicitors has named homelessness charity Focus Ireland as its charity partner for 2021. Commenting on the partnership, principal solicitor Lisa McKenna said: "Our property department understand the importance of home, and the feeling of safety and security it prov

A drug dealer inadvertently landed himself with a lengthy prison sentence after taking a photograph of a block of Stilton cheese. Carl Stewart, 39, was identified as a user of the EncroChat mobile encryption service by forensic experts using an image he shared of a block of cheese in the palm of his

The Law Society of Ireland has called on Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to apologise to the solicitors' profession after he suggested lawyers were "licking their lips" over the HSE cyber attack. Mr Donnelly, appearing on Newstalk Breakfast last week, said that he had "seen some legal firms already

The barrister heading the Central Bank of Ireland's financial conduct operations has been elected as chair of the investment management standing committee of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). Derville Rowland, who joined the Central Bank in 2004 and was appointed as director gene

Irish barrister James Bridgeman SC has been appointed as Georgia's first-ever honorary consul in Ireland. Mr Bridgeman, a practising barrister and international arbitrator, is also the chair of the Georgia-Ireland Business Council (GIBC) and an honorary member of the board of the Georgian Internatio

Pro-life campaigners have formally lodged proceedings in Belfast against regulations giving the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland powers to direct the commissioning of abortion services. Belfast law firm Hewitt & Gilpin has been instructed by the Centre for Bioethical Reform Northern Irela

Virtually all cases in the child care courts have been delayed as a result of the HSE cyber attack, according to reports. Family lawyers told The Times that a number of cases have been adjourned due to difficulties receiving reports from social workers.

Children are being forced to live in "deplorable" conditions in a local authority-run halting site for Travellers, the Ombudsman for Children's Office (OCO) has concluded in a damning report. The OCO launched an investigation following a 2018 complaint from a Traveller advocacy group about the condi

The PSNI has been urged to end its joint programmes with the Israeli police and security services following renewed violence in occupied Palestine. Amnesty International said the force "must ensure it is not implicated in Israel's human rights violations" following an investigation by The Detail whi

Laws intended to protect the privacy of children are being used by judges to cover up decisions in England and Wales, Sir James Munby has said. The former president of the High Court’s Family Division said that curbs on media reporting “prevent public officials being held to account

Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are becoming more prominent in divorce proceedings as parties use them to hide their wealth, an English divorce lawyer has said. Ayesha Vardag, who acted for the successful party in Radmacher v Granatino, which reshaped the law on pre-nups in England and Wales, said

The lead singer of the Sex Pistols has been drawn into a High Court battle with his former bandmates over a new TV show about their career. John Lydon, also known as Johnny Rotten, has pulled out of the six-part miniseries to be directed by Oscar winner Danny Boyle.