News

People detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 will benefit from landmark reforms providing them with more control over their care and treatment, the UK government has announced. Ministers have published their plans to reform the 1983 Act following an independent review in 2018. A draft Menta

Yellow mealworms have become the first insects cleared for human consumption by scientists at the EU's food safety agency. The use of the "whole, dried insect in the form of snacks" and its use as an ingredient in other products "is safe under the proposed uses and use levels", a panel established b

The Court of Appeal has upheld the judgment of the High Court granting certiorari of refusal of a residence card. The appeal was from the judgment of Mr Justice Max Barrett who granted an order of certiorari in favour of Md. Jabed Miah referring his application for an EU residence card back to the M

Rights groups have called on the State to "rectify the wrongs done" to women and children following the publication of the long-awaited final report of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation. The inquiry was established in 2015 to provide a full account of what happened to vulnerable

Lawyers and rights campaigners have called for the establishment of a public inquiry into mother and baby homes in Northern Ireland. The Irish government yesterday published the final report of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Inquiry established in 2015, which looked at mother and baby homes

Maples and Calder (Ireland) LLP, the Maples Group's law firm in Ireland, has announced the appointment of Lorna Smith as a partner in its financial services regulatory practice. Ms Smith joins the firm having previously worked at two other large Irish law firms and a Big Four accountancy firm. She w

Sports lawyer Patrick Conliffe has been appointed to lead the new Dublin office of sports management company Quantum Sport. Mr Conliffe is a dual-qualified Irish and English solicitor and a registered intermediary with the FA. He takes on the new role while continuing to practise as a solicitor with

UK law firm TLT, which employs around 100 people in Belfast, has entered into a strategic alliance with Belgian law firm GSJ advocaten. The firms have significant expertise in common across a number of sectors including real estate, financial services, retail and the public sector, enabling cross bo

A new category of membership has been created for the UK to preserve its standing in the Council of European Bars and Law Societies (CCBE) after the end of the Brexit transition period. Fears that the UK delegation would be relegated to a lower status have been allayed with the announcement of 'affi

Plans to allow Ireland to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT) by 2023 form part of the prison inspectorate's first-ever strategic plan. The Office of the Inspector of Prisons yesterday published a three-year strategic plan for the period up to and including 2023, w

A barrister for the Director of Public Prosecutions has said she had "grave concerns" over the cross-examination of a 12-year-old boy who was repeatedly raped by his father. At a Court of Appeal hearing yesterday, Pauline Walley SC said that the child "zoned out" and became "fed up", "exhausted" and

A woman who wants to bring family law proceedings against her allegedly violent former partner has launched a High Court challenge over the Legal Aid Board's refusal to fund her action. The mother-of-two, who is reliant on social welfare payments, claims that her application for legal aid was turned

Benjamin Bestgen gives readers an overview of smart contracts this week. See his last jurisprudential primer here. Part of being a lawyer in the 21st century is the necessity to develop a degree of digital literacy, whether you like it or not. The legal world, it is often said, tends to be conservat

A woman declared dead by a court is still struggling to undo the ruling more than three years after pointing out she's still alive. Jeanne Pouchain, a 58-year-old from a town near the French city of Lyon, was ruled dead in 2017 during a long-running dispute with a former employee.

The High Court has found that two plaintiffs are entitled to the costs of an interlocutory application. However, as there is ongoing litigation between the parties, the judge held that they would hear submissions, and was prepared to stay the execution of that order pending the trial. Background