News

Motorists have been fined more than £4 million over the past four years for driving in Belfast's bus lanes. A third-party contractor uses fixed CCTV cameras and a mobile CCTV camera vehicle to record unauthorised vehicles illegally driving in bus lanes.

The Department of Justice received dozens of letters and emails last year calling for harsher punishment for criminals, usually prompted by media reporting on high-profile trials. The 80 messages, seen by The Irish Times, included calls for the introduction of unpaid prison labour, mandatory sentenc

Belfast solicitor Laura Banks, who acted for Siobhan McLaughlin in her UK Supreme Court challenge to the rules governing the payment of a Widowed Parent’s Allowance, will deliver a TEDx talk later this month. TEDx events are independently-organised community events where speakers present ideas

Jill Gracey, senior associate at A&L Goodbody in Belfast, considers the issue of holiday pay from the perspective of employers. Almost every employer in Northern Ireland will be aware of the 'PSNI Holiday Pay case' as it progresses through the Northern Ireland courts.

Staff at Mills Selig raised £630 for local suicide prevention charity PIPS after a six-hour spin-a-thon outside their Belfast city centre office. PIPS (Public Initiative for Prevention of Suicide and Self Harm) provides support to people who are considering or have considered ending their own

A decision by South Wales Police to equip officers with mobile facial recognition technology, via an app, has been condemned by human rights group Liberty. The force’s new use of technology comes while the case against their use of facial recognition, brought by Liberty client Ed Bridges, is y

A convicted murderer who botched removing his ankle tag will likely need to have his leg amputated, prison authorities have said. The man was tracked down nearly two weeks after removing his ankle tag while on parole.

A man who accumulated a total of 47 convictions between October 2015 and March 2017 has lost his challenge against the decision of the Minister for Justice and Equality to make a removal order and a five-year exclusion order against him. Refusing to grant the orders of certiorari sought, Mr Justice

Tallaght firm Brian Morton & Co Solicitors has announced the appointment of solicitor John Heaney, the first in a series of planned hires. The firm has served the community for more than 40 years since its establishment at Firhouse Inns Chambers in Tallaght in 1978.

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) has called on the Government to ensure it pursues "an inclusive and transparent selection and appointment process" for members of the commission. Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan had earlier written to members of the commission to indicate he w

A pet owner is set to be prosecuted for allegedly abandoning guinea pigs and a goldfish in the first case of its kind. Until now, animal welfare legislation introduced five years ago has only been used in prosecutions linked to cats, dogs and horses, the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty t

Ciarán Ahern, associate in employment law at A&L Goodbody, writes on the urgent need for new legislation following a recent court ruling on the citizenship process. Last year, more than 10,000 people were granted Irish citizenship. In light of developments in the High Court in the past tw

Newtownwards and Belfast-based Worthingtons Solicitors has named Extern Group as its charity partner of the year.

Nicholas Nolan, solicitor in the commercial property division at O'Reilly Stewart in Belfast, examines the legal implications of using flexible workspaces as opposed to more traditional leases. Establishing a new business can be a daunting prospect for many practical and financial reasons, one of th

New Zealand is set to decriminalise abortion under new plans intended to bring the law "into line with many other developed countries". Under the present legal framework, which has remained unchanged since 1978, an abortion is only lawful in certain circumstances, including where continuing the preg