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Five men and five women have been elected to the Bar Council of Ireland, leading to a gender-balanced council for the first time. Senior counsel Micheál P O'Higgins, Sara Phelan, Séamus Clarke, Denise Brett and Tim O'Leary have been elected to the Inner Bar Panel.

The UK Government has published a summary of responses to the consultation on the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The summary document has been produced after analysis of over 17,000 responses to the consultation, which was launched last May and ran until September.

Law firms A&L Goodbody and Pinsent Masons have been appointed as legal partners for the proposed €3 billion MetroLink project. The 10-year deal for the provision of legal advice and support in the areas of competition, planning and environmental law is believed to be worth €17.5 millio

Divorces obtained in the UK may not be recognised in Ireland after Brexit, according to a briefing paper drawn up by the Bar Council of Ireland. Automatic recognition of British divorces in Ireland is governed by a 2005 EU regulation which will cease to apply after the UK leaves the European Union,

A Democratic Republic of Congo rebel leader has been found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity by judges in the International Criminal Court (ICC). Bosco Ntaganda and his fighters disembowelled babies and smashed their heads, judges said.

Murderers who refuse to disclose the location of a victim’s body may be denied parole under a new law set out by the Justice Secretary David Gauke. Named after Helen McCourt – murdered in 1988 – whose killer has never revealed her whereabouts, ‘Helen’s law’ will p

Following an investigation, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has issued a notice of its intention to fine British Airways £183.39 million for infringements of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The proposed fine relates to a cyber incident notified to the ICO by Briti

A man detained for breach of a deportation order thought Scotland was not part of the UK, a court has been told. Claudiu Szabo, 31, from Romania, had been ordered to leave after he was convicted of numerous shoplifting and drug offences in London.

A property developer who was ordered to pay €76K to a firm of solicitors on foot of a summary summons for professional fees owed has successfully appealed the summary judgment granted against him in the High Court in 2013. Finding that the trial judge erred in concluding that two of the issues

Judges and lawyers will be asked to explain the high costs of compensation claims as TDs attempt to find out the reasons for costly insurance premiums faced by consumers, the Irish Examiner reports. Insurance companies told the Oireachtas Finance Committee that fraudulent claims comprised some

Whistleblowing allegations from current and former prison officers made up the majority of protected disclosures received by the Department of Justice in 2018. In its protected disclosures annual report, it was revealed that 11 of the 13 cases it received related to the Irish Prison Service, the Iri

A human rights barrister who had been jailed for abusing Air India cabin crew after she was refused alcohol is believed to have killed herself days after being released from prison. Belfast-born Simone Burns, 50, was sentenced to six months' imprisonment in April after racially abusing and spitting

The flexibility of the British constitution, once thought to be such a strength, has played a large part in destroying the country. In this edited version of a recent lecture delivered in Cambridge, Professor Conor Gearty (LSE) explains why he now believes more than ever that only the experience of

Via The Bar of Ireland: Full house here in The Gaffney Room for the launch of the new Probate Bar Association of Ireland. Pictured (L-R) are Probate Bar Association of Ireland members Catherine Duggan BL, Vinog Faughnan SC, Anne Marie Maher BL, and Karl Dowling BL.

From our sister publication, Scottish Legal News, comes the tale of Helen Duncan, the wartime 'witch'. In 1941 at a seancé in Portsmouth, the spirit of a sailor was said to have appeared to announce the sinking of HMS Barham.