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Most Northern Ireland barristers will be unable to sustain their practice if there is no increase in court business or additional government support by September, a new survey suggests. A survey carried out by The Bar of Northern Ireland in April, with responses from nearly two-thirds (60 per cent)

Hearings on breach of access and breach of maintenance for separated parents are expected to be treated as urgent matters by the District Court. Judge Colin Daly, president of the District Court, will make an announcement on the matter within the next day, according to RTÉ.

The practice direction underpinning the operation of the Commercial Hub of the High Court is being amended to allow for remote hearings, the commercial judge has announced. In a statement, Mr Justice Horner said the Hub would remain "open for business" in spite of coronavirus restrictions and their

Immigration experts have accused the Home Office of interfering with the independence of the judiciary after it queried the number of detainees being released during the coronavirus pandemic. In a letter sent to the president of the First-Tier Tribunal, Immigration and Asylum Chamber last week, a se

A man convicted of murder and possession of firearms nearly four decades ago has had his convictions quashed by the Court of Appeal. Kevin Barry Artt was convicted in 1983 in connection with the 1978 killing of Albert Miles, deputy governor of the Maze Prison.

Concerns have been raised over the fairness of remote hearings in family cases, introduced during the lockdown, because of the difficulty for participants in reading each other's reactions. A rapid consultation carried out by the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory (NFJO) on the effectiveness of rem

American lawyer Anusia Gillespie will discuss how military decision frameworks can be of use to lawyers at an Irish Women Lawyers' Association (IWLA) webinar this evening. Ms Gillespie, director of innovation at Eversheds Sutherland in the USA, co-wrote an article on the subject with her brother-in-

A personal injury lawyer has urged businesses to co-operate with the PSNI and insurance claims investigators amid a reported increase in hit-and-run incidents during the lockdown. Olivia Meehan, legal services director of JMK Solicitors, made the comments in response to reports from auto body repair

Kapil Summan, editor of our sister publication Scottish Legal News, reviews Trials of the State: Law and the Decline of Politics by Jonathan Sumption. Though apt to be caricatured as some sort of anti-judge in the post-prorogation world, iconoclast jurist Jonathan Sumption—in this, h

One of the first-ever remote hearings of the Supreme Court of the United States was interrupted by the sound of a toilet flushing. The mystery flush was clearly audible during live-streamed oral hearings in Barr v American Association of Political Consultants, Inc yesterday afternoon.

The Bar of Ireland has pushed back against reports that it is considering proposals to expand the use of non-jury trials during the COVID-19 crisis. A report in The Irish Times, citing an anonymous barrister said to be involved in the process, said the Bar Council is currently "researching the idea"

Criminal defence solicitor Cahir O'Higgins, one of the highest-earning legal aid lawyers in the State, has denied five charges of theft and perverting the court of justice. The charges relate to the alleged theft of €400 from a defendant in July 2016 and the subsequent producing of documents to

The Irish legal landscape is in a "huge period of flux" due to the number of international law firms expanding into Dublin for the first time, the head of Maples and Calder has said. Speaking to Business Plus, managing partner Nicholas Butcher said the legal market was "highly competitive" while the

Mortgage approvals fell by nearly ten per cent over the year to March 2020, according to new figures. However, the impact of COVID-19 on the mortgage market won't be clear until the figures for April are released, the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) warned.

Hayes solicitors partner Jeremy Erwin and associate solicitor Cian Clinch highlight a recent High Court decision which provides welcome guidance on applications for summary judgment. On 29 November 2019, the Supreme Court, in Bank of Ireland Mortgage Bank v O'Malley [2019] IESC, overturned a decisio