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No new trials will commence in the Crown Court unless they are expected to last three days or less, the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Burnett of Maldon, has announced. He said: "We must make every effort to maintain a functioning court system in support of the administration of justice and rule of law."

Fiona Carroll of the Law Reform Commission explains the body's work to repeal obsolete pre-1922 legislation. When the State was founded, it inherited tens of thousands of pre-1922 legislation, both Acts and Statutory Instruments. Much of this law was obsolete but remained officially in force, and th

People with multiple convictions will no longer have to disclose all old and minor convictions to employers under changes to the criminal record checking scheme. The AccessNI scheme has been changed to ensure only relevant and appropriate criminal record information is disclosed on certificates, bri

Hashem Abedi, 22, the younger brother of suicide bomber Salman Abedi, has been found guilty of murdering 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena in 2017. Murder carries an automatic life sentence with offenders having to serve a minimum prison term before they can apply to the Paro

In collaboration with 19 firms from its international Preferred Firm Network, Burges Salmon has published an interactive report on the regulatory treatment of cryptoassets in jurisdictions throughout the UK and EU. The report, Cryptoassets: A UK and European perspective on the regulation of cryptoas

Hundreds of textbooks have been made freely available online by Cambridge University Press (CUP) until the end of May this year. In an effort to help students amid the coronavirus outbreak, the publisher has made more than 700 textbooks free to access.

A will hastily written on a McDonald's napkin has been formally accepted by a judge. Philip Langan, who recently passed away at the age of 80, wrote the will while sitting in a McDonald's restaurant because he thought he was having a heart attack, a court found.

The High Court has denied two interlocutory applications taken by Kilkenny County Council. Mr Justice Garrett Simons heard the proceedings as part of a judicial review taken by the Mount Juliet Estates Residents Group against Kilkenny County Council pursuant to the statutory procedure provided for u

The Courts Service of Ireland has announced measures to "scale back" the numbers attending court. The latest update, issued on Friday evening, is reproduced in full below. The Courts Service has managed a very successful introduction of measures to scale back the work of the courts, which began toda

Human rights advocate Mary Lawlor has been appointed as UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders. Michel Forst, the current special rapporteur, is stepping down after six years in the role.

A mother of a child with underlying health problems has launched an emergency judicial review of ministers' decision not to close schools across Northern Ireland. Solicitor Darragh Mackin of Phoenix Law is representing the woman, who is lodging proceedings against the Minister of Education, the Mini

A court in Derry held a hearing outside due to concerns that one of the accused could have coronavirus. Three men and a woman had been due to appear in Derry Magistrates' Court on hijacking charges, but all four had their charges read in the vehicles used to bring them to court.

Construction lawyer Georgina Wallace of Ronan Daly Jermyn gives an overview of the law relating to the right to light, recent case law in this area, and the implications of the right to light on developers. A right to light is a right which is enjoyed over neighbouring land which allows a landowner

Retired lawyer and judge John P. Shearer has passed away, the Law Society of Northern Ireland has said. Mr Shearer, originally from Glasgow, was admitted to the roll of solicitors in Northern Ireland in 1954.

The trial of a former British soldier accused of the attempted murder of a 27-year-old man in 1974 could proceed via Skype because of the coronavirus outbreak. Lawyers for Dennis Hutchings, 79, told Belfast Crown Court on Friday that their client has a chest infection and was advised by doctors to s