News

A round-up of human rights stories from around the world. Brazil: Supreme Court Votes to Make Homophobia a Crime

A vet has been suspended from the register for six months after stealing a newborn puppy and telling its rightful owners that it died. Zahra Rafiq, 29, delivered a litter of six French bulldogs but told owner Safinah Mhagrh, 29, that five had been delivered and one had died, The Times reports.

A woman has been granted a declaration that the Public Accounts Committee acted unlawfully in conducting a public hearing in a manner significantly outside its terms of reference, which also departed significantly from the terms of her invitation to attend the hearing. Delivering the Supreme Court's

The Lord Chief Justice, Sir Declan Morgan, has indicated he is "minded to quash" the search warrants linked to the raids on the homes and office of two Northern Ireland journalists. Journalists Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey brought judicial review proceedings to the High Court in Belfast earlier

A charity which offers assistance to victims and witnesses appearing in court has said it expects a significant increase in demand over the coming years. General manager Dympna Kenny made the comments as Victim Support at Court (V-SAC) launched its annual report for 2018 in Dublin yesterday.

A woman who tried to process a bogus personal injury claim because she needed money to cover the costs of her and her husband's funerals has been given a three-year suspended jail sentence. Judge Pauline Codd, sitting in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, said fraudulent claims lead to increased insuran

Law firms Arthur Cox, Dillon Eustace, Matheson and McCann FitzGerald have renewed their sponsorship of the Hibernian Law Journal for its upcoming 18th volume. The legal journal, which celebrates its 20th year in publication this year, expects to publish its 18th volume at the Law Society of Ireland

One of Europe's most senior human rights chiefs met with Government ministers yesterday while visiting Ireland to mark the 70th anniversary of the Council of Europe. Dunja Mijatović, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, met with Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan and his colleague Da

David Taylor, solicitor in the child and family law team at Comyn Kelleher Tobin, considers a recent High Court judgment clarifying the powers of the District Court under the Child Care Act 1991. A recent decision of the High Court found that the District Court judge was entitled to make an order un

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) welcomed a Welsh Government minster to Belfast yesterday to highlight the case for banning child smacking. Julie Morgan, deputy minister for health and social services in Wales, updated stakeholders on the progress of the Children (Abolition of De

A coalition of more than 50 civil rights groups, security experts and tech companies including Apple, Google and Microsoft have signed an open letter calling on GCHQ to abandon proposals for eavesdropping on encrypted conversations. Under the so-called "ghost protocol", the providers of end-to-end e

A new art installation at Queen's University Belfast School of Law celebrates women working in all aspects of the law in Northern Ireland, including the future generation of legal professionals.

Numerous fraud convictions have been made unsafe following the collapse of a trial yesterday in which the prosecution's expert witness was found to have no academic qualifications. Andrew Ager was involved in 20 previous trials and up to 50 police investigations into allegations of fraudulent carbon

Judges in the Netherlands have banned the biker club Hells Angels and ordered that its chapters be closed as authorities crack down on motorcycle gangs. It is the first ban for the club, which operates 470 chapters in 56 countries, The Guardian reports.

A convicted criminal made gaffe after gaffe after accidentally shooting himself in the testicles while smuggling drugs in his rectum, police say. Cameron Jeffrey Wilson, 27, is believed to have been carrying a pistol in his front jeans pocket when it accidentally discharged, sending a bullet through