News

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan expressed "grave concern" about the handling of deaths in Irish prisons according to private correspondence seen by the Irish Examiner. In a letter sent to staff last week, Caron McCaffrey, director general of the Irish Prison Service, said recent reports by the Ins

The Scottish Government has announced plans to establish a Citizens' Assembly, inspired principally by the Citizens' Assembly established in Ireland in 2016. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, addressing the Scottish Parliament today, said a representative cross-section of Scottish society would be bro

Kilcock Courthouse will be closed permanently under plans put out to consultation by the Courts Service of Ireland. The building was closed in July 2016 and court hearings were moved to Naas Courthouse.

Police forces in England and Wales will be required to offer free sanitary products to female detainees under new plans announced by the Home Office today. The changes will also require police forces to make arrangements for all detainees to speak in private to a member of custody staff of the same

A university professor who taught his students to make ecstasy, amphetamines and synthetic cannabis is facing prosecution. The professor of pharmaceutical science, whose studies focus on dangerous and illegal drugs, took the students' product into his possession afterwards.

A man who was involved in the violent removal of a family from their home has had his sentence increased by one year by the Court of Appeal. The Director of Public Prosecutions appealed the sentence of three years with the final year suspended on the grounds that it was unduly lenient, and Mr Justic

Mason Hayes & Curran has announced the appointment of Muireann Dennehy as a partner in the firm's dispute resolution team. Ms Dennehy, who returns to Ireland after practising with major international firms in London and New York, is an experienced commercial litigation lawyer with a particu

A&L Goodbody (ALG) has announced the appointment of Kerill O'Shaughnessy as a partner in the firm's asset management & investment funds team. Commenting on the appointment, Brian McDermott, head of asset management & investment funds at ALG, said: "I am delighted to welcome Kerill to our

The Government should not blame the legal profession for hindering efforts to reduce insurance premiums in Ireland, retired judge Nicholas Kearns has said. The former High Court president, who chaired the Personal Injuries Commission, told RTÉ's Marian Finucane Show: "The question is now, ins

The Inspector of Prisons, Patricia Gilheaney, has completed a preliminary inquiry into allegations of covert surveillance in Irish prisons. Ms Gilheaney was asked by Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan last November to examine allegations that private conversations between solicitors and prisoners wer

The Bar of Northern Ireland shone a spotlight on Northern Ireland's family courts at the latest event in its Leaders in Legal Excellence discussion series.

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has called for criminal investigations into human rights abuses in mother and baby homes. The civil liberties group issued a statement following the publication of the fifth interim report of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission, which it said "reveals di

The Irish Prison Service (IPS) is planning to spend €680,000 on the electronic tagging of Irish prisoners in the next two years, The Times reports. The service is currently advertising a two-year tender for a private company to provide the location of up to 50 prisoners at a time.

Northern Ireland's Department of Justice has published the Northern Ireland Modern Slavery Strategy 2019–2020. The third annual strategy underlines the Department’s commitment to working in partnership with a wide range of agencies in the fight against modern slavery.

Two students in Italy have been fined €27 million by forest authorities after allegedly letting a barbecue start a forest fire. The administration sanction was handed down by the forestry service based on the area of land which was affected and its value per square metre.