News

A former nursing student with a cancer diagnosis has settled a disability discrimination case against Queen’s University Belfast for £25,000. Natasha Bradshaw, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2019, was supported in bringing the case by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland's personal injury discount rate has been set at +0.5 per cent following a review. The new rate is welcome news for insurers and bad news for personal injury claimants, being a significant increase from the -1.5 per cent rate set in March 2022.

Solicitor Barry Magee is to be appointed as the next chief legal costs adjudicator. Mr Magee joined the Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicator in 2020 and will take the reins from Paul Behan upon Mr Behan's retirement next month.

Children and young people affected by sexual crime will be offered free legal advice under a new scheme in Northern Ireland. A new domestic and sexual abuse strategy and three-year action plan was jointly launched by justice minster Naomi Long and health minister Mike Nesbitt yesterday.

The Maples Group has renewed its sponsorship of St Mary's College Rugby Football Club for a further three years. The new agreement, which commences in September 2024, will see the Maples brand continue to appear on the front of the senior men's team jerseys following their promotion to Division 1A.

UK and Ireland firm Browne Jacobson has announced the equalisation of its family policies to support work-home life balance and gender equality in the workplace. The firm's staff are now entitled to take up to 26 weeks of paternity, co-parent or adoption leave. The first 13 weeks will be fully paid,

The Bar of Northern Ireland has launched a new series of explainer videos to promote the meaning and value of legal aid in civil matters. The video series follows the commencement of a review of civil legal aid by the Department of Justice, with the Bar submitting a detailed advocating for a positiv

Doctors are now under a legal duty to disclose serious patient safety incidents following the commencement of new legislation. The Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023 provides a legislative framework for a number of important patient safety issues, including the mandat

Courts in Argentina and Venezuela have issued arrest warrants for each other's presidents. A Caracas court issued the warrant for the arrest of Argentinian president, Javier Milei, accusing him of the “theft” of a cargo plane belonging to the Venezuelan company Emtrasur, which was seized

An 88-year-old man who spent nearly 50 years on death row has been acquitted in Japan. Iwao Hakamada was sentenced to death in 1968 after being convicted of murder and arson in connection with the killing of his boss and his boss's family two years previously.

A lawyer representing thousands of officers involved in the PSNI data breach has welcomed proposed mediation in the case. The unprecedented PSNI data breach last year saw the names, roles and other personal details of all serving police officers and civilian staff inadvertently published on its webs

Lewis Silkin's joint managing partners Jo Farmer and Richard Miskella joined colleagues in running the Belfast City Half Marathon on Sunday in support of The Sutton Trust.

The European Commission has launched a new social media campaign aimed at bringing the idea of the rule of law closer to EU citizens and raising awareness of its impact on people's everyday lives. The campaign will focus on the six core principles defining the rule of law — equality before the

Nearly two-thirds of in-house lawyers in Ireland are using AI in their legal work, a new survey suggests. Irish Tech General Counsel (ITGC) surveyed over 60 attendees at an event in founding sponsor William Fry's office this morning.

The government has been quizzed on plans that will see murderers who turn 18 after the offence but before sentencing dealt with under common law instead of statute. The Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024 provides that a child who commits murder but turns 18 years old before sentencing will no lo