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The head of Belfast firm McCartan Turkington Breen has been recognised at the SME News Managing Director of the Year Awards. Colin Mitchell, who became the firm's senior partner at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, was named Northern Ireland's Legal Services MD of the Year.

The number of new solicitor trainees in Ireland is at its highest level since 2008, the Law Society of Ireland has revealed. A total of 538 new trainees started the two-year process of qualification in 2021 (PPC I), with a significant majority (61 per cent) of them being women. Across the PPC I, PPC

The Probation Service has announced the appointment of Olivia Keaveney as its new deputy director of operations for courts and community. Ms Keaveney brings more than 18 years' senior management experience across the Probation Service and the charity sector. She previously held the position of assis

A wider range of providers of credit and hire purchase agreements have become subject to Central Bank regulation under new legislation. The Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Act 2022 came into effect last week following a commencement order signed by financ

A senior judge has found the University of Bristol liable for multiple breaches of legal duties it owed to undergraduate student Natasha Abrahart in the lead up to her suicide on 30 April 2018. Ms Abrahart's body was found in her private flat on the day she was due to give a presentation to fel

Growing up in care should be a “protected characteristic” in equality legislation, the UK government’s care tsar has said. Josh MacAlister, a former schoolteacher who founded social work charity Frontline, was tasked by the government with leading a review of children’s socia

Advisers stationed at GP surgeries, council offices, libraries, and other convenient locations can help more people get more timely access to civil justice, according to a new think tank report. The Social Market Foundation said that legal support for civil justice can better reach the those in need

Three drunken tourists who trespassed into a bear enclosure in Alaska have been jailed. The men were sentenced last week for the incident in 2018 which saw them wade into the Brooks River at the Katmai National Park and interrupt the salmon-loving bears' dinner.

Lawyer Stuart Anderson has been appointed as head of public affairs at the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry. As part of a new member service, Mr Anderson will lead NI Chamber's direct interactions with politicians, helping to shape the legislative agenda and supporting elected repre

A coffee shop in Florence has been fined €1,000 (£847) after a customer got angry over the price of an espresso. The customer called the police after being charged €2 (£1.70) for his decaffeinated coffee at Ditta Artigianale in the centre of the city.

Ireland will today assume the presidency of the Council of Europe, the home of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the continent's leading human rights body. Speaking ahead of the final meeting of Italy's presidency, Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney said Ireland "has always subscribed

A round-up of human rights stories from around the world. Yemen: Talks on now to extend two-month ceasefire, says UN envoy Hans Grundberg

The UK government has taken further legislative steps to ensure that abortion services are commissioned in Northern Ireland. The Department of Health and the Northern Ireland Executive were last summer given a 31 March 2022 deadline to ensure access to abortion services, which they have missed.

In-house lawyers are worried about business leaders underestimating reputational and compliance risks around sustainability, according to a new study from EY Law and the Harvard Law School Center on the Legal Profession. Only 15 per cent of respondents to a survey of 1,000 general counsel and chief

Ireland has been referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) over its failure to transpose the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD). The revised AVMSD provides EU-wide media content standards for all audiovisual media, both traditional TV broadcasts and on-demand se