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Professor Joan Loughrey has been appointed as head of Queen's University Belfast (QUB) School of Law. She joins QUB from the University of Leeds, where she served as interim head of the school of law from 2020 until 2021. She also served as deputy head of school there from 2013 to 2019, and as direc

The greatest hits of Barry Manilow have been weaponised against protesters by authorities in New Zealand – as well as a sprinkler system. Anti-vaxxers have set up camp outside the country's parliament, which has started playing music on a loop through its speakers in a bid to disperse them.

Northern Ireland could be stuck with its current Covid-19 restrictions for some time in the absence of a fully-functioning Executive to make decisions on relaxing them, it has emerged. The Northern Ireland (Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern) Act 2022, which came into force earlier this m

Up to three people will be allowed to visit prisoners with effect from Monday, the Irish Prison Service has announced. Prison visits have been subject to various restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the prison service confirmed that up to three visitors – which may include two childr

The Irish government should establish an Office of Tax Reform modelled on the UK's Office of Tax Simplification, the British Irish Chamber of Commerce (BICC) has said. In a submission to the Commission on Taxation and Welfare, the BICC said the proposed body would recommend and advise the government

The Charities Regulator has appointed inspectors to carry out a statutory investigation into the Irish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA). The watchdog said "a number of concerns ... in relation to governance at the ISPCA" were raised with it between March and June 2021.

Speaking at the Institute for Government last week, former UK prime minister John Major issued an important warning on the rule of law. We republish an extract from his speech below. Our way of life is built around the maintenance of law. The public expects our government to work within the law and

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is facing a legal attempt to deprive it of its status as an independent group following its advice on transgender rights. LGBT charities want the United Nations to demote the EHRC after it called for a pause on proposed reforms to the Gender Recognitio

A black QC has called for wigs to be banned from court following an incident in which another barrister was told he must wear one or face disciplinary action. Leslie Thomas QC said wigs were “fashioned for caucasian hair” and look “ridiculous” on black barristers.

Amending human rights laws to give priority to domestic law could result in uncertainty, former UK Supreme Court justice Lord Carnwath has said. An independent review of the Human Rights Act recommended subordinating Strasbourg case law to UK law.

The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) in England and Wales has accused justice secretary Dominic Raab of lies against the backdrop of a looming crisis in the criminal courts. In an article for The Times yesterday, Mr Raab claimed that the CBA is "demanding that I ignore the public law principles that a

A right-wing US politician with a penchant for conspiracy theories has been widely mocked after appearing to confuse the Nazi Gestapo with "gazpacho" – a chilled Mexican soup. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has faced social media bans for promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories, excoriated "Nan

A round-up of human rights stories from around the world. Beijing Winter Olympics open under shadow of human rights criticism | The Independent

A citizens' assembly on drug use will take place in "the latter part of this year", Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said. Mr Martin was pressed on the timetable for the citizens' assembly, promised in the programme for government, in the Dáil yesterday by Holly Cairns, the Social Democrat

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has identified economic equality, justice, respect and recognition, future-proofing and the public sector duty as its five key priorities for the next three years. The rights watchdog today published its strategy statement for 2022-24, its third strateg