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Home Secretary Priti Patel's laws to thwart asylum seekers attempts to cross the Channel were dealt a blow yesterday after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it would no longer prosecute migrants. The agreement made between prosecutors, police, Border Force, the National Crime Agency and the H

Celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti, who represented adult film star Stormy Daniels in her high-profile lawsuit against Donald Trump, has been jailed for his role in an attempted extortion scheme. Mr Avenatti was sentenced yesterday to two-and-a-half years in prison following his conviction by a New Y

A millionaire socialite is facing jail after admitting to a £1.1 million fraud over a pumpkin sculpture she never owned. German socialite Angela Gulbenkian agreed to sell the 81-kilogram pumpkin, by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, to Hong Kong art collector Mathieu Ticolat.

The High Court has granted an application by Portakabin (Ireland) Limited for the disclosure of the subscriber registration information associated with a Gmail account that was allegedly spreading defamatory material about the company. The court ordered that Google Ireland Limited had to provide the

Prison authorities have been urged to ensure that security screening is conducted in a way that respects "the individual dignity of prisoners, prison staff and visitors to prison" following a complaint from a solicitor. Security processes in the Irish Prison Service (IPS) have come under greater scr

A consultation has been launched seeking views on possible legislation to require all compensation settlements to children for personal injuries to be approved by a court. Currently in Northern Ireland, only those compensation settlements for a child which are agreed during legal proceedings must be

Plaintiff personal injury firm JMK Solicitors has successfully trialled a new initiative to securely share documents with defendant law firms. The firm's secure document sharing portal aims to create greater efficiencies in the handling of litigation and help to reduce the risks of data breaches.

A new public consultation is seeking views on how the criminal justice system should treat cases of non-fatal strangulation. Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJINI) recommended in June 2019 that the Department of Justice should review how potential inadequacies in current legislation re

Delays in Irish protection process are causing "direct harm to people", according to the Irish Refugee Council. A new report, "Hanging on a Thread" Delays in the Irish Protection Process, published by the Irish Refugee Council highlights the extent of delays in the Irish protection process

Law Centre NI has been recognised for its work in ensuring access to justice for all with an award at the UK-wide Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Awards (LALYs). The Law Centre won the Regional Legal Aim Firm/Not-for-Profit Agency category. It was nominated alongside the Family Law Company in Exeter an

The Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019 has passed all the stages in the Dáil and Seanad Éireann. The bill was first introduced in April 2019 but it lapsed with the dissolution of the Dáil in 2020, before being restored to the Order Paper later that year.

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has expressed "grave concern" over the State withholding redress from alleged victims of sexual abuse in schools. The Commission has told the Council of Europe's highest body, the Council of Ministers, that Ireland continues to withhold redress from all

A draft policy on the use of restrictive practices, restraint and seclusion in health and social care settings has gone out to consultation. The 91-page draft document aims to minimise the use of restrictive practices and has been drawn up in conjunction with both service users and health profession

The widow of a judge who has been cleared of child sexual abuse has said people who make unfounded allegations should be deprived of their anonymity. Lady Nourse, 77, was found not guilty of 17 charges made against her by a man who accused her of abusing him as a boy under 12 in the 1980s.

A new draft of the cabinet manual needs to be produced as soon as possible for it to remain useful, according to the House of Lords Constitution Committee. In a report published today, the committee has emphasised that as the cabinet manual is now a decade old, it needs to be updated or risk be