News

Northern Ireland's courts backlog has eased slightly since the height of the pandemic, with around 10,000 criminal cases outstanding at the start of February. Justice Minister Naomi Long said the 10,000 total was up on 8,100 cases in March 2020 but "down significantly" from a peak of 12,800 in Septe

The Hibernian Law Journal has opened submissions for its Case Note Competition 2021. Case notes of 2,000 to 4,000 words are sought by the Journal on any recent seminal judgment of the Irish courts, the EU courts or the European Court of Human Rights.

The number of defendants brought back to court for breach of their bail conditions has risen by around 50 per cent in five years, new figures reveal. Provisional figures show there were 2,286 bail revoked orders made in 2019, a 50 per cent increase from 1,523 in 2015 – with a substantial incre

The £108 million redevelopment of Magilligan Prison has been delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic but progress has still been made, Justice Minister Naomi Long has said. Magilligan is a medium- to low-security facility near Limavady which holds more than 450 male prisoners with six years or less t

A council is checking its CCTV footage following reports that a large section of pavement was stolen from a village in West Sussex. Numerous paving slabs went missing in Storrington this week, much to the confusion of locals.

The High Court has determined that a Health and Care Trust did not act unlawfully after it reduced the level of social care to two profoundly disabled adults due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The court said that the decision taken by the Trust to reduce care services from March 2020 was r

Conveyancers could become a regulated profession in their own right under government plans to drive down legal costs. Justice Minister Helen McEntee today ordered the Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) to draw up a report on the creation of a new profession of "conveyancer".

Defendant insurance specialist firm Horwich Farrelly has reported continued growth in Northern Ireland, with Eva Bashford and Sarah McLeigh joining the team. Ms Bashford joins the firm as a partner, bringing over 15 years' experience of dealing with claims in both Northern Ireland and the Republic o

Mercy Law Resource Centre (MLRC), which provides free legal advice to homeless people and people at risk of homelessness, has called for urgent action to address barriers to ethnic minority groups accessing housing services. A new report published by the law centre and funded by the Irish Human Righ

Offenders on probation have "significant and unmet" mental health needs which must become a "priority area" for the Probation Service, a new report warns. The report – authored by Dr Christina Power, senior clinical psychologist at the Probation Service – was published this morning and m

Lawyers Aoife Farrelly BL and Julie Galbraith have been appointed as members of GAA disciplinary committees in a groundbreaking year for women's representation. There are now women on all three of the GAA's disciplinary committees – the central competitions control committee, central hearings

Controversial spit hoods have been rolled out to thousands more PSNI officers in spite of a call from the Northern Ireland Policing Board for their use to be "phased out as soon as possible". Four NGOs – Amnesty International, the Children's Law Centre, CAJ and Include Youth – have calle

Legislation providing a legal definition of bullying and requiring schools to record incidents of bullying will finally be brought into effect in September. The Addressing Bullying in Schools Act (NI) 2016, which was passed with the support of all political parties, will commence from 1 September 20

English solicitor Greg Cox has been appointed as a trustee to the board of governors of Armagh Observatory and Planetarium (AOP). Mr Cox is the managing partner and CEO of English law firm Simpson Millar and has extensive experience of financial management, governance experience, capital raising and

The presidents of the law societies of Northern Ireland, Ireland and Scotland have condemned the military coup in Myanmar. The Tatmadaw, the armed forces of Myanmar, seized power at the start of February, detaining government leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other prominent members of her party.