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Lay members have been appointed to a number of Judicial Council committees and nominated for the panel of inquiry. Kieran Coughlan, Claire Archbold, Professor Maeve Conrick, Patrick Doyle and Professor Bernard McCartan have been appointed as lay members to the judicial conduct committee, which has p

The slow progress of UK-EU talks poses a "real threat" to the Northern Ireland peace process, Justice Minister Helen McEntee has said in her first discussion with her northern counterpart. Ms McEntee spoke with Justice Minister Naomi Long by phone yesterday in their first direct conversation since t

Retired solicitor Paul Kennedy has unexpectedly withdrawn from the recruitment process for the Northern Ireland Assembly’s commissioner for standards. Mr Kennedy was nominated earlier this month for the role, which has responsibility for ensuring that MLAs uphold high standards of conduct in p

Our regular round-up of deals involving Irish law firms. Submit your deals to newsdesk@irishlegal.com. Arthur Cox has worked with US law firm Akin Gump LLP to advise a group of unsecured creditors on an Irish scheme of arrangement which was approved by the High Court yesterday.

New counter-espionage legislation to boost MI5 powers and create a new register of foreign agents is reportedly set to be introduced in the UK following the Russia report. The report from the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament (ISC), published yesterday, suggested that the intelligenc

A review of support measures for stressed prison officers has moved forward with the appointment of two professionals to lead the review. Siobhan Keating, a consultant psychologist in Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, and Gillian Robinson, the HR director of the Probation Board for Northern Irel

Lord Sumption has admitted that he stopped obeying the coronavirus regulations when they began "reaching levels of absurdity". Speaking to legal journalist Joshua Rozenberg QC (hon.), the former Supreme Court justice said he did not accept that there was a "moral obligation to comply with the law".

In the first of his 'neurolaw' articles, Benjamin Bestgen looks at how the law might accommodate advances in cognitive technology. See his last jurisprudential primer here.  Humans are capable of fascinating feats of observation, empathy and intuition but we cannot read other people’s tho

A man who allegedly attempted to fake his own death to avoid a jail sentence was arrested after prosecutors noticed a typo in his supposed death certificate. The document submitted to authorities in New York State looked genuine except the word "registry" was spelled "regsitry", NBC News reports.

The High Court has granted an injunction against a quarry operating near the Leannan River Special Area of Conservation (SAC). Background

Barristers in Northern Ireland have reportedly been told that the size of juries in criminal cases could be reduced from 12 to nine or seven members to help clear the COVID-19 backlog. The Office of the Lord Chief Justice, the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service, The Bar of Northern Irelan

People attending the courts have been asked to wear face coverings by the most senior judges in Ireland. The direction was given by the president of the Court of Appeal today, and follows a similar direction to politicians using Leinster House and the Convention Centre yesterday in an attempt to sto

Legislation to protect renters will be considered by government ministers on Thursday following the final extension of the COVID-19 rent freeze and eviction moratorium. The Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act 2020 prohibits rent increases and evictions during the "emergency peri

The number of property transactions in Northern Ireland has started to bounce back following the reopening of the housing market last month. There were 1,320 property transactions in Northern Ireland in June 2020, up from 540 in May and 410 in April, according to new HMRC figures.

A Limerick solicitor has launched defamation proceedings against the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (ISME) over its comments about a personal injury case, according to reports. Gerard O'Neill, founder and principal of O'Neill & Co Solicitors, acted for a claimant in a case which