Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland's new stand-alone offence of domestic abuse has come into force. The new offence under the Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act (Northern Ireland) 2021, which came into force yesterday, criminalises patterns of non-physical abusive behaviour as well as physical abuse.

Judith Rountree, associate at Carson McDowell, offers a Northern Ireland practitioner's perspective on the new Highway Code in England, Wales and Scotland. The Department for Transport in England, Wales and Scotland have implemented a revised Highway Code which came into force on 29 January 2022. A

Northern Ireland’s High Court has dismissed an application for judicial review of the Covid-Status certification scheme, finding that the regulations introduced had been a legal, legitimate, necessary and proportionate response to the pandemic emergency. This decision was one of a series surro

Coleraine firm Macaulay Wray Solicitors has announced the promotion of John McCaughan to partner in the firm.

Stop and search powers are being disproportionately used in Northern Ireland against people from ethnic minority communities and on children, new figures reveal. A total of 25,503 people were stopped and searched by PSNI officers in 2021, according to the latest statistics, with just six per cent of

Northern Ireland’s High Court has dismissed an application for judicial review arguing that so-called "vaccine passports" breached GDPR and data protection laws, finding that the unvaccinated applicant had insufficient standing for such a claim. This decision was one of a series surrounding re

The Belfast Solicitors Association (BSA) has relocated to new offices just a short walk from the Royal Courts of Justice. The association said its new base at River House, 48-60 High Street, Belfast is an "important development" which will assist its work to improve member services.

More than a million audio or video connections have been made for remote and hybrid hearings in the Northern Ireland courts between the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020 and the end of December 2021. The Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service (NICTS) said 56 courtrooms are now digi

Belfast-based Francis Hanna & Co Solicitors has announced the appointment of three new partners.  Jennifer Young, Karen Connolly and Ruth Flinn, who between them have over 45 years' experience in their specialist areas of law, have each been promoted from associate solicitor to partner.

A change in the law to require court approval of all children's compensation claims in Northern Ireland has been backed by an overwhelming majority of responses to a Department of Justice consultation.

Trainee solicitors Jemma Smyth and Georgia Holley have triumphed in the regional heat of the Law Society of Northern Ireland's Client Consultation Competition 2022. Ms Smyth and Ms Holley made up the team from the Institute of Professional Legal Studies at Queen's University Belfast, going head to h

A public consultation has been launched on proposals to replace zero-hour contracts in Northern Ireland with banded weekly hour contracts in cases where a worker’s hours, as set out in their contract, do not reflect the actual hours worked each week. Stormont's economy committee has begun its

Northern Ireland's draft budget, which included controversial cuts to justice funding, has effectively been scrapped in the absence of a first minister and deputy first minister. Finance minister Conor Murphy yesterday told MLAs that legal advice from the Departmental Solicitor's Office (DSO) and th

The Northern Ireland Prison Service has set out its plans to remove most restrictions introduced in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, including the reintroduction of in-person contact visits. The six-week "road to recovery" plan sets out what the prison service aims to have in place by Monday 4 Apr

MKB Law has become the first law firm in Northern Ireland to achieve the 2022 GDPR certification for law firms from Briefed. Briefed has created bespoke GDPR training for law firms, meeting all ICO standards, which allows firms to annually certify directors, associates, support staff and trainees at