Northern Ireland

Belfast-based O'Reilly Stewart Solicitors has named Stuart Gilmore as its new managing director and welcomed Aine Tyrrell as a partner in its healthcare department. Mr Gilmore, a solicitor with almost 30 years' experience, has been a partner within the practice since 2012.

Northern Ireland's High Court has reserved judgment on an application for judicial review brought over the Executive's failure to adopt an anti-poverty strategy. The Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) brought the legal proceedings with support from Public Interest Litigation Support (P

Child complainants in serious sexual offence cases in Northern Ireland will soon be able to avail of free independent legal advice, justice minister Naomi Long has indicated. A children's version of the sexual offences legal advisers (SOLA) pilot was originally expected to be launched in January 202

Belfast-based O'Reilly Stewart Solicitors has named Northern Ireland Hospice as its charity partner for 2025.

Proposals to increase criminal and civil legal aid fees in Northern Ireland by 16 per cent have been put out to consultation. The public consultation, which opened last week, will run until 27 March 2025 — and the proposed increase remains "subject to business case approval by the Department o

Northern Ireland's justice minister has said striking criminal barristers are not "suffering" and must be prepared to meet her halfway following an extension of their withdrawal of services. In a statement yesterday evening, Naomi Long said she was "hugely disappointed" that the Criminal Bar Associa

Northern Ireland firm Carson McDowell has donated £15,000 to the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust (KBRT), its chosen charity for 2024.

A strike by criminal barristers in Northern Ireland is to continue for another month after the Department of Justice was accused of failing to "engage meaningfully" with the Bar. The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) began a boycott of legally aided Crown Court cases at the start of the year to pile pr

Northern Ireland’s High Court has granted a declaration to the Bar Council of Northern Ireland and the Law Society of Northern Ireland that the Department of Justice and Legal Services Agency are in contravention of their statutory duty to pay properly presented legal aid bills. Delivering jud

Northern Ireland firm Carson McDowell has marked World Data Protection Day with the launch of a new specialist data action response team (DART).

Cleaver Fulton Rankin associate Jude Copeland examines a ruling on procedural issues in the UK's first major copyright battle over generative AI technology. On 14 January 2025, Mrs Justice Joanna Smith DBE delivered a reserved judgment in Getty Images (US) Inc and Ors v Stability AI Ltd [2025] EWHC

Northern Ireland’s High Court has refused an appeal against the provisional grant of a pub licence to Lidl. Delivering judgment for the High Court, Mr Justice Adrian Colton remarked that while the "concept of a licenced premises attached to a supermarket is undoubtedly a new development", the

Every pound spent on legal aid in Northern Ireland creates £8.32 of social value, according to a groundbreaking new report from the Law Society of Northern Ireland. The 56-page report, The Social Value of Legal Aid, was launched on Monday in the Northern Ireland Assembly at an event which hear

Professor Colin Murray examines a recent ruling by Northern Ireland's High Court on the 1997 murder of GAA official Sean Brown through the lens of feminist jurisprudence. The idea of a feminist judgment, or indeed a feminist judge, remains a scary thought for many lawyers. Judges are to be detached

Legal aid spending in Northern Ireland should be seen as an investment that lessens demand for other services including health and social care, the Bar of Northern Ireland has told MPs. The Bar has made a 15-page submission to Westminster's Northern Ireland affairs committee, which is currently cond