Northern Ireland

Retired solicitor Paul Kennedy has unexpectedly withdrawn from the recruitment process for the Northern Ireland Assembly’s commissioner for standards.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

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

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

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.

An obituary of Lord Hutton, the former Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland and Lord of Appeal in Ordinary who passed away last week, has been published by The Times. The senior judge was born in Belfast in 1931 and began his career at The Bar of Northern Ireland in 1954. He became a QC in 1970 an

Derry solicitor Karen O'Leary has been appointed to the editorial board of Legal Women, a new quarterly magazine for women in the law. Ms O'Leary heads up the family law practice at Caldwell & Robinson Solicitors, the Derry-based firm which expanded into Dublin last year.

Some restrictions on the sale of alcohol in pubs and nightclubs are set to be relaxed under new proposed liquor licensing legislation. Communities Minister Carál Ní Chuilín yesterday announced plans for a bill introducing changes to late opening hours for pubs, Easter trading ar

Same-sex couples in Northern Ireland will be allowed to have religious wedding ceremonies under new regulations laid in Westminster yesterday. The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 will remove the prohibition on religious marriage of same-sex couples from 1 September

Children as young as 11 were among the 422 taken to court and convicted last year, the Belfast Telegraph reports. Justice Minister Naomi Long disclosed the crimes committed by children in recent years, including violence against the person, drug offences, robbery and fraud.

Online land registration fees in Northern Ireland will be reduced from April next year, Finance Minister Conor Murphy has said. The Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) last month criticised the "considerable surpluses" generated from LandWeb users.

Solicitor John Finucane has an "expected commitment of 10-20 hours per week" at his firm Finucane Toner following his election as MP for North Belfast, Sinn Féin has said. The party issued a clarification after opposition figures questioned the register of financial interests lodged with West

The UK government has come under pressure from a Westminster committee to set out how it will facilitate "unfettered" trade between Northern Ireland and Great Britain under the Brexit deal. In a new report, the Northern Ireland affairs committee said the UK's proposals for implementation of the Nort

The conduct of ex parte hearings where the PSNI obtained warrants in respect of the investigation into the theft of documents from the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland relating to the 1994 Loughinisland massacre fell “woefully short” of a fair hearing, the Court of Appeal has held.

Commercial law firm Tughans has announced the appointment of three new partners and a private client director. New partner Chris Milligan has joined the commercial real estate team as a partner, while Andrew Kirke has been promoted to partner seven years after joining the firm. Mr Milligan, an energ

Plans to create new organised crime offences for Northern Ireland have gone out to consultation. Under the proposals, serious organised crime would be defined as "crime involving two or more people acting together with one of their main purposes or activities being the commission or facilitation of