Northern Ireland

International law firm Pinsent Masons has promoted three Belfast lawyers to legal directors in its 2020 promotion round. Lisa Early and Michael Hamill have been promoted to director in the corporate team, while Jane Boyd has been promoted to director in banking.

Dr Ciara Fitzpatrick has joined the Transitional Justice Institute (TJI) at Ulster University as a lecturer in law. Having worked extensively on access to justice and social security law, she brings additional capacity to the institute's work on gender and on socioeconomic rights.

Belfast-based MKB Law has welcomed back associate director and employment head Suzanne Keenan from maternity leave. In a blog post, Ms Keenan said her return to work during the coronavirus pandemic "may not be what I pictured, but it is still great to be back at it".

The Law Society of Northern Ireland has raised concerns over the impact of the Land Registry's closure during the coronavirus pandemic. The Department of Finance has said that the Registry's offices and phone lines will be closed until Wednesday 15 April, with the closure "kept under regular review"

Northern Ireland's inaugural Legal Services Oversight Commissioner (LSOC), whose powers have still not come into effect, has been reappointed for a second three-year term. Marian Cree was appointed to the role in April 2017, but secondary legislation to enact the LSOC's powers could not be introduce

Prominent Belfast solicitor Niall Murphy, who has spent almost two weeks in hospital with coronavirus, is showing signs of improvement, according to reports. Mr Murphy, 43, is a partner at KRW LAW LLP and is known for his work as a criminal defence lawyer and in representing victims of state violenc

Spitting on a police officer during the coronavirus pandemic should be prosecuted as actual bodily harm or grievous bodily harm, a judge has said. Judge Mark Hamill, sitting in Belfast Magistrates' Court, said the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) should take a harsher attitude while police officers

The Northern Ireland Policing Board has said it will "oversee" the police use of emergency coronavirus legislation following the first meeting of the newly-constituted Board yesterday. The meeting took place via tele-conference call owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and elected Doug Garrett as chair an

The PSNI needs to carry out a "full audit" of its historical records to establish what material it may hold in relation to Troubles-related cases, a watchdog has said. The chief inspector of criminal justice in Northern Ireland, Jacqui Durkin, has called on the PSNI and the Office of the Police Ombu

Legislation to create a new domestic abuse offence for Northern Ireland has been introduced to the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Domestic Abuse and Family Proceedings Bill 2020 aims to criminalise patterns of controlling and coercive behaviour, as well as physical abuse, against a partner, former p

The redress scheme for victims and survivors of historical institutional abuse in Northern Ireland has opened for applications. The Historical Institutional Abuse (Northern Ireland) Act was passed in Westminster on the last day of the previous Parliament after MPs fast-tracked the law last November.

Cleaver Fulton Rankin has been shortlisted for an award in recognition of its talent management. The Northern Ireland law firm will compete for the Best Talent Management award at the CIPD NI HR Awards in October.

New measures allowing women in England to take abortion pills at home during the coronavirus pandemic should be extended to Northern Ireland, campaigners have said. The Department of Health in England yesterday confirmed that it would press ahead with previously withdrawn plans to allow women in Eng

A new book about Northern Ireland human rights lawyer Kevin Boyle is being promoted online in a "virtual book tour" because of the coronavirus pandemic. The recently-released book, "Are You With Me? Kevin Boyle and the Rise of the Human Rights Movement" by former CNN correspondent Mike Chinoy, explo

Up to 200 prisoners in Northern Ireland will be temporarily released before the end of their sentence under plans to tackle the spread of coronavirus. In a statement this morning, Justice Minister Naomi Long said the COVID-19 pandemic meant she had to "consider measures that only a few weeks ago wou