Coronavirus

The Irish prison system has had its first confirmed case of COVID-19 after a 23-year-old female remand prisoner tested positive. When the inmate arrived at the Dóchas Centre for Women in Dublin, she was required to self-isolate for 14 days and was tested for COVID-19 as part of standard proce

Mr Justice Séamus Woulfe, who was recently appointed to the Supreme Court, has apologised for attending a controversial dinner which broke COVID-19 rules. More than 80 people, including high-profile politicians and civil servants, attended the Oireachtas Golf Society dinner in spite of restri

Kildare solicitor Liam Moloney has been appointed as co-chair of the new COVID-19 litigation group within the Pan European Organisation of Personal Injury Lawyers (PEOPIL). Mr Moloney, managing partner at Moloney & Co Solicitors, joined the organisation's executive board earlier this year.

Les Allamby, chief commissioner for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, considers how Northern Ireland is dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. How does a national human rights institution (NHRI) respond effectively to the COVID-19 pandemic when human rights and freedoms are curtailed?

Jury trials have resumed in Northern Ireland for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 crisis in March. Following physical alternations to allow jury trials to take place in line with public health guidelines, a jury trial has begun in Laganside Court in Belfast, and five more Crown Court v

Garda enforcement powers should not be reintroduced as part of the partial reinstatement of COVID-19 restrictions in Ireland, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has said. The civil liberties group reiterated the position it has held since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis that public he

Margaret Cordial, litigation solicitor at Smithwick Solicitors, examines recent significant reforms to the Irish legal system. The government has signed commencement orders for the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020, which introduces significant reforms to respond to the

Law reform can help Ireland respond to the COVID-19 crisis, the Law Reform Commission has said. In a paper presented to a recent joint conference of four neighbouring law reform bodies, the commission said the implementation of various recommendations made over the past decade could help Ireland dea

Legislation providing for a range of court reforms to meet the challenges and legal issues of the COVID-19 pandemic has been brought into effect. The Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020, which was signed into law earlier this month, has been commenced with effect from toda

A prominent doctor has called for emergency legislation to close down or strip licenses from businesses in order to control the risk of COVID-19. Dr Gabriel Scally told the Irish Independent that the State must act against businesses that are aiding the spread of the virus.

Workers in Northern Ireland who are laid off while furloughed will receive redundancy pay based on their normal wages under changes welcomed by employment lawyers. The new law, announced by Economy Minister Diane Dodds yesterday, will bring Northern Ireland in line with changes made in the rest of t

The Government will explore giving greater powers to the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) after concerns were raised about a "loophole" which meant employers had no legal obligation to report cases of the coronavirus in the workplace. Following a meeting with the HSA yesterday, a spokeswoman for&nb

An Garda Síochána's response to domestic abuse during the COVID-19 crisis is "the best it has ever been in Ireland", a new report suggests. The Policing Authority yesterday published its half-year assessment of policing performance, which highlights in particular the success of Operati

Justice Minister Naomi Long has backed calls for the UK government to publish three controversial contracts struck with three companies for PPE at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Good Law Project, led by founder Jo Maugham QC, has issued three sets of judicial review proceedings in relation

Insurance companies should pay plaintiffs' legal costs in test cases concerning COVID-19 claims on business interruption insurance policies, the Central Bank of Ireland has said. The Central Bank has published its COVID-19 and business interruption insurance supervisory framework, which aims to seek