Northern Ireland

A working group including lawyers, prosecutors and police is set to be established to identify practical measures to reduce the number of non-jury trials taking place in Northern Ireland. Under the Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007, the Director of Public Prosecutions can direct that

UK law firm Shoosmiths has launched its first trainee solicitor programme in Northern Ireland. The Belfast office, which became part of Shoosmiths through a merger in 2016, will welcome graduates for the first time in September 2021, alongside nine of the firm's other UK offices.

The Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) has announced the appointment of David Savage as the new governor of Maghaberry Prison. Mr Savage, who has served as deputy governor since September 2019, formally took up the post yesterday.

A Bill of Rights, with the inclusion of specific children’s rights, underpinned by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), could be transformative for children in Northern Ireland, the Children’s Law Centre has said. The list of issues facing children in Northern Ireland wa

Promoting good mental health is the focus of a new initiative being launched this week by the Law Society of Northern Ireland. The Society’s new Wellbeing Toolkit recognises the importance of promoting good mental health and providing support to help colleagues, their families and staff in the

Belfast-based MKB Law has announced the appointment of solicitors Jordan Hanna and Frederick Reilly. Mr Hanna has joined the firm's residential conveyancing department, while Mr Reilly has joined the employment department.

UK law firm TLT has won an expanded role on the National Legal Services Framework, which can be accessed by all police forces and local authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The firm, which was first appointed to the framework in 2009, has retained its property role (residential, comme

Regulations giving the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland powers to direct the commissioning of abortion services have been approved by Westminster. The Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021 were approved by MPs in a 431-89 vote on Tuesday and agreed by Lords yesterday afternoon.

Northern Ireland's ministers for justice, health, communities, education and finance have published an action plan for year six of the seven-year domestic and sexual abuse strategy as well as a progress report for 2020/21. Year six of the strategy will include the commencement of the Domestic Abuse

Family lawyer Claire Edgar has welcomed an English court ruling emphasising the importance of domestic abuse training for the judiciary. The Court of Appeal in London last month handed down judgment in four appeals dealing with how allegations of domestic abuse and coercive and controlling behaviour

Outdoor pubs and restaurants which fail to take public health guidelines seriously following the reopening of the hospitality sector this Friday could lose their licences next year, a Belfast lawyer has warned. Christopher Bullock, an associate at O'Reilly Stewart Solicitors, has highlighted that ne

The Law Society of Northern Ireland has called for British-Iranian woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe to be released from prison in Iran. Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has already served five years in an Iranian prison for supposedly plotting to topple the Iranian government, was this week given a further

The Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland has allowed an appeal against a decision by the High Court to adjourn a case arising from the Renewable Heat Initiative (RHI) scheme. The case had previously been adjourned to allow for further legislation to be enacted which might have disposed of the applica

Corporate and commercial law firm Mills Selig has announced the promotion of senior associates Maeve Fisher and Kirsten Magee to partner. The double promotion in the litigation team brings the Northern Ireland firm's total partner count to 12.

Finance lawyer Anna Vangrove has joined Shoosmiths as a banking and finance partner in Belfast. An experienced banking lawyer specialising in real estate finance and energy finance, Ms Vangrove joins from TLT, where she spent six years and was latterly the head of its Belfast banking and finance tea