Phoenix Law

The former manager of the Stardust nightclub has failed in a High Court bid to prevent a verdict of "unlawful killing" being considered in the fresh inquests into the deaths of 48 people in the infamous 1981 nightclub fire. Eamonn Butterly sought an order preventing the jury in the new inquests from

This has been another eventful month for Gavin Booth. On Friday 7 October, a judge at the High Court in Belfast ruled that the PSNI was in breach of a legal duty to carry out an effective investigation into a fatal loyalist gun attack on a pub in Co Down 30 years ago, which involved allegations of c

A bereaved mother has received "substantial damages" from the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust and the Northern Ireland Hospice following a settlement ending legal action over alleged medical negligence. Christina Campbell, whose daughter Jessica died at four months old after being di

The so-called "gay cake" case could return to the domestic courts following a "disappointing" ruling from the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), lawyers have said. The ECtHR ruled that the case brought by Gareth Lee against the United Kingdom was inadmissible because Mr Lee did not explicitly r

Lawyers for the "Hooded Men" say they have been vindicated by a UK Supreme Court ruling that the PSNI's decision not to investigate their allegations of torture by the British Army in 1971 was unlawful. An RTÉ documentary broadcast in 2014 made public for the first time a memo written by the

A court ruling that a 16-year-old transgender girl does not require court permission to access hormone blockers will "bring comfort" to other young trans people in Northern Ireland, a solicitor has said. In a judgment handed down in May and published earlier this month, Mrs Justice Siobhan Keegan sa

An investigative journalist has taken the PSNI to a tribunal over its refusal to release a secret review of Special Branch strategy compiled at the height of the Troubles. The dossier was drawn up in 1973 when officers from the Royal Ulster Constabulary’s Special Branch are known to have been

A prisoner in HMP Maghaberry has launched a judicial review of the ban on sexual contact between inmates and the restriction on access to condoms in the prison. The anonymous inmate's challenge against the Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) is believed to be the first of its kind and allege

A damning report from the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland on the treatment of Black Lives Matter protesters will be raised in ongoing litigation, a human rights firm has said. Belfast-based Phoenix Law, which represents a number of those fined for participating in BLM protests in Belfast and D

A new report which blasted the PSNI's approach to Black Lives Matter protests in Northern Ireland as "not lawful" raises questions about institutional racism in the force, a law firm has said. Belfast firm Phoenix Law, which is representing a number of people under investigation as a result of BLM p

Belfast firm Phoenix Law has announced the appointment of Elaine Conlon to lead its redress team. The redress team is responsible for the representation of victims and survivors of historical institutional abuse and their applications to the HIA Redress Board for compensation.

Prosecutors have upheld their decision not to prosecute 15 former British soldiers for murder, attempted murder and causing grievous bodily injury in connection with Bloody Sunday in 1972. The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) conducted an internal review following its controversial decision in March

Grammar school transfer tests are to be delayed until next January following successful legal challenges brought to the High Court in Belfast. The transfer tests set to take place in November and December 2020 after a two to three week delay will now take place in January 2021, lawyers for the Depar

The Executive Office is unlawfully stymieing the implementation of the legacy pension scheme for victims of the Troubles, the High Court in Belfast has ruled. Mr Justice Gerry McAlinden handed down judgment this morning in respect of two separate judicial reviews brought by Jennifer McNern and 

Lawyers representing the family of an 18-year-old woman who was murdered in 1988 have called for an independent investigation following today's decision not to prosecute two suspects in the case. German national Inga-Maria Hauser was touring the UK as part of an interrailing holiday when she disappe