Northern Ireland

A landmark EU court ruling on legal gender recognition "double underlines" the incompatibility of the UK Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland with EU law, meaning it cannot be implemented in Northern Ireland, our sister publication Irish Legal News has been told. The Court of Justice of the Eu

A statutory public inquiry into covert surveillance of journalists in Northern Ireland should be launched following fresh revelations from a tribunal, campaigners have said. Amnesty International said damaging disclosures at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal last week revealed that the PSNI, the Met

Northern Ireland's justice minister, Naomi Long, has rejected calls for mediation to resolve a long-standing dispute over criminal legal aid fee levels. Members of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) yesterday withdrew services from all legally-aided Crown Court fees in a significant escalation of in

Criminal barristers in Northern Ireland today begin a withdrawal of services from all legally-aided Crown Court cases in a major escalation of their campaign for legal aid fee increases. Members of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) last month voted overwhelmingly in support of the action, the lates

Rights organisations could fall back on the UK-EU international dispute settlement procedure to defend human rights in Northern Ireland if the UK government wins in a major UK Supreme Court case, according to a new report. The report, published by Social Change Initiative (SCI) in partnership with t

Paediatricians have called on Northern Ireland to follow neighbouring jurisdictions in banning child smacking. At present, the law in Northern Ireland and in England allows parents to rely on a defence of "reasonable punishment" where accused of assaulting their child.

New routes to qualifying as a solicitor in Northern Ireland are set to be introduced in a bid to make the profession more accessible, inclusive and future-focused. The Law Society of Northern Ireland this week published the findings of a consultation it undertook between December 2024 and March 2025

Northern Ireland could criminalise the creation and sharing of sexually explicit "deepfake" images of adults under plans now out for consultation. There is currently no legislation in Northern Ireland which criminalises the creation and sharing of sexually explicit deepfake images where the images r

Journalists are set to begin attending and reporting from family court hearings in Northern Ireland this October under a planned pilot scheme. Greater transparency in the family courts was one of the issues to be examined by a judicial working group established by the lady chief justice in September

The Law Society of Northern Ireland has called for urgent legislative changes to better protect legal professionals following a rise in solicitors facing harassment, threats and intimidation. Solicitors who have faced direct threats or abuse in the course of their work have joined a new group on sol

Sir Gary Hickinbottom has been appointed as chair of the public inquiry into the 1989 murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane by loyalist paramilitaries. Today's announcement from Northern Ireland secretary Hilary Benn is a major step forward for the inquiry announced last September.

AI businesses in Northern Ireland are likely to face stricter regulation than those in the rest of the UK, an expert in AI law has warned. The European Commission this week formally proposed adding the EU AI Act to the list of legislation which continues to apply in Northern Ireland post-Brexit.

A coroner's finding that the 1992 shooting by British soldiers of four Provisional IRA men at Clonoe Chapel was not justified has been referred to prosecutors. Mr Justice Michael Humphreys ruled earlier this month that the soldiers, who belonged to a specialist military unit (SMU), held no honest be

A strike by criminal barristers in Northern Ireland is to continue for another month after the Department of Justice was accused of failing to "engage meaningfully" with the Bar. The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) began a boycott of legally aided Crown Court cases at the start of the year to pile pr

Criminal barristers in Northern Ireland have begun a month-long boycott of legally aided Crown Court cases in an escalation of their campaign for fee increases. The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) announced the boycott last month following disappointment over the Department of Justice's response