 | This article'slead sectionmay be too short to adequatelysummarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead toprovide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article.(October 2021) |
Thelaw of Northern Ireland is the legal system ofstatute andcommon law operating inNorthern Ireland since thepartition of Ireland established Northern Ireland as a distinct jurisdiction in 1921. Before 1921, Northern Ireland was part ofthe same British legal system as the rest of Ireland.
For the purposes ofprivate international law, the United Kingdom is divided into three distinct legal jurisdictions:England and Wales;Northern Ireland andScotland.
Northern Ireland is acommon law jurisdiction. Although its common law is similar to that inEngland andWales, and partially derives from the same sources, there are some important differences in law and procedure. Northern Irish law has its roots in Irish common law before thepartition of Ireland in 1921 and the Acts of Union in 1801. Following the formation of theIrish Free State (which later became theRepublic of Ireland), Northern Ireland became its own devolved legal jurisdiction within the United Kingdom.
The sources of Northern Irish law reflectIrish history and the various parliaments whose law affected the region down through the ages.
 | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(September 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
TheBrehon Laws were a relatively sophisticated early Irish legal system, the practice of which was only finally wiped out during theCromwellian conquest of Ireland. The Brehon laws were a civil legal system only – there was no criminal law. Acts that would today be considered criminal were then dealt with in a similar manner to tort law today. A perpetrator would have to compensate the victim, rather than having a punishment, such as imprisonment, imposed upon him.
Ireland was the subject of the first extension of England'scommon law legal system outside England.[1] While in England the creation of the common law was largely the result of the assimilation of existing customary law, in Ireland the common law was imported from England, gradually supplanting the customary law of the Irish.[2]
.png)
The current statute law of Northern Ireland comprises thoseActs of theParliament of the United Kingdom that apply to Northern Ireland andActs of theNorthern Ireland Assembly, as well asstatutory instruments made by departments of theNorthern Ireland Executive and theUK Government, Acts of theParliament of Northern Ireland passed between 1921 and 1972, Acts of theParliament of Ireland made before theAct of Union 1800, and Acts of theParliament of England, and of theParliament of Great Britain, extended to Ireland underPoynings' Law between 1494 and 1782.
The Northern Ireland Parliament was prorogued in 1972; from then until the establishment of the Northern Ireland Assembly following theGood Friday Agreement, the primary method of making legislation for Northern Ireland was by means oforders in council under the Northern Ireland (Temporary Provisions) Act 1972. A number of important legislative measures were adopted using the order in council procedure: this included the Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1988 restricting the right to silence, the Fair Employment and Treatment Order (Northern Ireland) 1998 on religious and political discrimination.
The expression "Northern Ireland legislation" is defined by statute. TheNorthern Ireland Act 1998 establishes the legislative competence of the Northern Ireland Assembly. It creates a distinction between excepted matters, reserved matters and other matters (which are transferred i.e. they fall within the NI Assembly's competence).
Section 24(5) of theInterpretation Act 1978 now reads:
In this section "Northern Ireland legislation" means—
- (a) Acts of theParliament of Ireland;
- (b) Acts of theParliament of Northern Ireland;
- (c)Orders in Council under section 1(3) of theNorthern Ireland (Temporary Provisions) Act 1972;
- (d) Measures of theNorthern Ireland Assembly established under section 1 of theNorthern Ireland Assembly Act 1973;
- (e) Orders in Council under Schedule 1 to theNorthern Ireland Act 1974;
- (f) Acts of theNorthern Ireland Assembly; and
- (g) Orders in Council under section 85 of theNorthern Ireland Act 1998.[3]
Paragraphs (d) to (g) were substituted by paragraph 3 of Schedule 13 to the Northern Ireland Act 1998.[4]
Until 2 December 1999,paragraph 7(2) of Schedule 2 to the Northern Ireland Act 1982 provided that Orders in Council under section 38(1)(b) of theNorthern Ireland Constitution Act 1973[5] were Northern Ireland legislation for the purposes of section 24 of the Interpretation Act 1978.
Section 5 of the Interpretation Act 1978 provides that in any Act, unless the contrary intention appears, the expression "Northern Ireland legislation" is to be construed according to Schedule 1 of that Act, which contains the following paragraph:
"Northern Ireland legislation" has the meaning assigned by section 24(5) of this Act. [1 January 1979][6]
The preceding paragraph applies, so far as applicable, to Acts passed on or after 1 January 1979.[7]
Primary Legislation is made by the legislative branch of government. In Northern Ireland this includes theParliament of the United Kingdom (hereafter "Westminster") and theNorthern Ireland Assembly ("the Assembly"). Legislation created by theParliament of Northern Ireland, which operated from 1921 to 1972, is still in effect.
Westminster may still legislate on any Northern Ireland matter. In contrast the Assembly cannot legislate on "Excepted" matters nor "Reserved" matters. The Assembly may legislate on devolved ("Transferred") matters and then Westminster plays no part in the enactment of such legislation.
Acts of the Northern Ireland Parliament are distinguished from Westminster Acts by the position of the phrase "Northern Ireland" inside their title.
| Parliament | Act title |
|---|---|
| Northern Ireland (abolished) | The Subject Matter Act (Northern Ireland) 1958 |
| United Kingdom | The Subject Matter (Northern Ireland) Act 1958 |
The Privy Council legislates on Reserved matters through Orders in Council. Technically speaking these are secondary, or delegated legislation, and they are therefore given UK Statutory Instrument numbers. Orders in Council are however used as primary legislation.[8]
All secondary legislation is derived from primary legislation. Parliament cannot amend secondary legislation, but may reject or approve it. Secondary legislation is drafted by a branch of government:
Secondary legislation is called a statutory instrument when drafted by a Westminster department and a statutory rule when drafted by an Assembly department. Previously statutory rules were titled "statutory rules and orders".
| Date | Matters | Primary | Secondary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1921 – present | Excepted | UK statute (Act) | Statutory instruments |
| Reserved | Orders in council (in effect) | Orders in council (technically) | |
| 1921–1973 | Transferred | NI statute (Act) | Statutory rules and orders |
| 2002 – 8 May 2007[9] | Orders in council (in effect) | Orders in council (technically) | |
| 1974 – present | NI statute (order) | Statutory rules |
In 1979, there was a severe shortage of textbooks and of works of authority, such as annotated statutes,law reports andrules of court, because the potential readership of any legal work, no matter how general, was so small that publication was not commercially viable.[10] The only periodical dealing with the law of Northern Ireland was theNorthern Ireland Legal Quarterly (NILQ),[11] apeer-reviewed quarterly journal published since 1936, published at the School of Law atQueen's University Belfast.[12]
According to theBodleian Library atOxford University: "There are two main series of law reports for Northern Ireland: theNorthern Ireland Law Reports (NI), which began in 1925; and theNorthern Ireland Judgments Bulletin (NIJB), previously known as the Blue Books, which was first published in 1970".[13][14][15][16]
TheNorthern Ireland Statutes Revised are printed editions of NI statutes, revised.[17]
Both of Northern Ireland's universities offer a range of undergraduate and postgraduate law degrees:
There are specialist research centres in the two universities:
Professional legal education is offered by the Institute of Professional Legal Studies at Queen's University Belfast and the Graduate School for Professional Legal Education at Ulster University.
The1967 Abortion Act does not apply in Northern Ireland. This situation led theNorthern Ireland Human Rights Commission to take judicial proceedings which led to a decision in 2015 that Northern Ireland's abortion regime violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights as it failed to allow for termination in cases of fatal foetal abnormality or when pregnancy was due to a sexual offence.[19]
Abortion was decriminalised inNorthern Ireland when the relevant sections of theOffences against the Person Act 1861 were repealed in October 2019. The Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 commenced on 31 March 2020, authorising abortions to be carried out by a "registered medical professional".[20]
As to the mens rea for murder, see section 8 of theCriminal Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 1966.
The following partial defences reduce murder to manslaughter:
See also section 6 of the Criminal Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 1966. The common law defence of provocation was abolished and section 7 of that Act repealed by section 56 of theCoroners and Justice Act 2009.
TheInfanticide Act (Northern Ireland) 1939 provides a partial defence which reduces murder to infanticide.
The penalty for murder is provided by section 1(1) of theNorthern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1973.
TheSexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 2008 reformed the law of sex crime in Northern Ireland similarly to how theSexual Offences Act 2003 did in England and Wales.
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(March 2011) |
| This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(March 2011) |
| This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(March 2011) |
| This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(March 2011) |
Several of these areas of law, such as treason, defence and foreign relations, arereserved or excepted matters, meaning only Westminster has the power to legislate for them.
| This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(March 2011) |
TheCriminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 abolished the offence of blasphemy in England and Wales; this measure did not extend to Northern Ireland.
| This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(March 2011) |
| This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(March 2011) |
| This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(March 2011) |
| This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(March 2011) |
| This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(March 2011) |
Participatory offences include aiding, abetting, counselling, or procuring the act of some crime or conspiracy. It also includes being an accomplice to criminal behaviour.
| This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(March 2011) |
Due to the history of political violence in Northern Ireland, there have been distinctive developments in Northern Irish criminal law and anti-terrorism procedures. These date to the Civil Authorities (Special Powers) Act (Northern Ireland) 1922, commonly called theSpecial Powers Act. Following the outbreak of violence in the 1960s and 1970s, the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1973 introduced jurylessDiplock courts to try terrorism related offences.
TheTerrorism Act 2000 retains special provisions for Northern Ireland in respect of anti-terrorism law, and retains the possibility to try certain offences without a jury.
TheDefamation Act 2013 does not apply in Northern Ireland. The protections which this Act provides for free expression (e.g. the public interest defence in section 4) do not therefore apply in Northern Ireland.
Northern Irish courts have issued a small number ofsuper-injunctions.
TheGovernment of Ireland Act 1920 prohibited religious discrimination in legislation. In 1976 the UK Parliament passed the Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Act which prohibited religious and political discrimination in employment. The Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Act 1989 creates a system to monitor the religious composition of the workforce so as to promote fair participation.
In 1998 theNorthern Ireland Act 1998 introduced a statutory duty on designated public authorities to promote equality of opportunity on a number of grounds.
While in some aspects Northern Ireland's equality law has been in advance of developments elsewhere, there are also examples where it is not as progressive. Racial discrimination in Northern Ireland was only prohibited in 1997. TheEquality Act 2010 does not apply in Northern Ireland; this means that Northern Ireland's equality legislation is split across a large number of Acts and Orders.
| This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Law of Northern Ireland" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(October 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Text was copied from this source, which is available under aAttribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.
| Core subjects |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Further subjects | ||
| Related systems | ||