Case archive
Court of Appeal rules that matters dealt with by Financial Services Ombudsman cannot be subject of fresh High Court proceedings
The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal brought by Mr Damien Murphy, in which he challenged a finding of the High Court that his case seeking damages against Canada Life Assurance Ireland Limited and Irish Life Assurance Plc should be struck out on the grounds that the plaintiff disclosed no reasonable cause of action, essentially because the matter had already been addressed by the Financial Services Ombudsman (FSO).
6 May 2016
Judge recused from defamation case due to article written about plaintiff
Mr Justice Col MacEochaidh has agreed that he be recused from hearing any matter connected with defamation proceedings brought by Declan Ganley against RTE.
5 May 2016
Reversed conviction due to European Convention breach does not give rise to compensation
Northern Ireland's Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal against the High Court, which upheld a decision of the Department of Justice to refuse a man compensation pursuant to Section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 because the reversal of his conviction was not on the ground of a new or newly discovered fact.
4 May 2016
Luxembourg dismisses challenges against directive on tobacco products
The extensive standardisation of packaging, the future EU-wide prohibition on menthol cigarettes and the special rules for electronic cigarettes, embodied in the EU directive on tobacco products, are lawful, the Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled
4 May 2016
Question of whether examination scripts constitute personal data to be referred to European Court
The Supreme Court is to refer questions to the European Court of Justice as to the status of examinations scripts as personal data, following a case in which a man sought an appeal of a decision by the Data Protection Commissioner, in which it determined that such scripts did not constitute personal data.
3 May 2016
Challenge to Minister’s refusal to allow sex offender sentence transfer found to be unarguable
The High Court has found that an applicant’s challenge of a decision by the Minister for Justice and Equality, in which she refused to allow him to transfer his sentence from the UK to Ireland, was unarguable, as the Minister was not obliged to accept such transfers, and had not acted unreasonably in her refusal.
29 April 2016
Solicitor required to pay compensation for unreasonable and unprofessional conduct
The Law Society of Ireland sought and obtained an order for various sanctions following an incident in which a solicitor, Michael O’Sullivan, withheld money from a client, Mr James Nolan, and failed to furnish a Bill of Costs explaining his fee, a breakdown of money to be returned to Mr Nolan, and a statement of special damages.
28 April 2016
Serial litigant’s case over terminated contract remitted to High Court
The Supreme Court has remitted the balance of a case concerning the termination of a contract to the High Court, following a finding that the Court had correctly determined that the case was not one related to defamation, and therefore did not require a jury trial.
27 April 2016
UK: Mentally ill asylum seeker convict fails in attempt to have period of detention declared unlawful
A mentally ill Nigerian asylum seeker who was detained pending deportation and who sought a declaration that a period of her detention was unlawful, in addition to damages, has had her appeal to the UK Supreme Court unanimously dismissed – as the court also declared R (Francis) was wrongly decided.
27 April 2016
Grand Chamber unanimously holds that murderer's article 3 right was violated over release prospects
The European Court of Human Rights has held, unanimously, that there was a violation of article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) of the European Convention on Human Rights in the case of convicted murderer, James Clifton Murray who complained he was serving a life sentence without any realistic prospect of release (the principal facts and earlier procedure are available here).
27 April 2016
Sentence for possession of explosives deemed neither manifestly excessive nor wrong
Northern Ireland's Court of Appeal has upheld a sentence given by the Crown Court in respect of a man who had been found in possession of components of a pipe bomb in January 2014.
26 April 2016
Strasbourg rules unanimously that Russian protesters' article 10 rights were violated
The European Court of Human Rights has unanimously held that there was a violation of article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights in respect of five applicants who lodged separate complaints about the Russian authorities’ response to demonstrations held by each of them.
26 April 2016
Court of Appeal finds re-trial in case of unsound pathology evidence would be unfair
The Court of Appeal has upheld a decision of the High Court to restrain the Director of Public Prosecutions from holding a re-trial of Michael Furlong for the murder of Patrick Connors in April 2011.
25 April 2016
Minister of Health correct person to decide on gay blood ban
The Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court decision in which it was found that the decision of the Minister for Health not to alter the lifetime ban on males who have sex with other males (“MSM”) was irrational and infected with apparent bias.
22 April 2016
Third time lucky: General Court confirms Commission decision over alumnia tax repayments
of the formal investigation procedure and, on the other, the aid schemes had not been notified to the Commission in any way.
22 April 2016
