Case Reports

The Court of Appeal has quashed a conviction for a man who stabbed his roommate on the grounds that certain statements made to gardaí should not have been admitted at trial. The accused had been suffering from psychosis at the time of the attack, it was held. Delivering judgment in the case,

The Supreme Court has held that the HSE’s CEO was entitled to suspend a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist after he had performed experiments on several patients without their consent. The Court of Appeal had previously ruled the ongoing suspension to be unlawful, holding there was no e

The Supreme Court has ruled that a child born in the UK via a surrogacy arrangement was not entitled to Irish citizenship based on his non-biological father’s Irish citizenship. The parents were a same-sex married couple and had obtained a parental order in England, which was not available in

The High Court has ruled that Donegal County Council must pay the legal costs of a councillor after discontinuing injunction proceedings against him. The Council had obtained an interlocutory injunction restraining Mr Frank McBrearty from attending Council meetings in February 2022 due to his conduc

The High Court has ruled that a family-run business for gas distribution in Wexford was entitled to an interlocutory injunction preventing Flogas Ireland Limited from terminating their business relationship. The parties had engaged for more than 40 years but Flogas decided in August 2022 to terminat

Northern Ireland’s High Court has fined a Tyrone farmer £5,500 for contempt after he breached previous court undertakings on eight separate occasions. Despite the clear evidence of breaches, the court did not find that imprisonment for contempt was appropriate. This case involved two app

The High Court has refused to set aside the renewal of a personal injuries summons despite arguments that the plaintiff’s solicitor failed to serve the summons due to inadvertence. The summons had been renewed 10 days after the 12-month time limit following an ex parte application. Delivering

Northern Ireland’s High Court has sentenced John Brian Stelfox, a former practising solicitor, to six months' imprisonment for contempt following his failure to abide by a court maintenance order. Mr and Mrs Stelfox were married for more than 20 years and have four children. When they divorced

The High Court has refused to make an order for costs for a man who sought clarification on certain aspects of his uncle’s will. The deceased had gifted certain shares in Kerry Co-Operative to his nephew, but it was unclear if shares in Kerry Group plc were also gifted to the nephew. Ms Justic

The High Court has quashed a conviction for drink driving after the trial judge had relied on a previous conviction for the offence when determining guilt in the matter. The man did not have any previous convictions but had been arrested on suspicion of being drunk in charge of a vehicle. In the cir

The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal brought by a Disability Appeals Officer and the HSE against a decision stating that the Officer had jurisdiction to amend a service statement for a child seeking disability services. The child had certain special needs but his service statement only provided

The High Court has refused an application to come off record which was brought by the solicitors acting for an elderly woman in a dispute regarding a will. The woman claimed that she was entitled to benefit from a deceased’s estate as they had co-habited for more than 30 years. However, concer

The High Court has dismissed a plaintiff’s medical negligence action against the HSE for alleged failures in diagnosing breast cancer. The plaintiff had originally felt two lumps in her breast but this was diagnosed as a simple cyst in May 2017. However, by October 2017, she maintained that th

The High Court has ruled that the State failed to comply with its legal obligations to meet the basic needs of an Afghan refugee on his arrival to Ireland. The boy was under 18 years old when he came to Ireland but he had no documentation and was refused accommodation. Delivering judgment in the cas

Northern Ireland's Court of Appeal has dismissed all grounds of appeal brought by a 62-year-old veteran involved in making and distributing indecent images of children. The man had been sentenced to 20 months' imprisonment in relation to 37 criminal counts following an investigation involving over 1