Case Reports

It is incompatible with EU law to require a worker to take leave first before being able to establish whether he is entitled to be paid for it, according to Advocate General Tanchev. In circumstances where an employer has not provided a worker with paid leave, the right to paid leave carries over un

A former GAA footballer who was subject to two seriously defamatory publications in the Sunday World has been awarded damages totalling €310,000. Mr Justice O’Connor found that the public scrutiny faced by the former footballer meant that aggravated and punitive damages were also necessary. Back

A farmer who alleged bias on the part of the trial judge who made orders against him has had his application seeking to set aside these orders dismissed in the High Court. Mr Justice Seamus Noonan described the farmer’s complaint as “extremely unusual and quite possibly unique” in that the all

A Turkish girl left with severe neurological damage following an operation suffered a violation of her article 8 rights right to respect for private and family life after the domestic courts refused her a second expert report, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled. The case concerned two high

A man who was responsible for the death of a labourer, whom he contracted to work on the roof of an agricultural shed, must serve 12 months in custody after the Director of Public Prosecutions appealed the leniency of the original sentence. Delivering the judgment of the Court, Lord Justice Gillen e

An Austrian politician whom a TV programme said was “usually surrounded by little brown rats” suffered no article 6 violation, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled. In its decision in the case of Haupt v. Austria, the European Court of Human Rights has unanimously declared the applicati

A property developer who placed reliance on incorrect measurements contained in an estate agents’ brochure, has had his award of €350,000 in damages for negligent misstatement overturned in the Supreme Court by a 3:2 majority. The Supreme Court found that the estate agents did not owe the man a

A soldier whose parachute failed to open properly on his first training jump, has been awarded €80,000 in damages for injuries sustained because of the Army’s negligence. The soldier suffered a severe fracture dislocation of his ankle, and could no longer serve as a front-line soldier due to thi

In its Chamber judgment in the case of Trabajo Rueda v Spain the European Court of Human Rights held, by six votes to one, that there had been: a violation of article 8 (right to respect for private life) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The case concerned the seizure of Mr Trabajo Rueda�

An asylum seeker who was precluded from taking up an offer of employment, has been successful in the Supreme Court, which found that the absolute prohibition on employment in section 9(4) of the Refugee Act 1996 was unconstitutional. Overturning the findings of the High Court and Court of Appeal, Mr

According to Advocate General Bot, a non-EU national may benefit from a right of residence in the member state in which his EU citizen family member resided before acquiring the nationality of that member state and developing a family life there. In order to guarantee the effectiveness of the rights

The Competition & Consumer Protection Commission has lost their appeal to the Supreme Court regarding the seizure of emails belonging to the former managing director of an Irish company under investigation for anti-competitive behaviour. Upholding the decision of the High Court that the CPCC pro

A Special Needs Assistant has lost her appeal to the Supreme Court, which agreed with the Court of Appeal’s finding that the disciplinary procedures followed by the School were unfair, but did not amount to bullying for which damages should be awarded. The Assistant had initially been awarded over

The Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland has been successful in its appeal to the Supreme Court, which found that any claims against the liquidated insurer, Setanta, must be covered by the State’s Insurance Compensation Fund. Delivering the judgment of the 5:2 majority, Justice O’Donnell found th

An employee of the Health Service Executive has been granted a declaration to the effect that the HSE’s unilateral decision to temporarily reassign her from her role as Area Director of Nursing, Mental Health Services to a position within the Programme Management Office, constituted a breach of he