Case Reports

Seven plaintiffs have been awarded a total of €52k for injuries arising out of a two car collision involving a car owned by Hertz Rent-a-Car. Hertz contended that the collision was a “set up”, based on the plaintiffs’ membership of the same “republican” society, and the jovial nature wit

A 22-year-old man who was sentenced to a term of five-years' imprisonment for possession of explosives and ammunition has lost an appeal against his conviction and sentence in the Court of Appeal in Belfast. Applying the approach in R v Pollock, Lord Justice Weatherup found that the convictions were

The successors in title of land subject to a negative covenant contained in a lease agreed to in 1981 have had their application for a declaration that the covenant was unlawful refused in the High Court in Belfast. Finding that the application of the doctrine of restraint of trade to successors in

A man who disposed of upwards of £76,000 from his father’s estate while acting as executor has been found by the High Court in Belfast in breach of his legal and statutory duty as an executor, and guilty of devastivit in carrying out his role as executor of the estate of the deceased. Referring t

A woman who has been living in a tent outside the offices of Carlow County Council has had her application for judicial review of council decisions refused by the High Court. Finding that the council had discretion under the Housing Act 1988, Mr Justice Meenan was satisfied that the decision to refu

A man who sought a declaration that his marriage in London was valid under the law of Northern Ireland has had his application refused by Mr Justice O’Hara, sitting in the High Court in Belfast. Finding that the recognition of his marriage as a civil partnership in Northern Ireland was not a viola

A man who sought to restrain the enforcement of a deportation order made against him, pending the outcome of an application to revoke the order based on him being the father of an EU citizen child, has had his case struck out of the Court of Appeal for want of jurisdiction. Delivering the judgment o

In the Court of Appeal in Belfast, Friends of the Earth Limited successfully appealed against the dismissal of their application for Judicial Review. The application was in relation to a decision of the Department of the Environment refusing to issue a Stop Notice to the owners of the bed of Lough N

A woman who was knocked off her bicycle while cycling to work in Belfast has been awarded £230,000 in the High Court. The woman was described to have had an active lifestyle before the accident, which left her with chronic pain to the extent that she could only work part time and had to forgo her a

The High Court has ruled that the Government’s €4 billion recapitalisation of Irish Life was not unreasonable, pursuant to the Credit Institutions (Stabilisation) Act 2010. Dismissing an application which sought to set aside the direction order, Ms Justice Iseult O’Malley noted that the order

A man who had his sentence reviewed from a wholly suspended sentence, to a five-year term of imprisonment pursuant s. 27A (8) of the Firearms Act 1964 has had his constitutional challenge to the legislation dismissed on appeal. Delivering the judgment of the three-judge Court, Mr Justice Birmingham

A prisoner who argued that the cessation of his state pension payments from the date of his detention was unconstitutional has successfully appealed his case in the Supreme Court. Finding that the statutory provision which disqualified prisoners from receiving such a benefit was contrary to the sepa

The Board of Management of a secondary school in Athenry have been granted an order of certiorari, quashing the decision of an appeals committee which had directed the school to admit a pupil contrary to its enrolment policies. Ms Justice Úna Ní Raifeartaigh found that the committee had erred in c

A woman who admitted liability and agreed damages at £200,000 for knocking down a school employee while collecting a child on school grounds has failed to prove in the High Court that the South-Eastern Education and Library Board was negligent in its failure to make the road safe for pedestrians. B

The High Court has refused to grant the wife of a bankrupt an order to cross-examine the official assignee of her husband’s estate, in relation to a mareva injunction against her. Ms Justice Costello found that the woman had failed to establish exceptional circumstances, and stated that there was