Case Reports

The Northern Ireland High Court of Justice Family Division has determined that it may hear an appeal against a decision not to revoke a freeing order on its merits, finding that such an approach is in line with a European Convention on Human Rights compatible interpretation of the Adoption (Northern

The UK Supreme Court has unanimously dismissed an appeal by the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Complaints against a ruling which found he had no power to recommend a consolatory payment or to lay a special report before MLAs in the case of a GP following a finding of maladministration. Judges Lor

The High Court has quashed a decision of the Commissioner of An Garda Síochána which upheld an original decision to transfer a woman to another Garda Station, on the grounds that the decision was contrary to fair procedures and in breach of natural and constitutional justice for failure to give re

The UK Supreme Court has dismissed a company’s appeal against HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) contention the company was not entitled to deduct VAT on accountant’s fees as input tax under the contract. The Supreme Court dismissed Airtours Holidays Transport Ltd’s appeal by a majority of 3 to

The Supreme Court has upheld the High Court’s decision to refuse to grant leave to Harry Rea to apply for judicial review, following Mr Rea’s attempt to seek an order from the High Court that the result of the second Lisbon Treaty Referendum, taken on 2 October 2009, should be declared null and

The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal against a High Court decision, in which Kearns J held that the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) could not issue a second authorisation allowing a claim for damages to be brought, in respect of the same facts and injury. The case began with an inci

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 re

Mr Justice Col MacEochaidh has agreed that he be recused from hearing any matter connected with defamation proceedings brought by Declan Ganley against RTE. The plaintiff had raised concerns over an article the judge had written four years before he became a judge which was published in Village maga

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

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 The new 2014 directive on tobacco produ

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

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

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

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. However, in a display of latitude

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