Case Reports

A Polish road haulier company that had 289 cases of cigarettes stolen from a lorry while transporting them by lorry from Poland to England has lost a UK Supreme Court appeal against a decision that they were liable for excise duty of nearly £450,000 levied on them by HMRC following the loss. M

The High Court has ruled that a plaintiff may proceed with a personal injuries claim for general damages despite being in breach of an unless order which required the proceedings to be dismissed. The plaintiff had previously agreed by consent to provide particulars of special damages but had failed

The High Court has dismissed an appeal against a decision by the Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) regarding a €232,000 legal bill charged by a solicitor in family law proceedings. The appellant had claimed that the fees were excessive and that she had expected the fees to be approxima

The High Court has refused an application by a garda to quash a decision to suspend him pending the outcome of a criminal proceedings. The applicant had been charged with being drunk in charge of a vehicle after allegedly being found nearly four times over the legal limit. Delivering judgment in the

Northern Ireland’s High Court has determined that a mother of two children was not entitled to vote on whether or not her children should be placed on the Child Protection Registry. The court found that she was appropriately involved and represented in the procedure, and that the question of w

The High Court has determined that the Irish courts had jurisdiction to hear and determine claim against a UK-based company for breach of a consumer contract. The plaintiff was an Irish resident who had been injured on a cycling holiday in Sri Lanka organised by the defendant. Delivering judgment in

The High Court has held that a previous jurisdiction for the detention of wards of court did not survive the commencement of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015. As such, it was held that the proper legal basis for a detention order relied on the inherent jurisdiction of the court. Deli

Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal which claimed that a sentence of four years’ imprisonment for hijacking a car was manifestly excessive. The court found that the trial court was correct to impose this sentence, given the seriousness of the circumstances of the c

The Court of Appeal has increased the sentence for a man convicted of raping his two younger sisters as a teenager. The offending occurred while the man was aged between 14 and 19. He had initially been sentenced to six years’ imprisonment with the final 18 months suspended. Delivering judgmen

The Court of Appeal has granted a consent order for the withdrawal of a case with no order as to costs despite the fact that a full hearing of the appeal had occurred. Judgment was reserved following the appeal hearing but the parties resolved all issues prior to the delivery of the judgment. Accord

The Circuit Court has held that Dunnes Stores must pay €4,000 to a woman from an ethnic minority background after she was prevented from purchasing food by a security guard on the grounds that she had previously been barred from the shop for begging. An award of €2,000 was also ordered for

Northern Ireland’s High Court has rejected a decision of the Department of Justice (DoJ) to refuse compensation for miscarriage of justice where the applicant, Gerry Adams, was improperly interned in 1973. The applicant challenged the 2021 DoJ decision which found that Adams was not eligible f

Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal has entirely dismissed Tesco’s challenge to an Antrim Council planning decision relating to a new store for its competitor Asda. The court found that the decision reached was a valid and informed one and, although it went against Tesco’s favour, i

Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal which stemmed from a child residence order application request brought by a father in a long series of litigation with the child’s mother. The court refused the appeal, finding that it had been brought for improper purposes and w

Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal has determined that there was procedural unfairness in refusing to allow witnesses to remain seated during a tribunal hearing while providing seats for pupil barristers. The court found that although pandemic restrictions were the cause of the occupancy limit