Case Reports

The High Court has refused an application by a woman for a declaration that she was a qualified cohabitant of a deceased man who was married to another woman. The woman claimed to have been in a committed, exclusive relationship with the man for several years and therefore sought orders for property

Northern Ireland’s High Court has determined that it was unreasonable for an applicant to be denied legal aid, including the support of a senior counsel, for his asylum appeal where he was entitled to this during his original High Court case. This application involved a challenge to a decision

The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from an accused who claimed that he was entitled to be interviewed by gardaí during the investigation stage of alleged crimes. It was said that the accused was entitled to have his defence placed on the record while being questioned by gardaí an

The Court of Appeal has dismissed an application brought by a man seeking to quash convictions for murder, burglary and false imprisonment on the ground that a newly-discovered fact showed there had been a miscarriage of justice. The man relied on medical expert evidence which stated that he was in

Northern Ireland’s High Court has determined that it was in the best interests for a 21-month-old child to be adopted, without a contact order, where the actions of the parents represented a cycle of neglect which showed no signs of improving. RH was born in January 2021 and was 21 months old

The High Court has granted a declaration that certain monies owed by defendants to a plaintiff on foot of a mortgage loan were well-charged against a property despite the court not being satisfied that adequate particularisation of the underlying debt had been provided. On the evidence in the case,

The High Court has struck out a plaintiff’s personal injuries claim for damages arising from bullying and harassment in the workplace on the basis that the proceedings were statute-barred. The plaintiff had lodged a PIAB application 10 months outside the two-year limitation period but claimed

The High Court has quashed a decision by the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) which refused international protection to a Muslim man who claimed to be persecuted for working in the beef trade in India. The man was previously attacked by cow vigilantes who wanted him to stop his work

The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal which was brought by a solicitor purporting to act on behalf of a ward of court. The court held that the legal practitioners did not have any lawful authority to pursue the appeal after the man had been brought into wardship, which related to the costs of

Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal has determined that the appropriate sentence for a violent repeat rapist was 18 years, with an additional five-year extended custodial sentence. In reaching this decision, the court was conscious of the violence of the attack, the appellant’s attempts t

The UK Supreme Court has determined that HM Revenue and Customs has the power to refuse to accept a taxable person’s self-assessment claim and decide at a later date to pay a lower amount than was claimed after an appeal by a Scottish optician business. DCM Optical Holdings Ltd, which trades a

The High Court has approved a personal insolvency arrangement for a couple despite objections from a creditor that the PIA was unsustainable. It was argued that the debtors’ total income under the arrangement would not be sufficient to maintain a reasonable standard of living for themselves an

The High Court has dismissed an appeal from an insurance provider against a decision of the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO) that it acted unreasonably by declining to cover losses to a business arising from the Covid-19 pandemic. Hiscox SA had brought a statutory appeal claiming tha

Northern Ireland’s High Court has ruled that the state breached a pub shooting survivor’s ECHR article 2 and 3 rights. The judge noted that there was no independent investigation conducted following the discovery of new evidence highlighted in a 2017 documentary.  On 19 November 199

The High Court has ruled that a plaintiff company must provide security for costs in proceedings which were estimated to cost the defendants €3 million. The court held that there were no special circumstances which existed to justify refusing the application for security for costs and that each