Case Reports

Northern Ireland’s High Court has denied an appeal to appoint the daughter of a 77-year-old patient as the controller of her financial affairs. The court noted that a professional controller was more appropriate in these circumstances, where there was an impending case against the daughter for

The High Court has ruled that the Dublin Circuit Court was wrong to refuse to hear a divorce application on the basis that the husband, a solicitor, did not carry on his profession in the county. The couple lived outside Dublin and the husband was based in the south-west of the State. As such, the m

The High Court has ruled that the provisions of the Children First Act 2015 require HSE counsellors to report child abuse claims made by adult service users to Tusla. A 2019 policy published by the HSE required certain “mandated persons” to pass on information to Tusla where there were r

The High Court has refused an application for well-charging relief by a company seeking to rely on a registered lien as security for loans advanced after 31 December 2009. In so ruling, the court held that the present case was “indistinguishable” from the judgment in Promontoria (Oyster)

The High Court has awarded €75,000 in damages to a man who was injured by a bull at a cattle market. The man was an experienced farmer who had been asked to assist in driving cattle into the auction area when he was attacked by a startled cow. Delivering judgment in the case, Mr Justice Cian Fe

Northern Ireland’s High Court has found that the decision not to expel a student who intentionally attacked a fellow classmate was rational. The judge found that it was “not for the courts to micro-manage discipline within schools”. The applicant, a girl commencing her Year 11 educ

The High Court has determined that data protection activist Max Schrems is entitled to 80 percent of the legal costs of a challenge to the Data Protection Commission’s handling of a complaint from 2013. The complaint related to the transfer of data by Facebook Ireland Limited from the EU to th

The High Court has ruled that a child must be returned to Poland after she was taken to Ireland by her mother in August 2021. The father had made an application under the Child Abduction Regulations, claiming that he had no knowledge that his child had been removed from Poland. Delivering judgment i

The UK's decision to deport a Nigerian man following a criminal conviction, despite him having been granted indefinite leave to remain more than a decade prior, did not violate his human rights, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled. In the case of Otite v the United Kingdom, the ECtH

The Court of Appeal has ruled that a hospital is entitled to discovery of certain communications between a plaintiff and her estranged father in a personal injuries action for the negligent dissemination of the plaintiff’s medical records. The plaintiff had expressly told the hospital to not r

Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal has dismissed 10 grounds of appeal following the manslaughter of a three-year-old boy. The court rejected arguments that photos of the crime scene prejudiced the applicant, and noted that the applicant’s past convictions for domestic violence were relev

The Court of Appeal has held that a private generator of electricity was not a public authority within the meaning of environmental regulations and was therefore not required to provide information relating to its wind farm. The information was sought by Right To Know CLG, which operated for the pur

Northern Ireland's Coroner’s Court has found that a rubber baton round which killed Stephen Geddis, “an innocent child”, in 1975 was neither necessary nor justified in the circumstances. The danger posed by the use of this weapon near children had not been made apparent to the sold

The High Court has approved a settlement of €350,000 for a man who claimed to have been sexually abused while attending a secondary school operated by a religious order. It was held that the settlement was "excellent" in circumstances where the plaintiff faced substantial difficulties proving h

The High Court has admitted a man suffering from bipolar affective disorder to wardship despite conflicting medical evidence on his capacity. The man was being kept in a residential placement but had acted in a violent and sexually inappropriate manner with staff while having a poor record of taking