Case Reports

The High Court has ruled that a prison officer in the Irish Prison Service was not entitled to legal representation at a disciplinary hearing. The officer was facing allegations of improper conduct including that he made inappropriate contact with the wife of a prisoner and made threats against a pr

Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal alleging that the Department of Health breached data privacy and GDPR requirements during the Covid-19 pandemic. The court upheld the decision of the trial court in the Williams case [2022] NIQB 12, delivered by Mr Justice Adrian Colto

The High Court has held that the Dublin County Registrar was incorrect to dismiss possession proceedings for failure to comply with “previous court orders” on the basis that the County Registrar acted in excess of jurisdiction. The plaintiff had previously been directed by the County Reg

The High Court has ruled that a defendant was properly served with proceedings where the papers had been served on a solicitor who was not on record in the case. The court stated that the solicitor had previously received a full set of papers and that she had been in communication with the defendant

The Court of Appeal has upheld an award of €94,000 for personal injuries sustained by a flight attendant on a Ryanair plane. The plaintiff claimed that she slipped on de-icing fluid which was present on the vinyl surface of the floor. Delivering judgment in the case, Mr Justice Seamus Noonan he

The High Court has granted an extension of time to bring judicial review proceedings against the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO) following a stamping error in the High Court’s Central Office. The application had been filed in time but was delayed due to the applicant being cha

Northern Ireland’s High Court has dismissed an application to judicially review a compassionate bail application. The court found that the prisoner’s request to attend his sister's funeral was not a "criminal cause or matter" which could be appealed to the UK Supreme Court. The applicant

The Court of Appeal has quashed a conviction for a man who stabbed his roommate on the grounds that certain statements made to gardaí should not have been admitted at trial. The accused had been suffering from psychosis at the time of the attack, it was held. Delivering judgment in the case,

The Supreme Court has held that the HSE’s CEO was entitled to suspend a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist after he had performed experiments on several patients without their consent. The Court of Appeal had previously ruled the ongoing suspension to be unlawful, holding there was no e

The Supreme Court has ruled that a child born in the UK via a surrogacy arrangement was not entitled to Irish citizenship based on his non-biological father’s Irish citizenship. The parents were a same-sex married couple and had obtained a parental order in England, which was not available in

The High Court has ruled that Donegal County Council must pay the legal costs of a councillor after discontinuing injunction proceedings against him. The Council had obtained an interlocutory injunction restraining Mr Frank McBrearty from attending Council meetings in February 2022 due to his conduc

The High Court has ruled that a family-run business for gas distribution in Wexford was entitled to an interlocutory injunction preventing Flogas Ireland Limited from terminating their business relationship. The parties had engaged for more than 40 years but Flogas decided in August 2022 to terminat

Northern Ireland’s High Court has fined a Tyrone farmer £5,500 for contempt after he breached previous court undertakings on eight separate occasions. Despite the clear evidence of breaches, the court did not find that imprisonment for contempt was appropriate. This case involved two app

The High Court has refused to set aside the renewal of a personal injuries summons despite arguments that the plaintiff’s solicitor failed to serve the summons due to inadvertence. The summons had been renewed 10 days after the 12-month time limit following an ex parte application. Delivering

Northern Ireland’s High Court has sentenced John Brian Stelfox, a former practising solicitor, to six months' imprisonment for contempt following his failure to abide by a court maintenance order. Mr and Mrs Stelfox were married for more than 20 years and have four children. When they divorced