Case Reports

The High Court has rejected an application by a woman’s legal representatives that her estate should bear the costs of unsuccessful litigation after she was found to lack capacity to give instructions during trial. The lawyers stated that they could not find a next friend who was willing to ac

The Court of Appeal has criticised a litigant for pursuing an appeal which was “misconceived from the outset and progressively deteriorated”. The appeal related to the High Court’s listing of the defendant’s motion in summary proceedings to strike out certain aspects of the p

The High Court has awarded €60,000 in damages to a girl who suffered from moderate PTSD and who received a white scar on her thigh from a road traffic accident. The case was notable as it was one of the first cases in which a court was required to apply the new Personal Injuries Guidelines whic

Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal has denied a reduction in sentence for claims about personal mitigating circumstances and delay where the appellant was responsible for an explosion at a police station in 1997. The appellant, Paul Campbell, was unsuccessful in his appeal against conviction f

The High Court has admitted an 89-year-old woman into wardship after her son failed to properly care for her significant personal needs and took out €87,000 from her bank account without authority. The woman was suffering from an acquired brain injury and dementia, requiring 24-hour care. Deliv

The High Court has struck out a developer’s proceedings against planning objectors which alleged the tort of maintenance and champerty. It was alleged that the defendants were canvassing for illegal funding in their challenge the developer’s planning permission for a strategic housing de

The High Court has rejected a submission that an application for a protective costs order in environmental litigation must be made prior to the substantive hearing of the action. It was held that such an application must be considered by a court if it was made at the conclusion of a case. Additional

The High Court has granted an interlocutory injunction restraining trespass on a property by tenants despite the plaintiff agreeing to purchase the property “subject to occupancy”. It was held that the defendants had not established that the mortgagee had consented in writing to the crea

Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal has rejected 12 separate grounds of appeal by a murderer who claimed his counsel were dishonest, lacking integrity, and encouraged him to perjure himself. The appellant was unanimously convicted by a jury of murdering his girlfriend Anita Downey in the early

Northern Ireland’s High Court has ruled in favour of an applicant who challenged his parole refusal. The court found that the parole decision failed to appropriately consider and examine license conditions on which the applicant may have been suitable for release. The applicant, a 44-year-old

The High Court has held that children who were wrongfully abducted by their mother must be returned to their father in England. In reaching this decision, the court held that the mother had provided insufficient evidence to establish a grave risk to the children or to conclude that they would be in

The High Court has refused a non-contentious application for liberty to extract a grant of probate relating to a deceased’s Irish assets in circumstances where a subsequent UK will appeared to revoke the Irish will. The deceased had executed a will in Ireland which bequeathed a holiday home to

The High Court has held that a Disability Appeals Officer has the power to direct the delivery of services to disabled children earlier than the waiting times contained in a service statement. It was held that a parent was entitled to make a complaint about the length of time it would take to provid

Northern Ireland’s High Court has dismissed an application for parental responsibility where the father was found to be coercive, and had sexually assaulted the child’s mother while he was in the home. The court did grant an indirect contact order between the father and son, but also gra

The High Court has upheld a decision by the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) which rejected a man’s claim that he was in fear for his life for refusing to become a fetish priest in Ghana. The man claimed to have been kidnapped and beaten by his family members and would have bee