Case Reports

The UK Supreme Court has cleared the way for the enactment of the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Northern Ireland) Bill after ruling it does not infringe on the right to freedom of assembly under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court found that placing limitations on wher

The Supreme Court has allowed an appeal brought by an accused who claimed that the Court of Appeal failed to consider the totality principle in his case. The man had successfully argued in the Court of Appeal that the trial judge had erred in sentencing him for several indecent assault offences, but

The High Court has delivered two further decisions on the Recoverable Benefits and Assistance (RBA) Scheme, holding that it is permissible for practitioners to seek consent orders apportioning liability between the parties to personal injuries actions. In so ruling, the judges rejected the reasoning

Northern Ireland’s High Court has found that a failure by police to properly investigate a suspected 1976 murder is potentially a breach of their common law and statutory duty. The court granted judicial review, finding that this question was an important point of public law.

The Circuit Court has dismissed an appeal from a decision by the Data Protection Commission that a verbal disclosure by a barrister regarding a conflict of interest did not breach their GDPR obligations. The appeal was taken by a former client of the barrister who claimed that the disclosure breache

The High Court has ruled that the HSE was required to provide an assessment of need for a disabled child who required a diagnosis to access appropriate schooling and education services. The applicant had significant learning difficulties but the HSE had not assessed him for several years. Delivering

The Court of Appeal has increased the sentence for a man who stabbed his partner and mother of his infant child in the back four times as she attempted to flee from him. The man had originally been sentenced to three years' imprisonment but the court held that this was too lenient. Delivering judgme

A Nigerian national who had a deportation order made against him after being convicted of offences of dishonesty, including fraud, has won an appeal in the Court of Appeal of England and Wales against the Upper Tribunal’s dismissal of his case. Appellant AEB argued that the UT had misdirected

Northern Ireland’s Crown Court has ruled that a former British soldier was responsible for the manslaughter of Aiden McAnespie in 1988. The court found that the soldier acted with gross negligence by handling a cocked machine gun where he was under no pressure and in no danger. The defendant,

The High Court has allowed an appeal against an order striking out a plaintiff’s proceedings on the basis that the proceedings did not offend the rule in Henderson v. Henderson (1843) 3 Hare 100. The plaintiff had issued a previous set of proceedings arising from the same incident and the Circ

The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal to dismiss a personal injuries action in which the plaintiff slipped on ice outside his own apartment. The plaintiff sued the management company for damages, claiming that it had been negligent by not gritting the landing, not maintaining nosing strips on th

The High Court has granted an order of certiorari quashing the entirety of an indicative road route which ran through the applicants’ lands. In so ruling, the court considered whether the applicants were entitled to their full legal costs despite not having won every legal point in the court&r

A judge in the English Court of Protection has ruled that the parents of a student who died from a stroke could not remove and store his sperm for the purpose of later conceiving a grandchild after an urgent hearing was convened to decide the matter. At the time of the hearing the relevant person, X

The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal against the dismissal of two personal injuries claims for women who claimed to be injured while riding a swing in a playground with toddlers. A central feature of the case was a dispute between experts as to the minimum height clearance of the swing from the

Northern Ireland’s High Court has found that a farmer whose removal of trees may have resulted in increased water seeping into his neighbour’s land is not liable for the damage caused. The court found the change in use of the land was “entirely reasonable”, and an occupier is