Case Reports

The High Court has struck out a claim against Clare County Council in which the plaintiff failed to produce a statement of claim for 22 months after the plenary summons had issued. In reaching this decision, the court applied Comcast International Holdings Incorporated & Ors. v. Minister for Pub

The High Court has held that the Labour Court was incorrect in law when it refused a claim by a HSE employee under the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003 on the basis that he was not a fixed-term employee. The court said that the Labour Court had mistakenly decided that a person coul

The Court of Appeal has upheld a €69,000 award of damages for a man who suffered injuries as a result of a low-speed car accident. The defendant had claimed in the appeal that the impact of the collision was too slight for any injuries to be caused, arguing that only about €500 of damage w

The Supreme Court has rejected a motion brought by an appellant to set aside a previous refusal of an application for leave to appeal. The appellant had claimed that new information had emerged which tended to show that the Minister for Education and Skills had breached the obligation for transparen

The High Court has struck out a personal injuries claim against a Swedish airport, stating that Ireland did not have jurisdiction to hear and determine the case. The plaintiff had pleaded that the Montreal Convention and Brussels Regulation Recast granted jurisdiction in the matter. However, Ms Just

The Court of Appeal has determined that clamp removal fees issued by a private car park are subject to VAT on the basis that a service is being provided to the motorist. It had previously been found by the Tax Appeal Commissioner that the clamping fees were payment in lieu of damages for trespass by

The High Court has ruled that mandatory-minimum sentences for those with previous convictions for serious drug trafficking is contrary to the Constitution. Under section 27(3F) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977, a person had to receive at least 10 years’ imprisonment if they had previously been

The High Court has refused an application by Lidl Ireland GMBH for an injunction prohibiting the publication of two advertisements by the Irish Farmers' Association. Lidl claimed that the advertisements contained allegations that their own-brand milk was not Irish and that they had been misleading c

The High Court has ruled that the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) acted ultra vires its powers by withholding approval for a pier-side weighing system for freshly-caught fish. The action was taken by Pelagic Weighing Services Limited and Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation Limited, wh

A young child has been returned to his parents in England despite the objections of his aunt and uncle. The child had previously been transferred to their care in Ireland for a temporary period to allow his mother to overcome alcohol addiction. However, the aunt and uncle decided that it was in the

The High Court has granted an interlocutory injunction restraining the use of a trademark by a defendant which was alleged to infringe the trademark of a State-owned airline company. In reaching the decision, Ms Justice Nuala Butler considered that the balance of justice heavily favoured granting th

The High Court has granted discovery against a defendant in personal injuries proceedings, rejecting a submission that discovery infringed the defendant’s right to self-incrimination. The claim was made by the defendant company that, arising out of a prosecution by the Health and Safety Author

The Court of Appeal has ruled that the petitioners to an unsuccessful examinership application must pay 50 per cent of the opposing creditor’s costs in the proceedings. In reaching this conclusion, the court accepted that there was an important public interest aspect to the proceedings but tha

The High Court has awarded £125,000 to Arlene Foster arising out of a defamation action taken against celebrity doctor Christian Jessen. Giving judgment in the case, Mr Justice Gerry McAlinden stated that it was an “outrageously bad libel” which caused significant upset to the Firs

The High Court has considered that there is a jurisdiction to direct the disclosure of the identity of potential third parties against concurrent defendants. In the process, the Court substantially elaborated on the application in Ireland and boundaries of the House of Lords’ decision in Norwi