Case Reports

Northern Ireland's High Court has ruled in favour of a convicted arsonist freed more than 33 years ago who submitted that a law preventing convictions of more than 30 months' imprisonment from ever becoming spent breaches his human rights. The court was persuaded to make a declaration that Article 6

The Court of Appeal has ruled that the Health Service Executive (HSE) was required to carry out assessments of children with suspected disabilities on a chronological and nationwide basis. In so ruling, the Court rejected a submission that the HSE could carry out such assessments of need on a region

The High Court has granted an injunction against the DPP restraining the prosecution of a man of a drug-driving charge due to a breach of fair procedures. The court held that the wrong charge had been preferred by the DPP and that the DPP had made representations to the District Court that the charg

A Spanish law governing the registration of births that gives the father's name immutable precedence over the mother's where there is a disagreement falls foul of the ECHR, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled. The Article 14 case concerned the applicant’s request to reverse the order

The Court of Appeal has upheld a conviction of a man who sexually abused his nephew between 1989 and 1991. In so ruling, the court rejected the submission that the non-availability of his deceased mother as a witness should have led to the withdrawal of the case from the jury. The court applied the

The Court of Appeal has increased a damages award for a man who had his constitutional right to earn a livelihood infringed by a trade union. The man had received €15,000 from the High Court in the quantum hearing. However, the Court of Appeal held that the trial judge had erred in a number of

The High Court has determined that a motor insurer must provide cover for a man who was badly injured when the lifting mechanism of a lorry failed and dropped a large bin on him. The dispute came before the court as a special case pursuant to Order 34 RSC, in circumstances where two insurers could n

The High Court has determined that the Secretary of State failed in his statutory duty to provide abortion services ‘expeditiously’ following a 19-month delay; however, a breach of ECHR Art 8 was not established. In these proceedings, brought partly on behalf of Amnesty International and

The Court of Appeal has upheld an appeal by Clare County Council against a €113,000 damages award for personal injuries sustained in a highway accident. The plaintiff had successfully litigated in the High Court after he had fallen off his bike due to a defective ramp on a highway maintained by

The Court of Appeal has ruled that Aer Arann must pay more than €3.2 million to the State arising from a finding of unlawful State aid. The EU Commission had previously determined that an air travel tax imposed by the State conferred a competitive advantage to Aer Arann in contravention of Art

Northern Ireland's High Court has directed that an investigation into the 1998 Omagh bombing that is compliant with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights should be carried out following a judicial review. The application for judicial review was brought in 2013 by Michael Gallagher, th

The High Court has held that an executor of a will was entitled to his costs after a plaintiff brought legal proceedings seeking his removal. The plaintiff had claimed that the defendant, who was a solicitor, had delayed in administering the estate and had failed to properly manage the assets. On th

The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal against conviction for a man accused of an offence contrary to s.15 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977. The court held that the jury had not been properly charged in relation to the inference-drawing provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 in circumstances

The High Court has determined that the legal costs of an employment injunction application should be costs in the cause after the motion was rendered unnecessary. The plaintiff had sought to be reinstated by his employer following his suspension on full pay during an ongoing investigation. However,

The Court of Appeal has ordered a full rehearing of a personal injuries case after the court determined that the trial judge had failed to engage with essential aspects of the evidence. The court held that it was “surprising and unfortunate” that the trial judge failed to recognise that