Case Reports

The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal against a spousal maintenance order made in the High Court, which provided only €800 per month to the former wife of a farmer and expired after four years. The court considered section 16 of the Family Law Act 1995 and held that the maintenance order fa

The High Court has rejected an application to amend a case stated from the Tax Appeal Commissioners on a point of law. The application sought to introduce further questions of law regarding the jurisdiction of the Commissioner and his conduct in proceedings. Delivering judgment in the case, Ms Justi

The High Court has ruled that the Revenue Commissioners were not entitled to full legal costs despite being “entirely successful” in case stated proceedings. The court held that 20 per cent of the hearing was taken up by submissions which had no probability of success and therefore only

The Supreme Court has quashed a recommendation by the Labour Court for a Sectoral Employment Order setting minimum conditions for electrical workers’ pay because it failed to provide adequate reasoning for the decision. The SEO was recommended under the procedure set out in Chapter 3 of Indust

The UK Supreme Court has found that an accounting firm that incorrectly advised a building society that it could use a method of accounting known as “hedge accounting” to handle volatility in certain payments had negligently cost the society £32 million for the cost of ditching the

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