Court Report

A senior judge has said there is no reason why non-jury trials cannot proceed in the Special Criminal Court when many other upcoming court cases have been placed in doubt over the coronavirus crisis. Mr Justice Tony Hunt, presiding in the three-judge court yesterday, was speaking about the upcoming

The Director of Public Prosecutions, Claire Loftus, paid a visit to the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin yesterday to observe the operation of the courts during the coronavirus crisis. There were 24 High Court bail applications listed for hearing before Ms Justice Mary Rose Gearty on Thursday, w

The president of the Court of Appeal, the Attorney General and leading members of the legal profession have paid tribute to Mr Justice Brian McGovern on his retirement from the bench. The judge has stepped down after serving on the Court of Appeal and the High Court for over 14 years, including a si

A High Court action by a German human rights lawyer against Google over what he claims are several attempts by parties based in the Middle East to hack his private email account has been adjourned generally. Mark Somos claims that, in recent weeks and months, he has been subject of attempts to unlaw

Two cases brought by former prisoners over having to 'slop out' have been mentioned before the High Court. In one action, Susan McGovern, a former prisoner at Limerick Women's Prison, claims she was subject to degrading treatment when subject to the slopping out regime between 2000 and 2003 and from

The courts should not shy away from starting at five years' imprisonment when it comes to sentencing individuals for “high-end” cases of assault causing harm, according to the Court of Appeal. Mr Justice George Birmingham, president of the Court of Appeal, made the observation after thre

The Court of Appeal has reserved its judgment on the latest legal bid by the family of Séamus Ludlow to compel the State to reinvestigate his 1976 murder by "loyalist extremists". Mr Ludlow’s nephew, Thomas Fox, is seeking to have the State establish two commissions of inquiry into the

A damages action brought by a lawyer and academic over serious injuries he sustained following a car crash in Co Tipperary over a decade ago has been resolved. The action was brought by barrister Diarmuid Rossa Phelan SC, who also teaches law at Trinity College Dublin, arising out of injuries he sus

Independent TD Mattie McGrath has brought High Court proceedings aimed at allowing the vote in the Tipperary constituency in this Saturday's general election to go ahead. The ballot in Tipperary was called into question following the death of independent candidate Marese Skehan earlier this week.

A married couple convicted of the female genital mutilation (FGM) of their daughter in the first case of its kind in the nation's history have been jailed. The couple both pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to one count of carrying out an act of FGM on a then one-year-old girl at an

A dispute arising out of the departure of well-known solicitors from a prominent law firm in 2018 has returned before the High Court. Augustus Cullen Law and Cullen Solicitors Services Limited had brought High Court proceedings against parties including Michael Boylan, Gillian O'Connor and their fir

A man claims he was defamed by two financial institutions over their alleged lengthy failure to forward maintenance payments in respect of his son to his former partner. He alleges that failures by Ulster Bank and EBS damaged his relationship with his son for many years because his former partner be

The Court of Appeal has rejected an “unusual” argument that a man’s alcoholism diminished his responsibility for murdering an ex-girlfriend, but added that the issue may need to be explored in the future. Michael McDonald, a 56-year-old alcoholic, had admitted killing 31-year-old B

A High Court judge has said he cannot change a order he made preventing the publication of the names of a convicted child rapist and his victim. Mr Justice Michael White said that the court made the order at the wishes of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). When the DPP applied a week later o

Four TDs have secured permission from the High Court to bring a challenge against the Ceann Comhairle's decision not to allow a vote on changing Dáil standing orders to stop the Government blocking opposition bills. In his ruling yesterday evening, Mr Justice Garrett Simons said he was satisf