Conor Courtney

Northern Ireland’s High Court has rejected claims that a prisoner was wrongly refused permission to visit his mother in hospital, and then again to attend her funeral. The court found that the decision of the health trust had been a rational one, and although there had been confusion about the

Northern Ireland’s High Court has awarded damages to a man who bought a £47,500 forestry mulcher with a defective clutch, which the defendant argued had been "sold as seen", on the basis the mulcher had been advertised as being in good condition and the seller was aware that it was inten

Northern Ireland’s High Court has rejected an application for judicial review where it was argued that terrorism offences committed in the Republic of Ireland required special permission to be pursued in Northern Ireland. The applicant also lost in his claim that the Director of Public Prosecu

Northern Ireland’s High Court has found that a health and social care trust's decision to deny visitation between a breastfeeding mother and her child was correct given the risk of Covid-19 infection. The court noted that the trust had responded proportionately, and had taken steps to ensure t

Northern Ireland’s High Court has criticised lower courts for delaying their ruling for an Irish father seeking a contact order for his 10-year-old son in Northern Ireland. The High Court noted that these courts had clear jurisdiction but were reluctant to rule on this "simple case" for over a

Northern Ireland's High Court has rejected a father's bid to prevent his estranged wife from vaccinating their five children, having determined that the administration of vaccines for common illnesses, including Covid-19, is in the best interests of the child. The court found that the father's objec

Northern Ireland's High Court has declared several penalties under the Covid-19 regulations unlawful in circumstances where some had not been filled out and where others were filled out incorrectly by PSNI officers who variously entered private dwellings or dispersed protesters. This case involved t

Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal has rejected all grounds of appeal advanced by a convicted murderer where it was argued that counsel failed to provide an interpreter and intentionally withheld a plea deal from the court. Orhan Koca also sought to appeal against the harshness of his murder s

Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal has rejected all grounds of a challenge relating to the Northern Ireland Protocol. They found that the post-Brexit arrangements were not affected by 1800s legislation, and the loss of EU representation for Northern Ireland did not amount to a breach of fundam

Northern Ireland's High Court has found that the Attorney General had applied the wrong test in assessing whether a fresh inquest should be granted into the British Army killing of Thomas Aquinas Burns. Leave to judicially review his decision was granted where it was found that the Attorney General

Northern Ireland's High Court has awarded costs against the Home Office where their unexplained delay in issuing a visa forced the applicant to bring proceedings. The court found that the applicant was justified in issuing the proceedings, despite the fact that her visa arrived five days after threa

Northern Ireland's High Court has found that it still had jurisdiction to hear an application for a care order in respect of an eight-month-old child who was sent to live with his maternal grandfather south of the border. The child was sent away by his mother after she became aware that a social car

Antrim Crown Court was not swayed that an 18-year-old attacker who had 10 previous convictions had been unable to exercise self-control due to his diagnosis of ADHD and alcohol dependency. On 26 June 2020, the defendant, Jordan McClintock, arrived at a small gathering on the Ballykeel Estate in Ball

A non-EU national living in Northern Ireland should not have been refused benefits on the basis that she did not have "comprehensive sickness insurance" as she had access to the NHS, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled. In yesterday's judgment, the Fifth Chamber provided insi

Northern Ireland’s High Court has upheld an anonymity order where there were allegations that the shield was being used to advance Sinn Féin's political aims. The court found that the possible threat of violence to the applicant, should his name be revealed, was sufficient to surmount t