Case Reports

The High Court has refused to grant a declaration sought by an applicant who had challenged s.27C(4) of the Firearms Act 1964 as unconstitutional, due to its precluding his temporary release from prison in order to pursue a course of study. The applicant, Keith Doyle, was sentenced in June 2013 to f

The High Court has found that an environmental impact assessment is required into the environmental effects of extracting peat as a fuel source for a thermal power plant, before planning permission can be granted for the plant. The case concerns a previously permitted peat and biomass co-fired power

The High Court in Dublin has found that Dunnes Stores’ application for the judicial review of a retention permission granted by An Bord Pleanála amounted to an ‘abuse of process’, as the primary aim of the application was not to challenge the permission’s legality, but to secure an advantag

The Court of Appeal has found that the High Court incorrectly granted itself jurisdiction under the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964 when ordering a father to make additional payments to the mother of his children to cover her legal fees in an ongoing legal dispute over the maintenance of their chil

The Court of Appeal has found that the initial sentence given to a Donegal man in respect of the most serious incident of dangerous driving in Ireland’s history was “unduly lenient”. Shaun Kelly had pled guilty in December 2014 to the offence of dangerous driving causing death, following a fat

The High Court has ruled that the establishment of fourteen drink driving checkpoints was valid, following a challenge from an individual charged with drink driving. The court found that a Mandatory Alcohol Testing authorisation, which allowed for the establishment of checkpoints from Monday 24th Ma

The High Court has ordered the disclosure of a number of documents relating to an ongoing dispute between a Sinn Féin councillor, his wife and a county council. Mr John Brady is a Sinn Féin politician recently re-elected a Wicklow county councillor. During the course of his political career, Mr Br

The Director of Public Prosecutions has won an appeal to proceed with the trial of Valeriu Sirbu, despite the loss of CCTV footage showing Sirbu committing the alleged crime, and despite the fact that the prosecution case now lies entirely on the statements of those who saw the CCTV footage. The Cou

The High Court has found the transfer of a family farm from a late father to his now-deceased son was not committed under duress or undue influence. A rescission had been sought by Sean Lynn’s son Michael Lynn, who had claimed that the transfer of the family home had been a result of duress and/or

A man who complained German courts violated his article 6 right to be presumed innocent after they revoked the suspension of a sentence previously imposed on him has won his appeal at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The ECtHR noted that the German courts had stated their “firm convicti

The Supreme Court has ruled in favour of an Irish farmer who objected to the compulsory purchase of his land by the Industrial Development Agency (IDA). The Supreme Court found that the IDA had acted beyond its powers, and that the connection between the IDA chairman and the consultant group recomme

Three men who sued local authorities and a minister on the basis that the value of their taxi plates was damaged when the taxi sector was deregulated in 2000 have had their claims dismissed and have been refused damages by a judge in the High Court. Alphonsus Muldoon and Vincent Malone, who sued the

A man found guilty of murdering Dubliner David White by repeated stabbing has lost his appeal against the Central Criminal Court’s 2013 conviction and life sentence. Judges in the Court of Appeal rejected the appellant’s numerous grounds for appeal, including allegations that the trial judge had

The cases of two women concerning claims of negligence with regards to the way in which alleged rapes perpetrated against them were investigated and prosecuted will proceed, the Supreme Court has ruled. The two plaintiffs, L.M and Belinda Lockwood, have separately sought to pursue cases against the

A man who challenged the admission in evidence of material that revealed his membership of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and meant he was convicted of being a member of a proscribed organisation has failed in his appeal to the UK Supreme Court that the material should have been excluded at trial.