Case Reports

A couple who fraudulently claimed over £140,000 in benefits since 1990 have lost their appeal to the UK Supreme Court, which delivered its judgment sitting in Belfast. It was submitted on behalf of the appellants that confiscation orders made pursuant to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 did not apply

A Garda informant who was arrested in France in 2000 on drug trafficking charges has been successful in his application to use sensitive documents in challenging his surrender to France on foot of a European Arrest Warrant. Discovery of the documents had been granted in a case brought by the informa

The High Court has declined to make a final determination on the surrender of a man to Poland on foot of a European Arrest Warrant. Stating that the outcome of questions referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) by the High Court in March 2018 could have an impact on the present

A former CEO of Irish Nationwide Building Society who was refused an order of certiorari of a notice of inquiry into suspected contraventions under the Central Bank Act 1942, has had his appeal dismissed on all grounds by the Court of Appeal. In two judgments from the Court, Ms Justice Finlay Geoghe

A woman from Belfast who is ordinarily resident in Northern Ireland, but who has Irish Citizenship, has lost an application for leave to apply for judicial review of the refusal to allow her to vote in the upcoming referendum on the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution. Finding that the woman had fa

The Supreme Court has ruled that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform erred in law in failing to consider whether Article 8 rights were engaged when refusing applications of two Mauritian citizens who had lawfully entered the State through a government scheme in 2006. Emphasising that t

A group of newspaper companies have had their application for judicial review of a court order imposing reporting restrictions on a sexual assault case refused in the High Court. Finding that the 2014 order was lawfully made, but that there was no lawful basis for it to continue after the accused ha

An employee who fractured his wrist and elbow while using the toilet at the Tesco warehouse in Dublin has been awarded €65,000 in the High Court. Finding that Tesco was liable for the man’s injuries, Mr Justice Anthony Barr found that the floor was in a dangerous and unsafe condition due to the

The High Court has ruled that two emails which were sent by a journalist to the newsdesk at the Irish Daily Star, described as earlier drafts of an article which is now the subject of defamation proceedings, are covered by journalistic privilege. Accepting evidence on behalf of the newspaper which s

Damages awarded to a company who sued LK Shields for negligence in a conveyancing transaction have been reduced from €11 million to €5.2 million by the Supreme Court. Substituting the award of the High Court, Mr Justice Donal O’Donnell said that the title issue which the firm was at fault for

A man who pleaded guilty to the murder of another in September 2016 has been sentenced to 12 years in prison at Belfast Crown Court. Allowing a two-and-a-half-year reduction in the sentence for the man’s guilty plea before the trial, Mr Justice Colton accepted that his actions were initially in se

According to Advocate General Wathelet, EUIPO must re-examine whether the three-dimensional shape of the ‘Kit Kat 4 fingers’ product may be maintained as an EU trade mark. He proposes that the appeals brought by Nestlé, EUIPO and Mondelez be dismissed and states that Nestle did not adduce suffi

A modular trial format has been ordered in the ongoing Blackrock Clinic shareholder dispute which commenced in 2014. Finding that the extensive use of court resources in this private dispute, and the recusal of a judge previously hearing the case amounted to “special or unusual circumstances”; M

An 18-year-old man who is facing rape charges has been declined orders for various reliefs sought on the basis that there was culpable delay in the advancement of the investigation. It was argued that the effect of the delay was that the man, who was 16 at the time of the alleged offence, had lost t

Mental health records sought by an employer in proceedings brought by a suspended employee have been "sealed and placed on the court file" for use by the court in determining the appropriate remedy if the employee's claim is successful. The order was also made to ensure that the employer, the Nation