Case Reports

A woman who challenged the legality of differential treatment of Northern Ireland residents who are not able to undergo an abortion free-of-charge under the NHS in England has had her appeal to the UK Supreme Court dismissed by a 3:2 majority. Delivering the leading majority judgment of the Court, L

A company operating fish farms and fish hatcheries in Bantry Bay successfully brought an application for judicial review, quashing the decision of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to revoke their licence. Ms Justice Marie Baker found that the impugned decision had not been made with

A member of the British Humanist Association (BHA) has been granted an order compelling the General Register Office to take all necessary steps to authorise a legally valid and binding humanist wedding ceremony. Sitting in the High Court in Belfast, Mr Justice Colton quashed the decision of the Gene

In a dispute involving bookmakers and Dundalk Racecourse, the Court of Appeal has found that the loss of betting ring pitches in the redevelopment of the racecourse in 2007 did not constitute a breach of contract. In a joint judgment by Ms Justice Mary Finlay Geoghegan and Ms Justice Mary Irvine, th

A couple who want to take their seriously ill baby to the US for experimental treatment against the wishes of the hospital in which he is being kept on life support have been refused permission to appeal by the UK Supreme Court. Chris Gard and Connie Yates, whose son Charlie suffers from MDDS, were

It is incompatible with EU law to require a worker to take leave first before being able to establish whether he is entitled to be paid for it, according to Advocate General Tanchev. In circumstances where an employer has not provided a worker with paid leave, the right to paid leave carries over un

A former GAA footballer who was subject to two seriously defamatory publications in the Sunday World has been awarded damages totalling €310,000. Mr Justice O’Connor found that the public scrutiny faced by the former footballer meant that aggravated and punitive damages were also necessary. Back

A farmer who alleged bias on the part of the trial judge who made orders against him has had his application seeking to set aside these orders dismissed in the High Court. Mr Justice Seamus Noonan described the farmer’s complaint as “extremely unusual and quite possibly unique” in that the all

A Turkish girl left with severe neurological damage following an operation suffered a violation of her article 8 rights right to respect for private and family life after the domestic courts refused her a second expert report, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled. The case concerned two high

A man who was responsible for the death of a labourer, whom he contracted to work on the roof of an agricultural shed, must serve 12 months in custody after the Director of Public Prosecutions appealed the leniency of the original sentence. Delivering the judgment of the Court, Lord Justice Gillen e

An Austrian politician whom a TV programme said was “usually surrounded by little brown rats” suffered no article 6 violation, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled. In its decision in the case of Haupt v. Austria, the European Court of Human Rights has unanimously declared the applicati

A property developer who placed reliance on incorrect measurements contained in an estate agents’ brochure, has had his award of €350,000 in damages for negligent misstatement overturned in the Supreme Court by a 3:2 majority. The Supreme Court found that the estate agents did not owe the man a

A soldier whose parachute failed to open properly on his first training jump, has been awarded €80,000 in damages for injuries sustained because of the Army’s negligence. The soldier suffered a severe fracture dislocation of his ankle, and could no longer serve as a front-line soldier due to thi

In its Chamber judgment in the case of Trabajo Rueda v Spain the European Court of Human Rights held, by six votes to one, that there had been: a violation of article 8 (right to respect for private life) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The case concerned the seizure of Mr Trabajo Rueda�

An asylum seeker who was precluded from taking up an offer of employment, has been successful in the Supreme Court, which found that the absolute prohibition on employment in section 9(4) of the Refugee Act 1996 was unconstitutional. Overturning the findings of the High Court and Court of Appeal, Mr