Case Reports

The Court of Appeal has upheld the High Court’s construction of a will, following a dispute between the will’s executor and his nephew over the use of land as a garden. The appellant, James Mullen, was the son and executor of the will of the late Elizabeth Mullen, while the respondent, James Mul

The European Court of Human Rights will be delivering a Grand Chamber judgment in the case of Murray v the Netherlands at a public hearing on 26 April. The case concerns the complaint by a man convicted of murder in 1980, who consecutively served his life sentence on the islands of Curaçao and Arub

The High Court has upheld a decision by the Financial Services Ombudsman to dismiss a complaint brought by a couple who claimed their bank had lost €9,418 of their money. Jeremiah and Mary Coleman are both retired and had held a current account with the Allied Irish Banks PLC for several years. Mr

The Court of Appeal has upheld a trial judge’s decision not to give the jury a corroboration warning in a sexual assault case, noting that mandatory corroboration warnings have been abolished, and an appeal judge should only intervene when the decision was made on an incorrect legal basis or was c

The High Court has allowed an application for judicial review of the Northern Ireland Prison Service’s policy to video-tape strip searches by force and retain the video for six years, finding that such a policy had no basis in law. The applicant, Gerard Flannigan is a prisoner at HMP Maghaberry, a

The High Court has declined to make an order requiring Euro Safety & Training Services to pay several hundred thousand euros upfront by way of security for the costs of proceedings brought against An Foras Áiseanna Saothair (FÁS), finding that the case was of public interests due to allegation

A Hungarian national of Roma origin’s complaint that the authorities failed to investigate allegations she suffered racial abuse and threats from participants in an anti-Roma march has been upheld by a majority at the European Court of Human Rights. The court considered in particular that, given t

The High Court has found that the 20-minute observation period traditionally used by the Gardaí before taking a breath-alcohol test did not make the detention of suspects unlawful. The Gardaí had been accustomed to preceding breath-alcohol tests with a 20-minute observation period to ensure that t

Advocate General Wathelet of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has stated the posting of a hyperlink to a website which published photos without authorisation does not in itself constitute a copyright infringement. The motivation of the person who placed the hyperlink and the fact th

The High Court has ruled against a man who objected to the registration of an Enduring Power of Attorney made on 20th July 2012 by his mother (the Donor) appointing her daughter as Attorney. The objection was made pursuant to the provisions of s. 10 of the Powers of Attorney Act 1996.

The High Court has found that three Portuguese companies that traded in Ireland as a partnership known as RAC Eire Partnership, failed to pay its employees for the amount of hours they worked, made unreasonable deductions from their pay, and designed a contract of employment that would conceal their

The High Court has found that the Minister for the Environment acted ultra vires under the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and Ministerial Code, following his unilateral adoption of the Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan, without Executive agreement. The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment had chal

The Supreme Court has dismissed a judicial review appeal brought by an employee of the Review Commissioners, who disputed the Commissioners’ decision not to fund her professional legal qualification. The Supreme Court found that there had been too long a delay since the employee was first notified

The High Court has ordered for a solicitor, Mr Patrick Enright, to be struck off the Roll of Solicitors, as a result of fraudulent activity carried out by him in 1994. The Law Society had brought the application following a finding by the Disciplinary Tribunal that Mr Enright was not a fit person to

The Court of Appeal has found that section 6(8) of the Public Processions (Northern Ireland) Act 1998 can be interpreted as applying a legal burden of proof on defendants accused of taking part in unnotified processions. The appellant, Mr Jamie Bryson, had been charged with four offences of taking p