Case Reports

A man who was found with drugs valued at nearly €270,000 during a search of his house has had his sentence decreased in the Court of Appeal. Finding that the original sentence of ten years with the final three suspended was “an error of principle” due to the very strong mitigation w

A company that was wrongly pursued for a €10.2 million VAT bill due to a “fundamental error” in the interpretation of the VAT Regulations of 1979 (as amended) has lost its appeal against the High Court's rejection of its claim for damages for malicious abuse of the civil process. Fi

A man who claimed that he was a dependant of his brother, who is a naturalised citizen of the UK, has been granted an order of certiorari quashing the decision refusing him a residence card. Finding that the Minister for Justice and Equality had erred in his application of the EC (Free Movement of P

A man who was convicted of cultivating over one hundred cannabis plants in the attic of his home in Tipperary has lost an appeal against the severity of the five-year sentence imposed upon him by Clonmel Circuit Court. Finding no error in principle with the sentence, Ms Justice Máire Whelan s

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that UK authorities fulfilled their duty to carry out an effective investigation into the killing of six military policemen in Iraq in 2003. John George Miller, whose son Corporal Simon Miller was among those killed, complained to the court that the inves

An environmental activist network has been granted an interlocutory injunction restraining the implementation of secondary legislation introduced in January 2019 pending the outcome of judicial review proceedings contending that the legislation is invalid. Stating that the transitional provisions ga

An environmental activist who sought to bring proceedings challenging the decision taken by An Bord Pleanála to refuse planning permission sought by Dublin City Council has had his application for leave refused because he did not have standing. Describing the case as “one of the most un

A man who was convicted of raping his 14-year-old niece when they were living in the same house in 2012 and 2013 has lost an appeal against his conviction. Finding that the man’s complaints regarding the trial judge’s charge and directions to the jury were not based in reality, Mr Justic

A man with multiple sclerosis whose application for disability allowance was refused on the basis that he was not resident in the State has been granted leave to appeal to the Supreme Court. The High Court refused to consider the substantive issues raised by the man in his application for judicial r

A man whose application for citizenship was rejected because he spent 100 days outside the State in the year prior to his application has lost an application for judicial review of the decision in the High Court. Finding that the requirement for "one year's continuous residence in the State immediat

The Supreme Court has overturned a finding that a significant proportion of discovery sought by a man in personal injury proceedings against the Minister for Defence was premature. Finding that the State had failed to discharge its onus to demonstrate that alternative procedural measures could achie

A man who sought to have his trial for criminal damage conducted in Irish, and to have this facilitated by an Irish-speaking judge, has been granted an order of certiorari quashing a District Court judge’s refusal to grant his application for an Irish-speaking judge to be assigned to his case.

A man who brought judicial review proceedings challenging the decision to affirm a removal order made against him and an exclusion period of ten years has had his proceedings dismissed as an abuse of process. The man had re-entered the State in breach of his exclusion order for a second time when he

The decision to grant planning permission for a large-scale housing development in Blackrock, Co Dublin, has been set aside in the High Court. Rejecting An Bord Pleanála’s argument that the breach of regulations was de minimis and didn’t affect the validity of the decision to gran

A man who took out a €190,000 mortgage to purchase property which he mistakenly believed to be in the ownership of a solicitor in 2008 has had his application for judicial review dismissed in the High Court. Finding no error in the decision taken by the Law Society of Ireland to award compensat