Case Reports

Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal has rejected a declaration of parentage for a same-sex couple’s child conceived through private artificial insemination, citing public policy grounds. The judges did not consider that this affected the upbringing of the child. A woman known as A appeale

The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal against a murder conviction which claimed that the appellant’s trial was rendered unfair after the main prosecution witness gave evidence via video link. It was also claimed that the witness should not have been permitted to give evidence with the as

The High Court has rejected an application to amend a statement of grounds in a planning case involving the protection of bats under the Habitats Directive. The applicants had submitted, inter alia, that An Bord Pleanála had failed to comply with the provisions of the Directive and sought to

Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal against possession of ammunition where evidence of a previous conviction for possession of an imitation firearm was presented before the jury. The court concluded that the trial judge was entitled to admit previous conviction evidence

The High Court has dismissed a solicitor’s application for judicial review of a decision by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal to adjourn proceedings to allow a company to obtain legal representation. In so ruling, the court determined that the Tribunal was entitled to control its own proces

Scotland's High Court of Justiciary has refused an appeal against extradition by an Irish citizen who claimed he was at risk of having to “slop out” the chamber pot of his prison cell if he were returned to Ireland to serve a custodial sentence. It was argued by Kevin McGourty that there

The High Court has determined that an anorexic woman should not be fed against her wishes by her treating doctors despite the risk of premature death. It was held that, in all the circumstances of the case, it was in the best interests of the woman for coercive feeding to end. In making the order so

Northern Ireland’s High Court has quashed search reports which contained incorrect addresses and fell below the standard to be accepted by a lay magistrate. This application for leave to apply for judicial review was brought by Andrea Hughes (the applicant). The proposed respondents were the P

The Court of Appeal has increased the sentence for a man found guilty of assisting with the importation of €2.7 million worth of diamorphine. The man was originally sentenced to seven and a half years' imprisonment with the final three and a half years suspended. However, it was held that the s

The High Court has set aside third-party proceedings on the basis of cumulative delays of two years for the service of the notices. The court held that there was inordinate and inexcusable delay by the defendants in seeking leave to issue third party proceedings and in the service of the third-party

Northern Ireland's High Court has overturned a decision to revoke the British passport of an Iraqi Kurd where his reasons for using an alias in his citizenship application were ignored. The applicant, TS, was an Iraqi Kurd and a British citizen who resides in Belfast. He sought to challenge by way o

The High Court has quashed a decision of the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) to refuse refugee status to two people who faced xenophobic violence in South Africa. The IPAT had determined that South Africa provided effective protection for the applicants from the alleged violence. Ho

The High Court has dismissed a €2.5 million summary claim for inordinate and inexcusable delay on the part of the plaintiff. In so ruling, the court strongly criticised the “groundless speculation and invented facts” contained in the plaintiff’s legal submissions on the issue

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has dismissed the so-called "gay cake" case brought by Gareth Lee, a UK national, represented by Ciaran Moynagh of Phoenix Law, against the United Kingdom government. The ECtHR found that Mr Lee had relied on national legislation to advance his discriminati

As the Michaelmas term has drawn to a close, it provides an opportunity to look back at some of the important judgments which defined the year in the courts. Over the course of 2021, Irish Legal News has produced hundreds of articles on new judgments and current awareness topics within the Irish leg