A bank is under no duty to inquire into and advise against a customer's transactions Delaney vs Allied Irish Banks Plc (2015) IEHC 52 (High Court, Cregan J, January 13th, 2015) The High Court grants an order dismissing a claim against a bank where a customer sought to recover €346,000 he lent to another customer of the same branch – namely his now bankrupt former accountant – on the grounds that the bank was under no duty to inquire into the nature of the transactions in question or advise against them.
– Conor O’Higgins BL
Voice identification evidence lacked the necessary degree of cogency to be admitted in a trial involving a menacing phone call. DPP vs Crowe (2015) IECCA 9 (Court of Appeal, Edwards J, February 3rd, 2015) The Court of Appeal allows an appeal against a conviction for an offence of sending a menacing message to a member of An Garda Síochána, on the basis that 1), the voice identification evidence lacked the necessary degree of cogency to allow it to be admitted before the jury, even as a piece of circumstantial evidence; and 2), no jury warning could neutralise any unfairness in the way in which the identification was carried out.
– Ciarán Joyce BL
The owners of a dwelling are liable for the escape of fire to a neighbour's property arising from negligence of the building contractor. Feeney vs Andreucetti (2015) IEHC 63 (High Court, Noonan J, February 10th, 2015) The High Court finds that the owners and occupiers of a dwelling house were liable in negligence to their neighbour for the escape of fire from the roof of the property following works completed by an independent building contractor.
– Ian Fitzharris BL
The refusal to send a shipping contract dispute to arbitration as a relevant clause had not been concluded between parties. Lisheen Mine vs Mullock & Sons (Shipbrokers) Ltd (2015) IEHC 50 (High Court, Cregan J, January 12th, 2015) The High Court, hearing a dispute relating to a purported contract for the carriage of goods by sea, refuses the defendants' application for a stay pending arbitration, on the grounds that the charter-party agreement containing the arbitration clause had not been concluded between the parties.
– Conor O’Higgins BL
The Refugee Appeals Tribunal failed to engage with medical evidence submitted by an Afghani national in support of a claim for refugee status. SF vs Refugee Appeals Tribunal (2015) IEHC 48 (High Court, Eagar J, February 4th, 2015) The High Court grants a judicial review of the decision to refuse refugee status to an Afghani national, on the grounds that the Refugee Appeals Tribunal failed to engage with the medical evidence submitted in relation to his alleged post-traumatic stress disorder.
– James Cross BL
The access point on land subject to a property-adjustment order is moved to facilitate planning permission. FLS vs XXL (2015) IEHC 71 (High Court, Abbott J, February 6th, 2015) The High Court, in a supplemental judgment in family law proceedings, makes an order moving the entrance to a property (the subject of a property-adjustment order in a previous judgment) after it transpired that the access point on the land would have to be moved for the purpose of having a realistic chance of obtaining planning permission for a residential development.
– Ciarán Joyce BL
Sentences for revenue-related offences are reduced on appeal. DPP vs Floyd (2014) IECA 29 (Court of Appeal, Birmingham J, December 16th, 2014) The Court of Appeal allows an appeal against severity of sentences imposed for revenue-related offences and substitutes terms of five years with one suspended and three years with the final eight months suspended, finding that 1), the trial judge had indicated that he regarded the appropriate sentence as one of five years imprisonment but proceeded to impose a sentence of six years; and 2), it was open to the trial judge to partly suspend any sentence and it was appropriate to do so in this case.
– Ciarán Joyce BL
A decision not to readmit an applicant to the asylum process was lawful. MK vs Minister for Justice (2014) IEHC 658 (High Court, Hanna J, December 14th, 2014) The High Court refuses a judicial review of a decision to refuse to readmit an asylum claim of a national from the Democratic Republic of Congo, on the grounds that (1), the new statutory test for readmittance into the asylum process was effectively identical to the test previously established in case law and an explicit application of the new statutory test would have produced a different outcome, and (2), she failed the test for readmittance into the asylum process as the medical evidence which was claimed to be "new" was capable of being submitted for the original application as the report was prepared on foot of the same physical examination.
– James Cross BL
There was no detriment to an employee who was reassigned to a different section within a Government department. Hosford vs Minister for Social Protection (2015) IEHC 59 (High Court, Noonan J, February 6th, 2015) The High Court refuses judicial review of a decision to transfer an applicant to a different section within a Government department, on grounds that a), the applicant failed to establish any detriment as a result of the decision taken to reassign his role, and b), his actions at the hearing constituted an abuse of process in seeking to ventilate irrelevant issues of commercial taxation, upon which he maintained strong and particular views.
– Ian Fitzharris BL
The full text of each judgment can be found on courts.ie. These reports are provided by Stare Decisis Hibernia: staredecisishibernia.com