An Irish woman has won her 11-year battle to be compensated for injuries she suffered while a passenger in an uninsured vehicle.
Elaine Farrell was refused compensation under a scheme run by the Motor Insurers' Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) because she was in the load space of a van when it crashed in 1996.
The MIBI refused to apply its legally mandatory scheme for compensating victims of uninsured drivers because the load area of the van was not insured for carrying passengers.
The High Court referred the MIBI's decision to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), and last year the Advocate General issued a legal opinion supporting Ms Farrell.
Today the court supported the opinion, which found the Irish legislation being relied upon by the MIBI was contrary to EU directives.
It said the EU's Third Motor Insurance Directive requires cover for all passengers and so Irish legislation excluding those travelling in a part of a vehicle not designed to carry passengers was incompatible with EC law.
Although it found Ms Farrell must be compensated, the ECJ said the rules governing the extent of the compensation was a matter for the member state.
Martin Territt, director of the European Commission representation in Ireland, said: "I welcome the clarity this judgment brings to this question, and I hope that Irish legislation will now be amended as soon as possible to give all passengers the protection they deserve under European law."