Recent cases published on the Courts website are listed below.
Child Welfare
N (L) (a minor suing by his mother and next friend H) v Child and Family Agency and ors; and E N (notice party); N (C) (a minor suing by his mother and next friend H N) v Child and Family Agency and ors; D (L) (a minor suing by her next friend and guardian ad litem in special care proceedings D) v Child and Family Agency and ors
31/7/2026 Nos. 2025 6255 P; 2025 6133 P; 2025 7022 P [2026] IEHC 561
Child welfare - Special care orders - Contempt of court - Plaintiffs seeking declarations that the first defendant was in contempt of court - Failure to comply with special care orders - Lack of available placements in special care units - Staff shortage issues - Protection of vulnerable children - Constitutional obligations - Art. 42A of the Constitution - Whether contempt of court requires wilful disobedience or if a technical breach of a court order constitutes contempt - Statutory non-compliance - Criteria - McD (M) (a child) v Child and Family Agency & ors [2024] IESC 6 - Declarations granted
Criminal Law
People (DPP) v D (P)
27/7/2026 Nos. 258/2023; 310/2023 [2026] IECA 189
Criminal law - Sentencing - Sexual offences - Appellant appealing against sentences of imprisonment imposed on him by the Circuit Court and the Central Criminal Court for offences of rape and sexual assaults on children under 17 years of age - Appellant submits that the headline sentences were excessive - Central Criminal Court erred in making the sentences imposed by that Court consecutive to those imposed by the Circuit Court - Insufficient weight given to personal mitigation - Circuit Court judge erred in failing to consider a period of suspension of his sentences - Appeal dismissed
DPP v Special Criminal Court and Michael Connolly
31/7/2026 No. 46/2024 [2026] IECA 169
Criminal law - Second respondent convicted of membership of an unlawful organisation - Appeal of conviction successful - Retrial - Acquittal - Second respondent applied and was granted a miscarriage of justice certificate pursuant to s. 9(1)(a)(ii) of the Criminal Procedure Act 1993 - Appellant seeking judicial review - Whether the first respondent erred in granting a certificate that there had been a miscarriage of justice - Whether there had been a fundamental defect in the administration of justice - Court finds the decision to grant the certificate constituted a fundamental error of law - Appeal allowed
DPP v Special Criminal Court and Michael Connolly
Employment Law
Hallahan, John v Cork City Council
25/8/2026 No. 2026 2544 P [2026] IEHC 591
Employment law - Injunction - Employee - Reassignment - Reallocation of duties - Plaintiff motion seeking to restrain, pending the trial of this action, the transfer from his existing position to a newly created position and the transfer of certain functions to another person - Whether an employer can unilaterally reassign an employee to a newly created position - Contractual rights - Whether the decisions to both seek to reassign him and to reassign his tasks failed to comply with the Braganza principle Braganza v BP Shipping Limited [2015] 1 WLR 1661 - Court satisfied that the balance of convenience favours preserving the existing position until the proceedings are determined
Hallahan, John v Cork City Council
European Arrest Warrant
Minister for Justice v Fortuna, Myroslav
13/7/2026 No. 2025 281 EXT [2026] IEHC 597
European arrest warrant - Applicant seeking the surrender of the respondent to Germany - Respondent sought for the purposes of prosecution for three offences alleging the illegal smuggling of foreigners into Germany - Respondent objects to his surrender on various grounds - Impermissible lack of clarity as to the legal classification of the offences alleged and the circumstances of the offences - Surrender ought to be refused as the offences fall foul of s. 44 of the European Arrest Warrant Act 2003 - Insufficient evidence from the issuing judicial authority to indicate that the issuing state intends to prosecute the respondent for the offences set out in the Warrant - Surrender ought to be refused as there is a real risk of so-called chain refoulment, namely that the respondent if surrendered to Germany would be at risk of being refouled to Ukraine, his country of origin - Grounds of objection dismissed - Application granted
Minister for Justice v Fortuna, Myroslav
Family Law
C (A) v R (E)
4/8/2026 No. 2024 14 CAF [2026] IEHC 581
Family law - Divorce - Children - Maintenance - Proper provision - Means - Appellant appealing against an order in respect of the payment of maintenance and expenses for the parties' children - False evidence - Manipulation of a document - Letter referencing income - Whether the respondent's manipulation of a document constituted litigation misconduct - Court finds the evidence as to the respondent's means to be unreliable - Appeal allowed
Immigration
E [S H] v International Protection Appeals Tribunal, Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, and ors
13/7/2026 No. 2026 546 JR [2026] IEHC 464
Immigration - International protection - Applicant seeking leave to amend his statement of grounds - Challenge to a deportation order and associated refoulement decision together with interlocutory injunctive relief restraining his deportation pending determination of the proceedings - Assessment of medical report - Procedural issues - Delay - Court satisfied that the least risk of injustice lay in granting a temporary injunction restraining deportation pending determination of the proceedings - Applications granted
K (Georgia) (Non-Refoulement) v Minister for Justice Home Affairs and Migration
7/8/2026 No. 2026 1003 JR [2026] IEHC 572
Immigration - Judicial review - Georgian national - Application for international protection - Political views - Fear of persecution - Application refused - Appeal - Further material provided to the respondent - Review concluded that returning the applicant to Georgia would not contravene the prohibition of refoulement - Deportation order - Applicant challenging the validity of a deportation order - Whether the decision-maker made a material error of fact in his consideration of the prohibition of refoulement - Failure to consider additional material submitted - Order of certiorari made quashing the deportation order - Application granted
K (Georgia) (Non-Refoulement) v Minister for Justice Home Affairs and Migration
Intellectual Property
Merck Serono S.A. v Controller of Intellectual Property
9/9/2026 No. 2026 2 SP [2026] IEHC 617
Intellectual property - Patent - Medicinal product - Supplementary protection certificate (SPC) - Plaintiff appealing against a decision refusing its application for a supplementary protection certificate to extend the duration of protection for a human medicinal product - Whether an SPC can be granted for a second medicinal use product under Regulation EC 469/2009 - C-673/18 Santen SAS v Directeur Général de l’Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle - "Product" - Interpretation - Whether the grant of an SPC for a second medicinal use product is precluded where the active ingredient has an existing marketing authorisation for a different application - Court held that the High Court was satisfied that the Santen judgment’s interpretation of relevant provisions of the 2009 Regulation provided clear answers to the questions presented - Appeal dismissed
Merck Serono S.A. v Controller of Intellectual Property
Personal Injuries
Gray, Shane v Commissioner of An Garda Síochána
6/8/2026 No. 2025 2206 P [2026] IEHC 557
Personal injuries - Damages claim - Plaintiff seeking compensation under s. 23 of the Garda Síochána (Compensation) Act 2022 - Malicious incident - Violent assault - Quantum of damages - Psychological injury - Back injury - Shoulder injury - Medical evidence - Overlapping effects of injuries - Whether it was appropriate to apply a discount to account for overlapping effects of the injuries - Proportionality and fairness - Damages awarded to plaintiff in the sum of €90,183
Gray, Shane v Commissioner of An Garda Síochána
O'Leary, Alex (a minor suing by her father and next friend Colin O'Leary) v Air-Tastic Cork Ltd
8/9/2026 No. 2021 2095 P [2026] IEHC 615
Personal injuries - Damages claim - Trampolining park - Minor plaintiff trampolining when she sustained a serious leg injury - Fracture - Surgery - Period of immobility - Whether the injuries were caused by the defendant's alleged negligence or breach of duty in supervising the plaintiff - Evidence - CCTV footage - Whether the evidence supports the pleaded claim - Court finds that the incident did not occur in the manner pleaded in the personal injuries summons and that the plaintiff's recollection was honest but flawed - Case dismissed
O'Leary, Alex (a minor suing by her father and next friend Colin O'Leary) v Air-Tastic Cork Ltd
Practice and Procedure
O'Keefe, Cara Faye O'Brien (a minor) v Representative Church Body of Church of Ireland Louise Fitzsimons t/a Deerpark Montessori School
29/7/2026 No. 2020 7960 P [2026] IEHC 540
Practice and procedure - Personal injuries - Contribution and indemnity - Church premises - Montessori school - Plaintiff a pupil at the school - Garden area - Bramble - Facial injury - Liability - Settlement - Second defendant seeking a contribution from the first defendant - Duty of care - Breach of duty - Whether the first defendant breached the common duty of care owed to a visitor - Whether the second defendant entitled to a contribution or indemnity for the settlement paid to the plaintiff - Court dismissed the claim of the second defendant for a contribution from the first defendant - Claim dismissed
O'Shaughnessy, Gerard v Health Service Executive
30/7/2026 No. 2018 9538 P [2026] IEHC 568
Practice and procedure - Personal injuries - Medical negligence claim - Spinal surgery performed on the plaintiff - Plaintiff alleges the surgery was performed without his informed consent and that the defendant was negligent in preparing the plaintiff for the procedure - Defendant seeking an order dismissing the plaintiff’s claim for want of prosecution on the grounds of inordinate and inexcusable delay - O. 122, r. 11 of the RSC - Plaintiff's failure to progress proceedings - Four year period of inactivity - Continuing failure to furnish particulars of personal injuries alleged to have been sustained - Court held that the balance of justice favoured dismissal of the proceedings - Application granted
O'Shaughnessy, Gerard v Health Service Executive
Professional Misconduct
Teaching Council v U (V)
22/7/2026 No. 2026 359 MCA [2026] IEHC 625
Professional misconduct - Teacher - Guilty pleas to several criminal offences - Prison sentences - Applicant seeking orders under s. 47 of the Teaching Council Act 2001 in relation to the respondent teacher - Applicant seeks orders directing that the respondent’s registration be suspended and that the respondent be prohibited from teaching until the conclusion of the complaint and inquiry process - Public interest - O’Ceallaigh v An Bord Altranais [2000] 2 I.R. 54 - Public protection concerns - Application granted
Wills
Rigney, Catherine [deceased], In the matter of
4/7/2026 No. 2026 572 PO [2026] IEHC 582
Wills - Probate - Applicant seeking to admit to probate a home-made will of the deceased - S. 78 of the Succession Act 1965 - Compliance - Issue as to whether the deceased’s signature on the backing sheet satisfied the requirement of signing at the "foot or end" of the will - Whether the placement of her signature denoted a clear intention to endorse the document as her last will and testament - Court held the will was a testamentary document validly executed in accordance with s. 78 of the 1965 Act - Application granted
Rigney, Catherine [deceased], In the matter of
Coverage: All reserved written judgments published by the Courts Service are indexed on the Library Catalogue where they can be searched by party name, judge, subject, keyword and other filters. Members may log in to the catalogue with their solicitor number and library PIN, available by emailing libraryenquire@lawsociety.ie
