Category: Northern Ireland

Regina v Murphy: CMAC 1965

(Courts-Martial Appeal Court of Northern Ireland) The court has a discretion to exclude the evidence of an agent provocateur.

Citations:

[1965] NI 138

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Sang HL 25-Jul-1979
The defendant appealed against an unsuccessful application to exclude evidence where it was claimed there had been incitement by an agent provocateur.
Held: The appeal failed. There is no defence of entrapment in English law. All evidence . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Armed Forces, Northern Ireland

Updated: 01 May 2022; Ref: scu.250472

Regina v O’Neill: CANI 1984

The court gave sentencing guidelines for offences of robbery. Gibson LJ said: ‘In circumstances such as obtain nowadays in Northern Ireland where firearms are frequently used to rob banks and post offices this Court would re-affirm that a sentence of 13 years or upwards should not now be considered outside the norm for a deterrent sentence for this type of offence. Indeed, it would be appropriate for a judge to regard a sentence within the range of 10 to 13 years as a starting point for consideration, which sentences may be increased if there is a high degree of planning and organisation, or if force is actually used, or if the accused has been involved in more than one such crime. Equally it would be appropriate to reduce the sentence if the degree of preparation or the efficiency of performance is low, or if the money and weapons have been recovered, or if the accused has shown contrition and pleaded guilty to the charge, or if there are other special features which ought to be treated as grounds for reduction of the penalty.’

Judges:

Gibson LJ

Citations:

[1984] 13 NIJB

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Colhoun CANI 1988
The Court affirmed a sentence of 10 years imprisonment for the armed robbery of andpound;50 from a small shop: ‘Since the judgment of this court in R -v- O’Neill there has been no diminution in the number of armed robberies. They are very serious . .
Cited – Rooney and Others, Re Attorney General’s Reference (Number 1 of 2005) CANI 11-Nov-2005
The defendants had been convicted or armed robbery. The Attorney General appealed against the sentences saying they were too lenient. Rooney argued that his plea of guilty had been after an indication by the judge and the reference was misguided. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Northern Ireland, Criminal Sentencing

Updated: 30 April 2022; Ref: scu.234981

M v M: FDNi 20 Dec 2001

The court considered the approach to the evaluation of contributions in ancillary relief proceedings in a divorce where there were substantial assets. McLaughlin J said: ‘In the course of adducing evidence before me counsel sought to tempt me with a bait of this kind. He led evidence, and relied upon it in his closing submissions, that the husband worked very long hours getting out of bed at 6.00am to be at work by 7.00am. His work did not finish until late in the evening as he carried on his working day by supervising Y limited and the other business premises owned by the company. I accept all of that evidence as true, but to concentrate on that and fail to recognise that, whilst he toiled at work on company business, Mrs M from early in the morning was getting the children ready for school, taking them there, running the home during the day, collecting them after school, cooking and cleaning, nurturing them by ferrying them to social, sporting and recreational activities, supervising homework and tutoring them when required, would be to be guilty of the very kind of discrimination warned against by Lord Nicholls. An example of the value of the life’s work of Mrs M can be seen today in the accomplishments and personalities of their children. These are the abiding rewards of her labour of love rather than the transient rewards in the form of money produced by the labour of the husband. In the context of this family’s life these admirable qualities of both parties are to be considered of equal value. Indeed the words of Lord Nicholls might almost have been written to describe the respective roles of Mr and Mrs M.’

Judges:

McLaughlin J

Citations:

Unreported, 20 December 2001

Citing:

See Also – Maginn v Maginn FdNI 21-Jun-2001
. .

Cited by:

Cited – Lambert v Lambert CA 14-Nov-2002
The parties appealed an order for the division of the family’s 20 million pound fortune on divorce. The husband argued that his special contribution to the creation of the wealth meant that he should receive a greater share.
Held: The Act gave . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Family, Northern Ireland

Updated: 30 April 2022; Ref: scu.235255

Regina v Hogg and others: CANI 1994

The court considered sentences for the importation of drugs: ‘1. Importation of drugs on a large scale is the most serious offence in this area, and is invariably to be visited with a substantial custodial sentence. We respectfully agree with the guidelines set out by Lane CJ in R v Aramah (1982) 4 Cr App R (S) 407.
2. Supplying drugs is the next in descending order of gravity, with possession with intent to supply a short distance behind. In many cases there may be little distinction between them, for the charge may depend on the stage of the proceedings at which the defendant was apprehended. In all but exceptional cases they will attract an immediate custodial sentence, which may range from one of some months in the case of a small quantity of Class B drugs to one of four or five years or more in the case of supply of appreciable commercial quantities of Class A drugs. We do not find it possible to narrow the range any more closely, for much will depend on the circumstances of the supply, its scale, frequency and duration, the sums of money involved and the defendant’s previous record, together with his or her individual circumstances.’

Citations:

[1994] NI 258

Cited by:

Cited – Attorney General’s Reference (Number 8 of 2004) (Dawson and Others) CANI 15-Apr-2005
Defendants had been convicted of offences involving supply of cannabis and cocaine, including the evasion of import controls and conspiracy. The sentences were appealed as too lenient.
Held: Where a prosecutor was aware that a plea of guilty . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Northern Ireland, Criminal Sentencing

Updated: 30 April 2022; Ref: scu.224215

Regina v McIlwaine: CANI 1998

The court dismissed an appeal against a sentence of four years imprisonment for possession of 9.88 kilos of cannabis resin with a street value of andpound;100,000: ‘So we return to the question-was this sentence manifestly excessive? We are satisfied that it was not. Even allowing for the early guilty plea we would not have interfered with a five-year sentence. This was a substantial quantity of cannabis, no assistance was given to the police by the appellant who already had a relevant conviction. We would repeat yet again-those who offend in this way will on conviction receive lengthy custodial sentences. The public is entitled to be protected from the evil of drug abuse and it is the duty of judges in this jurisdiction to make it clear that they will seek to discourage anyone from participating in that trade.’

Judges:

MacDermott LJ

Citations:

[1998] NI 136

Cited by:

Cited – Attorney General’s Reference (Number 8 of 2004) (Dawson and Others) CANI 15-Apr-2005
Defendants had been convicted of offences involving supply of cannabis and cocaine, including the evasion of import controls and conspiracy. The sentences were appealed as too lenient.
Held: Where a prosecutor was aware that a plea of guilty . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Northern Ireland, Criminal Sentencing

Updated: 30 April 2022; Ref: scu.224217

Regina v Fitzpatrick: CANI 1977

The court considered the defence of duress: ‘A person may become associated with a sinister group of men with criminal objectives and coercive methods of ensuring that their lawless enterprises are carried out and thereby voluntarily expose himself to illegal compulsion, whether or not the group is or becomes a proscribed organisation . . if a person voluntarily exposes and submits himself, as the appellant did, to illegal compulsion, he cannot rely on the duress to which he has voluntarily exposed himself as an excuse either in respect of the crimes he commits against his will or in respect of his continued but unwilling association with those capable of exercising upon him the duress which he calls in aid.’

Judges:

Lowry LCJ

Citations:

[1977] NI 20

Cited by:

Cited – Hasan, Regina v HL 17-Mar-2005
The House was asked two questions: the meaning of ‘confession’ for the purposes of section 76(1) of the 1984 Act, and as to the defence of duress. The defendant had been involved in burglary, being told his family would be harmed if he refused. The . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Northern Ireland, Crime

Updated: 30 April 2022; Ref: scu.223668

Re Baker and other Applicants: QBNI 1992

The court considered the meaning of the Prisons Rules, and the ability of a governor to order searches of prisoners: ‘the power conferred by Rule 9(1) is intended to be an unqualified power, and the governor is entitled to order a prisoner to be searched whenever he sees fit, subject only to contrary direction of the Secretary of State. It would, I think, be inconsistent with the position of a prisoner lawfully confined in a prison to import a qualification into the power of search which would permit him or her to decide whether the search order was validly given and the reason for it properly explained, to refuse to obey and to resist the officer directed to carry out the search. To permit this would tend to undermine prison discipline to a material degree, and I do not think that it was intended . . In any event, I consider that it was perfectly obvious to all the prisoners searched that the prison officers were searching for some unauthorised object or objects. That knowledge found sufficient notification of the reason for the search, if such notification was, contrary to my view, required. It was not incumbent upon the governor to have the prisoners informed of the exact nature of the object being sought, still less to divulge where the information came from that led him to decide to have the search carried out.’

Judges:

Carswell J

Citations:

(1992) 8 NIJB 86

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Carroll and Al-Hasan and Secretary of State for Home Department Admn 16-Feb-2001
The claimants challenged the instruction that they must squat whilst undergoing a strip search in prison. A dog search had given cause to supect the presence of explosives in the wing, and the officers understood that such explosives might be hidden . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Northern Ireland, Prisons

Updated: 30 April 2022; Ref: scu.211429

Livingstone v Ministry of Defence: CANI 1984

The plaintiff was injured when a soldier fired a baton round after some soldiers were attacked by rioters. The round had been deliberately fired, but not to strike the plaintiff. The claim was in negligence and assault and battery. The trial judge dismissed the claim in negligence but did not give a ruling on the question of battery.
Held: The court allowed the appeal and ordered a new trial, rejecting the argument that there could be no battery because the plaintiff was not the chosen target: ‘In my judgment when a soldier deliberately fires at one rioter intending to strike him and he misses him and hits another rioter nearby, the soldier has ‘intentionally’ applied force to the rioter who has been struck. Similarly if a soldier fires a rifle bullet at a rioter intending to strike him and the bullet strikes that rioter and passes through his body and wounds another rioter directly behind the first rioter, whom the soldier had not seen, both rioters have been ‘intentionally’ struck by the soldier and, assuming that the force used was not justified, the soldier has committed a battery against both.’

Judges:

Hutton J

Citations:

[1984] NILR 356

Cited by:

Cited – Bici and Bici v Ministry of Defence QBD 7-Apr-2004
Claimants sought damages for personal injuries incurred when, in Pristina, Kosovo and during a riot, British soldiers on a UN peacekeeping expedition fired on a car.
Held: The incidents occurred in the course of peace-keeping duties. It was . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other, Northern Ireland, Armed Forces

Updated: 30 April 2022; Ref: scu.198140

Turkington and Others (Practising as McCartan Turkington Breen) v Times Newspapers Ltd: CANI 11 Nov 1998

A meeting was not a public meeting just because the public attended without objection. A press conference to which press only had had invitations was not as such public, and a report of it was not protected under the Act

Judges:

Carswell LCJ

Citations:

Times 11-Nov-1998, [1998] NI 358

Statutes:

Defamation Act (Northern Ireland) 1955 7 Sch para 9

Citing:

Appeal from – McCartan Turkington Breen v Telegraph Group NIHC 11-May-1998
. .

Cited by:

Appeal from – McCartan Turkington Breen (A Firm) v Times Newspapers Limited HL 2-Nov-2000
(Northern Ireland) The defendant reported a press conference at which the claims denying the criminal responsibility of an army private were made. The report was severely critical of the claimants, who then sued in defamation. The defendants claimed . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Defamation, Northern Ireland

Updated: 10 April 2022; Ref: scu.90023

Regina v Greater Belfast Coroner, ex parte Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission: CANI 11 May 2001

The Commission was a creation of statute, and had not been given power to intervene in judicial proceedings. The coroner was investigating deaths at Omagh from a terrorist bombing, and the Commission sought to intervene. The Act should not be read restrictively, but nor could provisions be read into it which did not exist at will. The Commission had its own powers to commence investigations. When it might become involved in proceedings, either it sought to influence the outcome or it did not. If it did not, it was an improper distraction, and if it did it would be an improper intrusion, threatening the appearance of independence of the judiciary. In either case costs would be increased and have to be paid, and new issues of equality of arms would arise.

Citations:

Times 11-May-2001

Statutes:

Northern Ireland Act 1998

Human Rights, Coroners, Constitutional, Northern Ireland

Updated: 10 April 2022; Ref: scu.88484

Regina v Newtonabbey Magistrates Court Ex Parte Belfast Telegraph Newspapers Ltd: CANI 27 Aug 1997

When the defendant charged with indecent assault was remanded on bail to await trial, the magistrate ordered that there should be no report of the proceedings at that stage because of the defendant’s concerns that publicity would lead to his being attacked; this would frustrate the administration of justice because he might no longer be able to face trial. The newspaper objected.
Held: Magistrates cannot prevent publication of proceedings outside the strict limits of the Act even if could interfere with course of justice. ‘The use of the words ‘some other public interest’ indicates that Lord Diplock had in mind the protection of the public interest in the administration of justice rather than the private welfare of those caught up in that administration.’

Citations:

Times 27-Aug-1997, 1997 NILR 309, [1997] NI QBD 309

Statutes:

Contempt of Court Act 1981 4(2)

Cited by:

Appeal from – Belfast Telegraph Newspapers Ltd, In the Matter of CANI 3-Apr-2001
. .
Cited – Harper and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Aldershot Magistrates Court Admn 8-Jun-2010
Police defendants not to have addresses withheld
The defendants, senior police officers were accused of misconduct in public office, being said to have sought improperly to interfere in prosecutions for speeding. They appealed against refusal by the magistrates to have their addresses protected. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Contempt of Court, Northern Ireland

Updated: 09 April 2022; Ref: scu.87436

Zalewska v Department for Social Development: HL 12 Nov 2008

(Northern Ireland) The claimant challenged the rules restricting payment of benefits to nationals from the 8 latest European Accession states to those with an unbroken 12 month working record. The applicant came from Poland and worked at two authorised employments but failed to find a third. She had left her partner because of his violence.
Held: (Lady Hale and Lord Neuberger dissenting) The provision was not incompatible with European Law. The derogation was required to be proportionate. The scheme was intended to allow, through the registration of employments, the government to monitor the impact of the accessions on the the general labour market.

Judges:

Lord Hope of Craighead, Baroness Hale of Richmond, Lord Carswell, Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood, Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury

Citations:

[2008] UKHL 67, [2008] 1 WLR 2602, [2009] Eu LR 344, [2009] 1 CMLR 24, [2009] 2 All ER 319

Links:

Bailii, Times, HL

Statutes:

EC Treaty 18EC, Accession (Immigration and Worker Registration) Regulations 2004 (SI 2004/1219), Immigration Act 1971, Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68 on freedom of movement for workers within the Community, Income Support (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 (SR 1987/459)

Jurisdiction:

Northern Ireland

Citing:

Cited – Royer v Belgium ECJ 8-Apr-1976
ECJ The right of nationals of a member state to enter the territory of another member state and reside there is a right conferred directly, on any person falling within the scope of community law, by the Treaty, . .
Cited – Trojani v Centre public d’aide sociale de Bruxelles (CPAS) ECJ 7-Sep-2004
EAT Freedom of movement of persons – Citizenship of the European Union – Right of residence – Directive 90/364/EEC – Limitations and conditions – Person working in a hostel in return for benefits in kind – . .
Cited – Lopes Da Veiga v Staatssecretaris Van Justitie ECJ 27-Sep-1989
Europa Article 216(1) of the Act of Accession of Portugal must be interpreted as meaning that the provisions relating to the holding of employment and equal treatment which are contained in Article 7 et seq . of . .
Cited – Canal Satelite Digital SL v Adminstracion General del Estado, and Distribuidora de Television Digital SA (DTS) ECJ 22-Jan-2002
The complainant company manufactured lawful TV decoders. It complained that Spain applied a requirement for prior approval before they could be used in Spain. They complained that the system operated to restrict the free movement of goods within the . .
Cited – Mouvement contre le racisme, l’antisemitisme et la xenophobie ASBL (MRAX) v Etat Belge ECJ 25-Jul-2002
Europa Third country nationals who are the spouse of a Member State national – Requirement for a visa – Right of entry for spouses not in possession of identity documents or a visa – Right of residence for . .
Cited – Skanavi and Chryssanthakopoulos (Judgment) ECJ 29-Feb-1996
Any formalities required in order to have a driving licence issued in one Member State recognised in another Member State constitute an obstacle to the free movement of persons, and are in breach of the Treaty.
Fromancais Sa v Fonds D’Orientation Et De Regularisation Des Marches Agricoles (Forma) ECJ 23-Feb-1983
‘In order to establish whether a provision of community law is consonant with the principle of proportionality it is necessary to establish, in the first place, whether the means it employs to achieve its aim correspond to the importance of the aim . .
Cited – Commission v Belgium (Free Movement Of Persons) ECJ 23-Mar-2006
Europa Failure to fulfil obligations – Breach of Community legislation on the right of residence of citizens of the Union – National legislation and administrative practice relating to the requirement of . .
Cited – D, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions CA 11-Oct-2004
Challenge was to Regulations which affect the position of nationals of certain States which had acceded to membership of the European Union . .
At CANI – Zalewska v Department for Social Development CANI 9-May-2007
. .

Cited by:

Cited – Patmalniece v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions SC 16-Mar-2011
The claimant challenged as incompatible with EU law, the Regulations which restricted the entitlement to state pension credit to those entitled to reside in the UK.
Held: The appeal failed (Majority). The conditions imposed by the Regulations . .
Cited – Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v Gubeladze SC 19-Jun-2019
The claimant had come from Latvia to the UK in 2008, but not registered under the Worker Registration Scheme until 2010. She now sought state pension credit. The SS appealed from a judgment that it was to calculate her entitlement to include her . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

European, Benefits

Updated: 06 April 2022; Ref: scu.277816

Jones v Jones and others: ChNI 2 Feb 2001

This case raises a number of important issues on the nature of a right of residence and the extent of the rights thereby created or reserved. Although the granting and reserving of rights of residence is a common feature of Irish agricultural land transactions and is a tribute to the Irish sense of family obligation the precise nature of such rights has long been a matter of judicial and academic debate.

Citations:

[2001] NICh 2

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

Northern Ireland

Land

Updated: 06 April 2022; Ref: scu.202027