Tag: Northern Ireland

McGeown v Northern Ireland Housing Executive: HL 24 Jun 1994

The plaintiff lived with her husband in a house in a housing estate of which he was a tenant. Part of the land of the estate, in the ownership of the defendant housing authority, was crossed by footpaths, over which the public had acquired the right of way. The plaintiff was walking on one of the paths when she tripped in a hole in it and broke her leg. The hole was a danger to persons using the path and resulted from a failure to keep the path in good repair.
Held: A landowner was not liable to the public using a right of way for negligent non-feasance. No positive duty of care exists toward users of public right of way over private land.
The person using the public right of way did so by right and could not be said to be an invitee of the landowners.
Although the plaintiff would have been a licensee of the housing authority in respect of the path on which she had fallen, before it had become a public right of way, that license had merged in the right of way subsequently established; and accordingly it made no difference that the path had formed part of a means of access for the plaintiff to and from the house of which her husband was tenant
Lord Keith of Kinkel referred to a number of authorities before saying: ‘the rule in Gautret v Egerton is deeply entrenched in the law. Further, the rule is in my opinion undoubtedly a sound and reasonable one. Rights of way pass over many different types of terrain and it would place an impossible burden upon landowners if they not only had to submit to the passage over them of anyone who might choose to exercise the right, but also were under a duty to maintain them in a safe condition. Persons using rights of way do so not with the permission of the owner of the solum but in the exercise of a right. There is no room for the view that such persons might have been licensees or invitees of the land owner under the old law or that they are his visitors under the English and Northern Irish Acts of 1957.’
Lord Keith added: ‘If the pathway on which the Plaintiff fell in the present case had not become subject to a public right of way it seems clear that the Defendants would have owed her a common duty of care under the Act of 1957 and would have been liable accordingly.’

Judges:

Lord Keith of Kinkel

Citations:

Gazette 03-Aug-1994, Independent 28-Jun-1994, Times 24-Jun-1994, [1994] 3 All ER 53, [1994] 3 WLR 187, [1995] 1 AC 233

Statutes:

Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957, Occupiers’ Liability Act (Northern Ireland) 1957 2

Jurisdiction:

Northern Ireland

Citing:

Cited – Gautret v Egerton 1867
A man fell to his death when crossing a bridge used with the consent and permission of the defendants by persons proceeding to and coming from the defendants’ docks.
Held: The claim by his widow against the bridge owner was dismissed.

Cited by:

Cited – Barlow v Wigan Council QBD 19-Jun-2019
Responsibility for personal injury after trip over a tree root on a path in a park owned and maintained by the Council. The Court was now asked whether the public footpath was a highway under the 1980 Act for which the council was responsible for . .
Cited – Barlow v Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council CA 1-Jun-2020
Presumption of dedication dates back.
The claimant tripped over a tree root raising a path in the park. The court was now asked whether the pathway through a public park, but which was not a public right of way, was maintainable at public expense as a highway governed by the 1980 Act. . .
Cited – Gulliksen v Pembrokeshire County Council QBD 2002
Mr Gulliksen was walking on a footpath on a housing estate to the house of a friend. He had an accident at a depressed manhole cover on the footpath over which he tripped. The footpath had been constructed by Pembrokeshire County Council, who were . .
Cited – Gulliksen v Pembrokeshire County Council CA 11-Jul-2002
The claimant had tripped on a footpath on a housing estate. There was a depressed manhole cover on the footpath over which he tripped. The footpath had been constructed by Pembrokeshire County Council, who were both the local housing authority and . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Personal Injury, Land

Updated: 27 November 2022; Ref: scu.83539

Mackle and Others, Regina v: CANI 16 Oct 2007

The defendants appealed against confiscation orders made on sentencing for conspiracy to import cigarettes so as to evade customs duty.
Held: Girvan LJ identified the two principal issues as (i) whether the appellants had consented to the making of the consent orders on an incorrect legal basis (and that therefore the trial judges had likewise wrongly made the orders); and (ii) whether the orders having been made on consent, the appellants were in any event bound by them.

Judges:

Kerr LCJ, Campbell LJ and Girvan LJ

Citations:

[2007] NICA 37, [2008] NI 183

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

Northern Ireland

Cited by:

Appeal from – Mackle, Regina v SC 29-Jan-2014
Several defendants appealed against confiscation orders made against them on convictions for avoiding customs and excise duty by re-importing cigarettes originally intended for export. They had accepted the orders being made by consent, but now . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Northern Ireland, Criminal Sentencing, Customs and Excise

Updated: 06 November 2022; Ref: scu.261668

R And H v The United Kingdom: ECHR 31 May 2011

The court considered arrangements for an adoption in Northern Ireland where the parent’s consent was withheld.
Held: For parental consent to be overriden there had to be shown an overriding need for the decision.

Judges:

Lech Garlicki P

Citations:

[2011] ECHR 844, (2012) 54 EHRR 2, [2011] Fam Law 924, [2011] 2 FLR 1236,

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

European Convention on Human Rights 8, Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 3(1)(a)

Jurisdiction:

Human Rights

Citing:

Cited – Johansen v Norway ECHR 7-Aug-1996
The court had to consider a permanent placement of a child with a view to adoption in oposition to the natural parents’ wishes.
Held: Particular weight should be attached to the best interests of the child, which may override those of the . .
See Also – R and H v The United Kingdom ECHR 23-Sep-2008
The claimants complained at the procedure used to free their child for adoption against their wishes. . .

Cited by:

Cited – ANS and Another v ML SC 11-Jul-2012
The mother opposed adoption proceedings, and argued that the provision in the 2007 Act, allowing a court to dispense with her consent, infringed her rights under Article 8 and was therefore made outwith the powers of the Scottish Parliament.
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Human Rights, Adoption, Northern Ireland

Updated: 04 November 2022; Ref: scu.463635

Loughlin, Re Judicial Review: QBNI 21 Apr 2015

Judges:

Morgan LCJ, Weir J and Treacy J

Citations:

[2015] NIQB 33

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005

Jurisdiction:

Northern Ireland

Citing:

Explained – P, Regina v; Regina v Blackburn CACD 22-Oct-2007
Whilst awaiting trial, P had offered evidence against others on other serious crimes. On conviction, the judge was supplied with a statement explaining his assistance. He now appealed sentence of 17 years imprisonment for assorted serious drugs . .

Cited by:

Appeal from – Loughlin, Re Application for Judicial Review SC 18-Oct-2017
The court was asked as to the circumstances in which sentences passed on offenders who have given assistance to prosecuting authorities should be referred back to the sentencing court under section 74 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Northern Ireland

Updated: 15 September 2022; Ref: scu.549487

Mooney, Re Judicial Review: QBNI 8 Apr 2014

Citations:

[2014] NIQB 48

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

Northern Ireland

Cited by:

Cited – Loughlin, Re Application for Judicial Review SC 18-Oct-2017
The court was asked as to the circumstances in which sentences passed on offenders who have given assistance to prosecuting authorities should be referred back to the sentencing court under section 74 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Northern Ireland

Updated: 15 September 2022; Ref: scu.526653

Magill v Royal Group of Hospitals and Another: QBNI 28 Jan 2010

Citations:

[2010] NIQB 10

Links:

Bailii

Citing:

Cited – Hucks v Cole CA 1968
(Reported 1993) A doctor failed to treat with penicillin a patient, the plaintiff, in a maternity ward. She was suffering from septic spots on her skin though he knew them to contain organisms capable of leading to puerperal fever. Several . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Northern Ireland, Professional Negligence

Updated: 15 August 2022; Ref: scu.403399