Background: K.L., a Malawian national born in 1998, applied for international protection in Ireland in August 2023, claiming to be a gay man who had suffered violence and threats in Malawi on account of his sexual orientation. He alleged being assaulted in his youth following discovery of a same-sex relationship and later threatened by his partner's…
Held: Justice Siobhán Phelan refused leave to seek judicial review. The court held that the IPAT's decision disclosed no arguable legal error meeting the statutory threshold under section 5 of the Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Act 2000, which requires demonstration of "substantial grounds" for relief. The court found the IPAT's credibility assessment was soundly based on specific, identified inconsistencies rather than gut…
Background: A British couple, born in Yorkshire and married in Cyprus in 2016, had two children: A (age 10) and B (age 8). Both children spoke fluent Greek and attended school in Cyprus. The marriage broke down in 2024, triggering family court proceedings in Cyprus where the father obtained expanding contact rights with the children. On…
Held: Justice Poole identified the central dilemma: balancing the Hague Convention's purpose of swift restoration of wrongfully retained children to their home jurisdiction against the court's duty to protect children from grave risk of harm. Three principles guided the analysis: (1) the Convention is not meant to punish or reward either parent; (2) the court cannot undo the children's changed circumstances…
Background: The appellant was charged with extremely serious crimes, including multiple counts of rape and causing rape of a minor family member, indecent acts with a minor family member, and indecent acts with a family member. The appellant conceded the existence of prima facie evidence at the district court level. The probation service recommended against releasing…
Held: Justice Ruth Ronen held that while there is sufficient evidentiary foundation for prima facie evidence connecting the appellant to the charges, and that the legal ground of dangerousness for continued detention is valid, the court must nevertheless examine whether that danger can be reduced through an alternative form of detention that imposes less restriction on liberty. Under section 21(b)(1) of…
Background: The Okinawa Defense Bureau sought approval to reclaim approximately 160 hectares of public water surface in the Henoko coastal area of Nago City, Okinawa, to construct a replacement facility for Futenma Air Base, which would serve U.S. military aircraft operations. The facility would feature two V-shaped runways, each 1,800 meters long including overrun zones. In…
Held: The Supreme Court held that residents have standing to challenge approvals of public water reclamation projects where they face direct risk of serious environmental harm—specifically, aircraft noise. The Public Waters Reclamation Law requires that the land use not violate environmental conservation plans. The Court reasoned that when land is to be used for an airfield, this requirement protects individual residents…
Background: On August 1, 2023, police executed a lawful search of Room 130 at the Fairview Inn in Delaware, where William Tucker was present. Tucker directed officers to a black Nike fanny pack in the closet containing both a firearm and his state-issued ID card. Body-worn camera footage captured Tucker confirming that his identification was in…
Held: The Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the Superior Court's judgment in all respects. On sufficiency of evidence, the court applied de novo review and held that Tucker's own admissions — directing officers to the firearm, confirming his ID was in the same bag, and twice stating he possessed the gun for protection — were more than adequate for a rational factfinder…
Background: Mrs. Gurpreet Gill Maag held a Chubb Masterpiece homeowner's insurance policy. In a separate lawsuit (HC/OC 823/2023), Mr. Ian McKee sued Mrs. Maag for defamation, alleging she made defamatory statements about him at a business meeting on 24 November 2022. The statements concerned Vuulr, a company in which Mrs. Maag held financial interests through two…
Held: The High Court dismissed Mrs. Maag's appeal and affirmed that both exclusions applied. The court established that the duty to defend under an insurance policy is conditioned by the duty to indemnify and is restricted to claims that fall within policy coverage. Where an insurer relies on an exclusion clause, it must prove the claim falls outside coverage by demonstrating…
Background: Jack McCall is a 31-year-old man with a history of serious sexual offending spanning over a decade. In 2012, he was sentenced to 5 years 9 months imprisonment for three counts of violent sexual assault against young women, including a 15-year-old girl, whom he detained at knifepoint. While subject to various supervision and parole orders,…
Held: Justice Hulme found that McCall posed an "unacceptable risk" of committing another serious sex offence if not kept under supervision, satisfying the high degree of probability required by s 5B(d) of the Act. This assessment balanced both the likelihood of reoffending and the gravity of potential future offences. Two court-appointed expert psychiatrists and psychologists provided evidence that McCall posed a…
Background: Parus Holdings, Inc. owns U.S. Patent No. 6,721,705, titled “Robust Voice Browser System and Voice Activated Device Controller.” The patent describes a telephone-based system for browsing the Internet by voice: a user calls in, the system accepts voice commands, retrieves information from ranked websites, and reads the results back to the user. A key feature…
Held: The Federal Circuit vacated the Board’s decision and remanded for further proceedings on three independent grounds.
Background: On November 5, 2020, at approximately 2:30 a.m., Manchester Police Officer Shannon Murphy observed a vehicle in a Dollar General parking lot with its engine running but not in park. Officer Murphy approached to check on the vehicle's occupants and investigate suspected illegal window tinting. When Officer Murphy activated her emergency lights, the vehicle—driven by…
Held: The Connecticut Appellate Court affirmed the conviction, holding that the evidence was sufficient to support the OUI conviction under § 14-227a (a)(1). Applying the standard that evidence must support guilt beyond a reasonable doubt when viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the court found the cumulative force of the evidence overwhelming: the defendant's erratic driving pattern (failure…
Background: Turbo Restaurants operated an Arby's franchise at 900 South Jackson Road in McAllen under a long-term lease. When 900 S. Jackson, LLC purchased the property in December 2021, it assumed Turbo's lease, which ran through November 2033. Beginning in 2023, 900 claimed Turbo breached the lease by failing to operate as an Arby's, maintaining the…
Held: The court reversed as to damages and remanded for trial, holding that Turbo raised a genuine issue of material fact regarding whether 900 failed to reasonably mitigate. Texas Property Code § 91.006 imposes a non-waivable statutory duty on landlords to mitigate damages when a tenant abandons the premises. A landlord must use "objectively reasonable efforts" to re-lease to a tenant…
Background: The plaintiff sought to cancel the transfer of a 25% partnership interest in a business (comprising a high school and associated branches) on the grounds that the transfer constituted fraud (muvazaa). The plaintiff alleged that his 25% share had been transferred to another company without his knowledge or consent, with the intent to conceal assets,…
Held: The appellate court quashed (reversed) the first instance decision and remanded the case for retrial, but not on the merits of the fraud claim. Instead, the court focused on a critical procedural defect: the plaintiff's death during the proceedings. Citing Turkish Civil Code Article 611, which provides that when a legal heir rejects an inheritance, the deceased's share passes to…
Background: Ariela Stern, a Canadian resident, held investment accounts in the United States and Switzerland containing shares of German and Swiss companies. When she earned dividend income from these holdings, German and Swiss authorities withheld taxes at rates exceeding the 15% prescribed by Canada's tax treaties with those countries. Ms. Stern claimed foreign tax credits for…
Held: Justice David E. Graham held that a Canadian taxpayer can claim a foreign tax credit based on foreign tax information slips without requiring tax assessments from the foreign jurisdiction. The court quashed the 2021 appeal on procedural grounds (failure to file a valid notice of objection) but allowed the appeals for 2022–2024.