A man found floating in the ocean next to 65 bales of cocaine has had his 30-year prison sentence for one of the State’s largest ever drugs haul cut to 23 years by the Court of Appeal.

Appeals against the €1m plus damages awards made to dozens of Portuguese workers who claimed they lived in terrible conditions when they were building a section of the N7 motorway have been struck out by the Court of Appeal.

A Court of Appeal decision is a major setback for hundreds of investors suing AIB and others over losses sustained after they invested in certain Belfry funds promoted by the bank.

The Superior Courts recognise that recent challenges to the interpretation of drink driving legislation contain many arguments that have the appearance of being "cynical", according to a senior judge.

A Pakistani woman and her three children who came here from the UK after leaving her allegedly violent husband have won a significant legal challenge over a referral to the UK of their application for refugee status.

The State Examinations Commission and the Minister for Education and Skills have succeeded in their limited appeals against parts of a High Court decision allowing student Rebecca Carter to take up a place at veterinary medicine at UCD.

A man jailed for online sexual exploitation and defilement of a 13-year-old girl, when he was aged 19, has had his six-and-a-half year prison sentence cut on appeal.

A disgraced ex-garda who sexually assaulted a sleeping woman after a charity event has lost an appeal against the severity of his two year prison sentence.

A Brazilian national jailed for killing a man who had assaulted and racially abused him earlier that evening has moved to appeal his sentence.

Two women who got refugee status here and later became Irish citizens have lost significant test actions over whether they are entitled to enhanced family reunification rights under the Refugee Act.

Two women who got refugee status here and later became Irish citizens have lost significant test actions over whether they are entitled to enhanced family reunification rights under the Refugee Act.

Lawyers for a man found floating in the ocean next to 65 bales of cocaine have told the Court of Appeal that their client was a “bungling stevedore” in one of Ireland largest ever drugs hauls, rather than a “lieutenant”.

While litigation will remain the dominant mechanism in resolving disputes, there are now several alternative mechanisms such as arbitration, mediation and conciliation to consider.

The Court of Appeal will rule later on an appeal by Kenmare Resources over a €10m libel award, the highest in the history of the State, to its former deputy chairman Donal Kinsella over a press release issued by the firm.

The cabinet have approved the appointments of four senior judges to the Court of Appeal and High Court.

A mother and her disabled daughter have urged the Court of Appeal to overturn a High Court decision refusing to quash a local authority's refusal to provide them with house closer to a hospital the daughter attends for treatment.

High Court actions involving Catriona FitzPatrick, wife of former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Sean FitzPatrick have been settled.

A Garda informer can use sensitive material obtained in proceedings pending before the High Court in his legal battle to prevent his extradition from the UK to France.

The wife of former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Sean Fitzpatrick is claiming around €6m in assets, some of which were jointly held by the couple before her husband was declared bankrupt in 2010, the High Court Has heard.

The Minister for Health and Children's "intransigence" over document disclosure is delaying efforts to get on with the first of a number of cases in which a woman claims she developed a sleep disorder as a result of getting the swine flu vaccine, the High Court heard.

Four Limerick-based students are to be allowed back into the house they have been renting following a ruling by a High Court judge.

A survival scheme for a family construction company which has been involved in a number of important infrastructural projects has been approved by the High Court.

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan has referred questions by Labour TD Alan Kelly to a judge over whether his phone might be bugged, saying he has concerns about the matters raised.

The High Court has granted orders permitting the examiner of seven companies controlled by Galway businessman Gerry Barrett to enter into an agreement with an investor.

Disgraced solicitor Michael Lynn used around €3m belonging to his Kendar Holdings foreign property company to fund his personal lifestyle, the High Court heard.

A debtor cannot seek a court review of a rejection of their proposed personal insolvency arrangement because the law requires any such review must be applied for by their Personal Insolvency Practitioner, the High Court has ruled.

A Co Cork mechanical services company with debts of almost €2m and 160 employees is beyond saving, the High Court has been told.

Jondol Furniture directors, John and Dolores Quinn, have been adjudicated bankrupts by Ms Justice Marie Baker, in the High Court, on foot of a petition by the Revenue Commissioners.

A company has failed in a High Court challenge to a Bord Pleanála refusal to approve composting activities by it on a farm in Co. Kildare.

The trial judge said accepted personal effect of the release on them was "public odium and they were directly referred to as 'money wasters' by members of the public".

A dispute over the entitlement of the wife of former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Sean Fitzpatrick to an interest in "substantial" assets held in his sole name will be heard at the High Court next year.

An action by Dublin Bus against a document management and storage firm over alleged losses from the theft of prepaid bus tickets has been settled.

A High Court judge has quashed an order by the Minister for Agriculture in which he had revoked the licence of a fish farm in Bantry in West Cork.

A man is suing Facebook claiming he was defamed in a post calling him "Dundalk's biggest drug dealer".

A farmer has got orders halting works to connect a windfarm in Co Sligo to an electricity substation in Co Leitrim after a High Court judge ruled it was incorrectly decided the works do not require planning permission.

A woman with profound physical and mental disabilities living in a damp council house unsuitable to her needs has lost her High Court case aimed at being rehoused in more appropriate accommodation.

A mother of two has won an appeal over a financial institution’s objection to her entering a personal insolvency arrangement to pay off a €220,000 debt on a house she and her husband bought in 2007 for €300,000.

A mother and daughter face losing their home, valued at €55,000, after the High Court upheld objections by a financial services firm to her proposed personal insolvency arrangement (PIA).

A joint venture which came second in the bidding for Dublin’s €368m cross-city Luas line has failed in a High Court challenge to the process of awarding the contract.

A man is suing the State claiming that as a Garda informant there was a failure to protect him from criminal prosecution and conviction in France for drug trafficking which was part of the arrangement for being an informant.