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	Court Rules Man in Abuse Claim Entitled to Jury One in Four [Ireland] April 10, 2006 http://www.oneinfour.org/news/news2006/entitled/ The Supreme Court has ruled that a man who was sexually assaulted while at a Christian Brothers school in Dublin is entitled to have a jury trial to assess his claim for damages. The man was a student at a school run by the Christian Brothers in Dublin between 1983 and 1986 and is suing a former Christian Brother and the Congregation of Christian Brothers for damages for sexual assault and negligence. The man claims he sustained serious personal injuries, trauma and psychological damage after he was subjected to repeated episodes of sexual assault. He is claiming that the Congregation of Christian Brothers knew, or ought to have known, that the former Christian Brother was unsuitable to have unsupervised contact with children. He also claims they failed to have in place procedures for the supervision of members charged with the duty of educating young persons. The Christian Brothers contend the religious order is not vicariously liable for the acts alleged against the former brother. After the plaintiff served notice of trial by a judge and jury, the High Court made an order transferring the case to the personal injuries list to be tried by a judge sitting without a jury. The man subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court against that decision. Yesterday, Mr Justice Nial Fennelly, giving the unanimous judgment of the three-judge court, ruled that the man was entitled to have his claim heard by a judge sitting with a jury.
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