Executive Summary
The aim of this report is to give an overview of the law relating to protective costs orders in Ireland while comparing it with the UK and Australia and making suggestions for reform. I consulted several sources in relation to protective costs orders in Ireland, the UK and Australia and found suitable material.
In Ireland to date only one PCO has ever been granted . However, PCO’s have also been rejected in this jurisdiction. PCO’s are only granted in cases that are considered to be of exceptional public importance.
The law reform problem is that the standard required to get a PCO in Ireland is simply too high. It is suggested that the standard be lowered to one of general public importance.
It is recommended that the criteria …show more content…
The Applicant in this case was acting on behalf of the interests of the members of the community. They applied to judicially review two decisions made by An Bord Pleanala in relation to the realignment of a section of roadway and the granting of plans to build a hotel at the Curragh Racecourse. The case involved applying well known principles to new facts. The Court came to the conclusion that though the Applicants may have had a private interest it accepted that some of its members may have had no interest in the outcome of the case. There was no evidence that those who represented the applicant were doing so on a pro bono basis. The Court found it difficult to conceive how it would be fair or just to make a PCO in this case as “ such orders are most exceptional. This case exhibits no circumstances which would merit such an …show more content…
In the 2012 Report on access to justice , made to the United Nations General Assembly, the UN expert on extreme poverty Magdalena Sépulveda pointed out the following:
‘The limited ability of people living in poverty to access legal and adjudicatory processes and mechanisms is not only a violation of human rights in itself (ICCPR Art 14), but is also the consequence of numerous other rights violations. The lack of remedies for the negative impacts of social policy in the areas of health, housing, education and social security, or for administrative decisions relating to welfare benefits or asylum proceedings, often results in inability to seek redress in cases of violations of key human rights, such as the right to equality and non- discrimination and the right to social security’
The denial of the right of access to justice denies people a basic and fundamental right to which they are entitled
The aim of this report is to give an overview of the law relating to protective costs orders in Ireland while comparing it with the UK and Australia and making suggestions for reform. I consulted several sources in relation to protective costs orders in Ireland, the UK and Australia and found suitable material.
In Ireland to date only one PCO has ever been granted . However, PCO’s have also been rejected in this jurisdiction. PCO’s are only granted in cases that are considered to be of exceptional public importance.
The law reform problem is that the standard required to get a PCO in Ireland is simply too high. It is suggested that the standard be lowered to one of general public importance.
It is recommended that the criteria …show more content…
The Applicant in this case was acting on behalf of the interests of the members of the community. They applied to judicially review two decisions made by An Bord Pleanala in relation to the realignment of a section of roadway and the granting of plans to build a hotel at the Curragh Racecourse. The case involved applying well known principles to new facts. The Court came to the conclusion that though the Applicants may have had a private interest it accepted that some of its members may have had no interest in the outcome of the case. There was no evidence that those who represented the applicant were doing so on a pro bono basis. The Court found it difficult to conceive how it would be fair or just to make a PCO in this case as “ such orders are most exceptional. This case exhibits no circumstances which would merit such an …show more content…
In the 2012 Report on access to justice , made to the United Nations General Assembly, the UN expert on extreme poverty Magdalena Sépulveda pointed out the following:
‘The limited ability of people living in poverty to access legal and adjudicatory processes and mechanisms is not only a violation of human rights in itself (ICCPR Art 14), but is also the consequence of numerous other rights violations. The lack of remedies for the negative impacts of social policy in the areas of health, housing, education and social security, or for administrative decisions relating to welfare benefits or asylum proceedings, often results in inability to seek redress in cases of violations of key human rights, such as the right to equality and non- discrimination and the right to social security’
The denial of the right of access to justice denies people a basic and fundamental right to which they are entitled