Alan Hynes wins challenge over accountant appeal dismissal

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Alan Hynes won his challenge to the dismissal of his professional disciplinary appeal in the High Court on 13 March 2018. The court granted an order quashing the Appeals Tribunal’s decision after finding that it had refused an adjournment and dismissed the appeal without giving him an opportunity to make representations.

The appeal concerned disciplinary findings by the Chartered Accountants Regulatory Board. The judgment records that the original disciplinary tribunal had upheld serious complaints, excluded Mr Hynes from membership of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland and ordered him to pay €500,000 towards the hearing costs.

The High Court held that the Appeals Tribunal had erred in law by dismissing the entire appeal when the adjournment related to one module and the other modules were not then listed for hearing.