The Supreme Court has restored a High Court order requiring Allied Irish Banks plc (AIB) to pay the appellants’ costs of a preliminary issue, while staying the costs order until after the trial.
In a costs ruling dated 12 March 2021, the Court said the appellants were entitled to the costs of their Court of Appeal and Supreme Court appeals after succeeding in the Supreme Court. The appeals concerned eight sets of proceedings, heard on a composite basis, about when time began to run for a claim involving an investment product.
The High Court had held that the claim was not statute-barred in significant respects. The Court of Appeal reversed that decision, finding the proceedings statute-barred subject to a fraudulent-concealment issue still pending in the High Court. The Supreme Court then reversed the Court of Appeal and restored the High Court decision.
The respondents argued that appeal costs should be limited to the lead Cantrell case, with only additional outlay recoverable in the other proceedings. The Court ordered a full set of costs in the Cantrell proceedings and costs in the other cases, but excluded a separate brief fee or instructions fee for those cases. It said the costs were recoverable against the respondents jointly and severally.
The Court also restored the High Court’s order that AIB pay the appellants’ costs of the preliminary issue. The ruling noted that the appellants had agreed with the remaining director respondents that each side would bear its own costs.
The respondents had sought a stay pending the trial, listed in the ruling for 29 June 2021. The Court granted the stay, reasoning that it would avoid a situation in which respondents who later won costs at trial could not recover them after having already paid costs to the appellants. It said the delay was unlikely to be significant and that no hardship from postponing recovery had been suggested.
The ruling determined costs only. The source does not state the outcome of the trial.