The Court of Appeal has rejected six Tipperary solicitors’ appeal over the Courts Service’s refusal to fund repairs to Tipperary courthouse, holding that the Service has no statutory duty to provide court facilities at a particular location. It also declined to interfere with an order requiring the solicitors to pay 50% of the Service’s High Court costs.
The judgment, delivered by Ms Justice Irvine on 7 July 2016, concerned the collapse of part of the courthouse ceiling in November 2010. The building, a protected structure owned by Tipperary County Council, had been used for District Court sittings twice a month and Circuit Court sittings for three to four weeks each year. After the collapse, the District Court sat in the basement of a local theatre in Tipperary town, while the Circuit Court sat in Clonmel, about 25 miles away.
The solicitors sought declarations that the Courts Service was obliged to provide suitable facilities in Tipperary town, as well as an order directing it to do so. The mandamus request was apparently not pursued at the High Court hearing. Birmingham J. refused the declaratory relief on 23 May 2014, finding no statutory duty to provide facilities at a specific venue. The solicitors appealed.
The Court of Appeal held that the Courts Service’s general duties under the Courts Service Act 1998 to manage and maintain court buildings and provide facilities did not create a specific obligation to maintain Tipperary courthouse. The Court said the Service’s powers to designate court venues, together with its statutory obligation to use resources beneficially, effectively and efficiently, were incompatible with the claimed duty to fund facilities at a chosen location. It also rejected the argument that the Constitution required courthouse facilities at a particular venue.
The judgment noted that the Service had cited budget constraints and that the merits of its decision not to fund the repairs were not for the court to decide. The court’s ruling addressed the legal duty asserted by the solicitors; it did not order the courthouse repaired or determine the future status of court sittings in Tipperary town.
On costs, the Court of Appeal refused to set aside the High Court order that the solicitors pay half the respondent’s costs. The Court said the applicants had lost the claim and had not shown that the discretionary costs order was manifestly unjust.