The High Court has rejected a motion by the Medical Defence Union (MDU) challenging the Irish courts’ jurisdiction over two doctors’ claims for indemnity. The ruling allows those third-party claims to proceed in Ireland; it does not decide whether the doctors are entitled to indemnity.
The judgment concerns two separate medical negligence actions brought by minors, each suing through a mother and next friend, against health boards. The boards had obtained judgments against them in the main proceedings and sought indemnities from the treating doctors. The doctors, in turn, sought indemnities from the MDU, which had initially provided legal assistance but later withdrew indemnity cover.
The MDU argued that the claims principally concerned the validity of decisions by its board of management, giving the courts in England and Wales exclusive jurisdiction under Article 22(2) of the EU’s 2001 jurisdiction regulation. It also sought clarification from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) of its earlier ruling in the joined cases.
The doctors’ claims include allegations of misrepresentation, a collateral contract, estoppel and legitimate expectation, as well as an improper exercise of the board’s discretion. They allege that the MDU’s assurances and conduct led them to expect indemnity and that its decision to withdraw cover was unfair and discriminatory. The MDU disputed those claims, saying its board had absolute discretion to refuse indemnity and that its articles formed the express contract governing members’ rights.
Mr Justice William McKechnie found that the CJEU’s earlier decision applied to the claims before him and that the later pleadings had not materially changed their substance. He also considered the claims as then pleaded and concluded that the proceedings were principally about the relationship between the doctors and the MDU, including representations allegedly made to them. The court was not persuaded that the dispute principally concerned the validity of the MDU’s constitution or its board’s decisions under Article 22(2).
The judge rejected the MDU’s motion and held that the Irish courts had jurisdiction over the dispute between the doctors and the MDU. He declined to refer the matter back to the CJEU for clarification. He stressed that his comments did not indicate the strength of either side’s case, which remained for trial.