The Court of Appeal has ordered Peter Nowak to pay costs to the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) in two dismissed data protection appeals, and to Price Waterhouse Coopers in one of them. The orders concern costs only; the appeals had been dismissed in judgments delivered on 1 July 2020.
The costs judgment, delivered by Mr Justice Robert Haughton on 27 July 2020, addressed two separate cases. In the first, Nowak sought disclosure of a memorandum submitted by Price Waterhouse Coopers to the Chartered Accountants Regulatory Board after his complaint about the firm’s accounting practices. His claim that the memorandum was personal data had failed at each court level.
The Court of Appeal set aside the High Court’s decision that there should be no order as to costs for the DPC and the notice party in the Circuit Court and High Court. It ordered Nowak to pay both parties’ costs in those courts, as well as their costs of the appeal. The costs are to be taxed if the parties cannot agree the amount.
Haughton said Price Waterhouse Coopers had actively participated in the proceedings and needed to respond to allegations made by Nowak, including claims raised in his appeal submissions that the firm was an illegal entity. The court had ruled those new claims were outside the appeal. The judge said they could not be pursued in support of Nowak’s costs arguments.
The second appeal concerned Nowak’s request under data protection law for his original accountancy examination scripts held by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI). The court ordered him to pay the DPC’s costs of the appeal. It dismissed the DPC’s cross-appeal over costs in the Circuit Court and High Court, leaving in place the order that there be no order as to the DPC’s costs there. The court also affirmed the no-costs order for ICAI in those lower courts; ICAI did not appear or make submissions in the Court of Appeal.
Haughton rejected Nowak’s submission that the proceedings had been brought in the public interest, finding they had begun to pursue his personal interest in obtaining his exam scripts. The judge also said the DPC and Price Waterhouse Coopers had been entirely successful in the first appeal, and the DPC in the second.
The court stayed execution of the costs orders for 21 days from perfection of the orders. If Nowak applies to the Supreme Court for leave to appeal, the stay continues until that application is determined; if leave is granted, it continues pending further order of that court.