The Court of Appeal has refused Neil Maloney’s application for permission to represent his father, Oliver Moloney, in an appeal brought by Pepper Finance Corporation (Ireland) DAC over a mortgage possession order.
Mr Justice Allen, delivering judgment on 14 December 2022, said a litigant may generally represent themselves or use a qualified lawyer. The court has discretion to allow lay representation in exceptional circumstances, but Mr Maloney had not established that threshold.
The appeal concerns Pepper’s application for leave to execute a High Court possession order made in 2010 over a dwellinghouse at Cloonaglaslia, Tuam, County Galway. The order related to a loan secured against the property. Pepper’s application for leave to execute was refused by the High Court in January 2022, and Pepper appealed that refusal. The Court of Appeal’s present judgment decided only Mr Maloney’s application to speak for his father at the appeal hearing; it did not decide the underlying appeal or the arguments about who was entitled to execute the possession order.
Mr Maloney relied on his past involvement in discussions with Pepper and in court listings, a medical report concerning his father, and a power of attorney. The court said the earlier occasions on which he had been heard did not establish an entitlement to argue the substance of the case. It also held that a power of attorney could not itself confer a right of audience.
The judgment said the medical reports supplied did not provide a basis for concluding that Oliver Moloney was unable to attend court or present his case. The court noted that he had been served with the appeal papers and notified of the hearing, but did not appear. It made no finding on the merits of the parties’ dispute about a 2012 transaction involving the loan and security.
The application was refused. The court gave a provisional view that Pepper was entitled to its costs, payable by Neil Maloney, but allowed him 21 days from electronic delivery of the judgment to file a short submission seeking a different costs order. Pepper would then have 14 days to respond. The appeal was to be listed for mention on 13 January 2023 to fix a new hearing date.