The High Court has refused Deirdre Morgan leave to bring a proposed judicial review of orders made in earlier litigation involving the Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board and the Minister for Education and Skills.
In a ruling delivered on 31 July 2023, Ms Justice Siobhán Phelan said the proposed proceedings were covered by an Isaac Wunder order requiring court permission before further proceedings could be brought. Although Morgan argued that she intended to proceed against the High Court rather than the Board or Minister, the judge said the application sought to revisit a judgment in the litigation involving those parties.
Morgan argued that the earlier process was unfair in two respects. She said an email reporting compliance with an Equality Tribunal order to pay her €500 had not been brought to her attention, leaving her no chance to explain that she did not receive the cheque while in hospital. She also disputed the High Court’s finding that she withdrew a sexual harassment complaint in November 2010.
The judge said Morgan had opportunities to raise the matters in appeals, though it was unclear whether she had done so. The Supreme Court had refused her leave to appeal, and her appeal before the Court of Appeal had been heard, with a decision pending at the time of this ruling.
Phelan J held that judicial review before one High Court judge was not available to challenge procedures adopted by another judge of the same court. She also found that the proposed case did not meet the high threshold for reopening a final decision, and described it as frivolous and vexatious, with no reasonable prospect of success.
The judge added that, even if the Isaac Wunder order did not apply, she would refuse leave under the ordinary test for judicial review. She said a solicitor’s cheque on behalf of a client could not constitute a breach of the Tribunal order, and that the accompanying letter was not part of a disciplinary process.
The application was refused. The ruling did not determine the pending Court of Appeal decision.