The High Court has dismissed John Morrissey’s remaining proceedings against the State over section 12 of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Act 2013, ruling that he no longer had standing to pursue the constitutional challenge.
The decision, delivered by Ms Justice Costello on 27 November 2015, followed a separate debt case in which the court had upheld the transfer of Morrissey’s loans and the right to pursue that debt claim to LSREF III Stone Investments Limited. That assignment was upheld under the loan agreements and the Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Ireland) 1877, without reliance on section 12.
Morrissey had sought declarations that parts of section 12 were invalid under the Constitution and breached rights under the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. He argued that the section prejudiced him because it could validate the assignment if his appeal in the debt case succeeded. He also said the section’s existence caused anxiety and psychological damage. The State defendants argued that the challenge was hypothetical because the debt judgment did not rely on the provision and a declaration would not change the assignment or judgment.
Justice Costello found that the statutory provision had not affected Morrissey’s interests and that he was not in real or imminent danger of being affected by it. The court said continuing the case would amount to trying a hypothetical issue. It also held that the premises for several of the declarations failed: the loan agreements permitted the transfer, and the earlier debt proceedings had found that the special liquidators had authority under section 231 of the Companies Act 1963 to sell the loans and assign conduct of the debt proceedings.
The judgment also addressed Morrissey’s allegations of wrongful interest overcharging. In the debt case, the court had credited €143,676.64 for interest overcharged because of difficulties interpreting the loan terms following the conversion from Irish pounds to euro and other technical issues. The earlier ruling did not find deliberate overcharging. Justice Costello said Morrissey had received credit for the overpayment and could not recover twice for the same loss. No relief had been sought against the Minister for Finance in these proceedings.
The court had already struck out Morrissey’s claims under the EU Charter in March 2015. Justice Costello granted the State defendants’ motion and dismissed the remaining proceedings against them. The ruling concerned this separate challenge; the debt judgment had been entered for Stone in the sum of €30,180,489, and the judgment records that the debt proceedings were under appeal.