The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by Sean Ó Conbhuí against a High Court decision upholding the taxation of costs in a personal injuries case arising from a 1996 accident.
The underlying claim was brought by a minor, suing through his father and next friend. The child was five when he fractured his left elbow while playing with other children on a metal shipping container on land occupied by two brothers. In 2004, the High Court found the brothers jointly and severally liable under the Occupiers Liability Act 1995 and awarded costs.
After a lengthy costs taxation, the Taxing Master issued a final ruling in October 2014. Ó Conbhuí sought a High Court review, arguing that the process should not have continued without legal aid or professional assistance. He did not challenge the amounts allowed or the way the taxation hearings were conducted. The High Court dismissed his application in April 2016, and he appealed.
In the Court of Appeal, Ó Conbhuí argued that the Aarhus Convention’s protections concerning costs in environmental cases applied because he was an environmental campaigner. The court held that this was a personal injuries case, not environmental litigation within the Convention’s scope. It also noted that the proceedings began in 1996, before the Convention was concluded and long before the Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011 took effect. The Act’s modified costs rules do not cover proceedings seeking damages for personal injury or property damage, the judgment said.
The court also refused Ó Conbhuí’s request for a McKenzie friend to plead his case. It said a McKenzie friend may assist a litigant with papers, notes and advice, but generally has no right to address the court as an advocate.
Ó Conbhuí additionally sought a reference to the Court of Justice of the European Union. The Court of Appeal said no EU law question arose and that the Court of Appeal was not a court of last resort for the purpose of the proposed reference. It dismissed the appeal.
The judgment, delivered by Mr Justice Gerard Hogan on 9 March 2018, criticised the delays: the personal injuries claim took eight years to reach trial, and the taxation of costs took a further 14 years to conclude.