The High Court has ordered Edmund Garvey, identified in the judgment as Province leader of the Congregation of Christian Brothers, to disclose the full names and addresses of people who were members of the congregation in Ireland from 1 August 1979 to 31 December 1984 and are still members.
The order was made on 10 May 2021 by Ms Justice Niamh Hyland on a motion in a personal injuries action brought by Kenneth Grace. Grace alleges that Paul Hendrick sexually assaulted him when he was a minor between 1979 and 1984, at CBS Westland Row and other properties controlled by the congregation. He also alleges negligence and breach of duty against Garvey. Those claims remain allegations; the judgment did not decide them.
Grace sought the membership information to identify people he might join as defendants. His solicitor said he had no other way to obtain the names, and that evidence was not contradicted. The judge accepted that the information was necessary to pursue the claim and that Grace could be disadvantaged if he could not identify other potential defendants. She also noted that no reason had been given for withholding the information and that the requested disclosure would not adversely affect the Brothers’ privacy interests, given their public identification as members at the time.
The court relied on its inherent jurisdiction to order disclosure in the interests of justice. It found that the usual requirement for clear or prima facie proof of wrongdoing in a traditional Norwich Pharmacal application did not automatically bar this request: the action was not solely for discovery, and Garvey was already a defendant accused of wrongdoing. The court made no finding that either defendant had committed wrongdoing.
The judge refused Grace’s separate request to require Garvey to defend the proceedings on behalf of other congregation members. She held that Order 15, rule 9 of the Rules of the Superior Courts did not permit the court to compel an unwilling defendant to act in a representative capacity. The first defendant did not appear on the motion, as no relief was sought against him.
Hyland proposed that Garvey bear the costs of the motion, with payment stayed until the proceedings are determined. The parties were given one week to make written submissions if they sought a different costs decision; the judgment said an order in the proposed terms would follow if none were received.