The High Court has struck out proceedings brought by Antonion Casimiro Lopes against the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, in which he alleged racial discrimination in the handling of earlier court cases.
Mr Justice Hanna made the order on 11 June 2008, after hearing a motion brought by the Minister. The motion sought dismissal or striking out on grounds including that the claim disclosed no reasonable cause of action, was frivolous or vexatious, was scandalous, or amounted to an abuse of process.
Mr Lopes, who represented himself, said he had not received adequate compensation for future loss of earnings after a road traffic accident in 1988. He alleged that racial origin and skin colour were behind what he considered inadequate compensation, and claimed that judges’ treatment of his litigation had been discriminatory. The Minister’s counsel argued that the proceedings had no legal prospect of success and contained unfounded allegations against members of the judiciary.
The judgment recounts that Mr Lopes received damages in the Circuit Court for the accident. He later sued his solicitor and a medical adviser. His claim against the medical adviser was dismissed, but the Supreme Court allowed his appeal against dismissal of the claim against his solicitor and remitted the matter to the High Court for assessment of damages. In 1998, the High Court awarded damages, and following a rehearing, the Supreme Court in 1999 increased the award to €196,809.40 or its equivalent in punts, taking account of the earlier award.
Mr Lopes’s 2007 proceedings against the Minister argued that the courts had failed to compensate him properly and that this was contrary to European Community law. He also alleged that a High Court decision had effectively overruled an earlier Supreme Court decision, and referred to an unidentified case in which he said a woman had received more generous compensation.
The court considered judicial immunity and the rules allowing proceedings to be struck out in clear cases. It found no evidence of racial discrimination and held that the claim was wholly unsustainable in law or fact. The judge said amendment or further evidence would not alter that conclusion.
The order was to strike out Mr Lopes’s proceedings. The judgment does not determine a new damages award in the 2007 case; it disposes of that claim on the Minister’s motion.