The Supreme Court has refused an application by a husband seeking extra time to appeal a High Court order made in divorce proceedings which originated in the Circuit Court in County Kerry.
Mr Justice Francis D Murphy held that the Supreme Court had no jurisdiction to hear the proposed appeal. The High Court had itself been hearing an appeal from the Circuit Court, and section 39 of the Courts of Justice Act 1936 provides that a High Court decision made in that appellate capacity is final and cannot be appealed further.
The Circuit Court had made an order on 9 March 2000. Mr Justice O'Caoimh subsequently gave judgment and made an order in Tralee on 21 July 2000 following an appeal to the High Court.
The husband, who represented himself before the Supreme Court, argued that earlier matrimonial proceedings dating from the 1980s had already dealt with the parties' property rights. He contended that later proceedings seeking further property-related relief were therefore an abuse of process.
The Supreme Court noted, however, that the later case was brought under the Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996. The wife sought a decree of divorce and ancillary relief available under that legislation. Divorce had not been legally available when the earlier High Court orders were made, so those earlier proceedings could not have prevented orders being made under the 1996 Act.
More fundamentally, the court held that it could not entertain the proposed appeal at all. Previous Supreme Court decisions had confirmed that decisions made by the High Court when hearing civil appeals from the Circuit Court are final, including decisions on ancillary or interlocutory matters arising during such appeals.
Mr Justice Murphy said there was no doubt about the applicable legal rule. As the Supreme Court lacked jurisdiction to hear the appeal, it also had no power to extend the time for bringing it.
The husband's application was therefore refused.