The Supreme Court awarded John James Mungovan 40% of the costs across all courts, motions and steps in his case against Clare County Council, after he succeeded on an appeal about the time limit for bringing judicial review proceedings.
The costs ruling, delivered by Mr Justice Peter Charleton on 24 July 2020, followed the court’s judgment on the appeal in April. It addressed competing submissions about earlier costs orders and the expense of a Supreme Court hearing that was adjourned before the appeal could proceed.
Mungovan had asked the court to reverse several costs orders made in favour of the council and award him the costs of the proceedings. The council argued, among other things, that the March 2019 hearing was wasted because Mungovan had not appealed a separate High Court ruling. The Supreme Court described that hearing as wasted, but considered it alongside Mungovan’s appeal success, the way the case had been pleaded and the council’s decision to pursue a preliminary issue, which it had now lost.
The court said costs are discretionary and ordinarily follow the event. It concluded that 40% of the costs across all courts and procedural steps should be awarded to Mungovan. The judgment does not specify a monetary amount.
The case will return to the High Court for a unitary trial. The issues identified include the validity of the council’s policy in its context, whether Mungovan was validly excluded under it, what steps he took to assert his rights, and whether delay or another equitable principle bars the action. The High Court is also to consider whether any invalidity could support a claim for misfeasance in public office, and whether any defamation claim can validly be pursued.
The Supreme Court made no ruling on whether a local authority could maintain the register at issue or exclude someone in Mungovan’s position. It also made no finding on liability. The judgment records that the malicious falsehood claim was abandoned during the appeal; misfeasance in public office was the only tort claim remaining. Any potential damages claim was limited by Mungovan’s counsel to the period from late September 2011 to March 2013.