The High Court has dismissed James Kenny’s application to review the taxation of costs in three cases arising from his litigation over planning permission for Trinity Hall, Dartry. It also refused his request to refer the issue to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Kenny, who represented himself, argued that Article 10a of the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive required the costs charged against him to be limited to amounts that were “not prohibitively expensive”. He had raised that argument before the Taxing Master, who taxed the costs under the usual rules. Trinity College Dublin and Dublin City Council opposed the review.
The costs orders came from three proceedings. The first followed the dismissal of a fraud case against Trinity College; the second followed Kenny’s unsuccessful appeal concerning Dublin City Council’s decision on Trinity College’s compliance with planning permission; and the third arose from his application to stop Trinity College continuing well-charging proceedings. The judgment records that the first two proceedings began before 25 June 2005, the deadline for Ireland to implement the Directive. The third costs order was made in July 2009.
Mr Justice Ryan held that earlier courts had already addressed whether the Directive or Aarhus Convention applied when making the costs orders. The Taxing Master could not decide otherwise during taxation. The judge also concluded that neither the Convention nor the Directive had force in Irish law before 25 June 2005, and that the three cases were not, in substance, about environmental access to justice.
A review of taxation required Kenny to show both error by the Taxing Master and injustice. The judge noted there was no evidence that the amounts allowed were excessive. Although a successful challenge might have required the matter to return to the Taxing Master for a new hearing, the court found no basis to uphold the objections.
The application was dismissed. The court made no reference to the EU court.