The High Court has ruled that the Dublin Circuit Family Court has jurisdiction to hear a divorce case after finding that the respondent carried on his occupation in Dublin. It reversed a Circuit Family Court decision that had struck out the proceedings following a jurisdiction objection.
The applicant’s case was that the respondent worked as a solicitor in Dublin. In his affidavit, he confirmed occasional tutoring for the Law Society’s Law School. The judge noted that the tutoring generated about €2,000 a year and was largely remote during the Covid period. The court also considered the respondent’s online professional profile, which described work in commercial litigation and appearances in the Superior Courts and the Commercial Court.
Applying section 38(3) of the Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996, the judge said the provision allowed a Circuit Family Court judge to exercise jurisdiction where a party carried on a business, profession or occupation in that circuit. The court was not deciding the case on ordinary residence. It found that the respondent worked in Dublin as a solicitor, including in the Superior Courts and Commercial Court, and as a tutor.
The judge acknowledged concerns that a minor connection could be used for forum shopping, but said that was not the situation before the court. The decision reverses the Circuit Family Court’s October 2021 ruling on jurisdiction. The court found that the Dublin Circuit could hear the Family Law Civil Bill, issued on 23 July 2021. It did not decide the divorce itself.
The High Court separately struck out the applicant’s High Court proceedings, with no further order, and also struck out the respondent’s motion seeking to strike those proceedings out as duplicative. It made no order as to costs in the High Court proceedings. For the jurisdiction appeal, it ordered the respondent to pay 75% of the costs once adjudicated. It refused the respondent’s application to stay payment until the divorce proceedings conclude; liability arises when the cost adjudication is finalised.