By Ruth Mercer
The Supreme Court has ruled that the Irish High Court can hear an insurance dispute arising from the 1992 fire at the United Meat Packers plant in Ballaghaderreen, Co Roscommon, where meat allegedly worth £22 million was destroyed.
The meat had been supplied by the Minister for Agriculture in his role as intervention agent for the European Communities. The Minister claims that Alte Leipziger was bound by insurance cover evidenced by a cover note dated 28 October 1991.
Alte Leipziger disputed Irish jurisdiction. It relied on a clause incorporated from standard French insurance conditions which gave exclusive jurisdiction to the Tribunal de Commerce in Paris. The High Court accepted that the jurisdiction clause formed part of the insurance arrangements but held that European rules governing insurance disputes nevertheless allowed the Minister's proceedings to continue in Ireland.
The insurer appealed that jurisdiction ruling to the Supreme Court.
Chief Justice Ronan Keane said the relevant Brussels Convention provisions permitted agreed jurisdiction clauses for certain large transport risks, including specified risks involving goods carried by sea or air. The evidence, however, showed that the Minister's cover was principally for storage.
The cover note itself distinguished storage insurance from transport insurance and specifically recorded that, for the Department of Agriculture policy, there was “little transport with a lot of storage”. The Supreme Court found no evidence that the Minister had sought marine or air transport cover. Any transport element was minor compared with the storage risk.
The court therefore held that the special Convention provisions relied upon by Alte Leipziger did not remove the Irish court's jurisdiction. It also declined to refer the issue to the European Court of Justice, finding the applicable law sufficiently clear.
The insurer's appeal was dismissed and the High Court order affirmed. The separate question of whether Alte Leipziger is actually liable for the fire loss remains unresolved by this judgment.