The High Court dismissed Bus Átha Cliath’s appeal against a Circuit Court order removing the Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) as a defendant in proceedings brought by Mary Byrne after she was allegedly injured on a bus.
The judgment, perfected by Mr Justice O’Leary on 2 February 2005, said the appeal turned on whether Bus Átha Cliath could insist that MIBI remain in the case after the plaintiff accepted the Circuit Court decision. The court held that, without an issue between the defendants, one defendant could not resist the removal of a co-defendant where the application was supported or accepted by the plaintiff.
Byrne had initially sued Bus Átha Cliath and MIBI. The bureau was joined on the allegation that an untraced motorist was wholly or partly responsible for the accident. MIBI applied to be removed, relying on the agreement under which it acts as insurer of last resort. Judge Michael White of the Dublin Circuit Court granted that application.
Byrne did not appeal the order. Instead, she began separate proceedings against MIBI, while the original case continued against Bus Átha Cliath alone. The High Court said both sets of proceedings could remain extant. It noted that Byrne could have appealed the Circuit Court order, which would have required the court to consider the European law arguments, but had effectively accepted that decision.
Bus Átha Cliath argued that the agreement’s restriction on suing the alleged wrongdoer and MIBI in the same proceedings conflicted with European directives on redress for uninsured motorists. The High Court said that issue was not relevant to the appeal it had to decide. It also noted that no notice of indemnity or contribution had been served between the defendants, and said such a notice would be worthless given the nature of the MIBI agreement.
The dismissal decided only that Bus Átha Cliath could not maintain this appeal in the circumstances. The court did not determine whether the European directives applied or resolve the underlying injury allegations.