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    27Mar, 2023
    Judges entitled to depart from personal injury guideline valuations, court told

    Judges can depart from the guidelines slashing damages for many minor personal injuries if they feel the award does not do an injury justice, lawyers for the State have told the Supreme Court.

    Eoin McCullough SC, for the State, fielded several questions on Wednesday from the seven-judge court positing hypothetical scenarios in which judges might be entitled to make a higher award than is set out in the guidelines.

    He said judges are expected to follow the guidelines, but if he or she believes these figures are “simply wrong” the Judicial Council Act of 2019 provides for a departure.

    Asked by Mr Justice Brian Murray if “mere disagreement” with a value given in the guidelines allows for departure, Mr McCullough said it does as long as other principles, such as proportionality, are observed and reasons are set out.

    A judge cannot diverge by simply “throwing up his hands”, counsel added.

    Personal injuries assessment

    Mr McCullough was making submissions on the second and final day of Bridget Delaney’s appeal in her case against the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Piab), Ireland, the Attorney General and the Judicial Council.

    The court said it was reserving its decision.

    The Dungarvan resident’s action challenges guidelines drafted by the Personal Injuries Guidelines Committee of the Judicial Council, as required by the 2019 Act. They came into force in April 2021, after they were approved by a majority of 146 members of the Judicial Council.

    At the opening of her case on Tuesday, Ms Delaney’s lawyers submitted that the guidelines interfered with the independence of the courts and her rights.

    The Judicial Council’s passing of the guidelines in March 2021 was a “legislative act cloaked in a veneer of judicial action” and amounted to an unconstitutional interference with judicial independence, her side argued.

    On Wednesday, Mr

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    23Nov, 2022
    James Flynn charged with robbery at Lordship Credit Union granted legal aid

    A man who offered over £1 million in bail sureties before he was extradited from the UK charged with the robbery during which Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe was murdered, has been granted legal aid after the Special Criminal Court heard he now has “absolutely nothing”.

    Ruling today on whether James Flynn should be granted legal aid, presiding judge Ms Justice Tara Burns said “a very odd position” had been adopted by the applicant as the court had previously heard that he had a significant business in the US and was a man who worked. “Instead we are now met with a document [a statement of means] which appears to reflect that the applicant has no assets,” she added.

    The judge said the non-jury court was “somewhat confused” by the defence application as it was referenced in the course of Mr Flynn’s bail hearing last week that “very significant sums of money” were available to him before Westminster Magistrates’ Court ordered his extradition back to Ireland earlier this year. “It is now documented that he has absolutely nothing,” she added.

    The three-judge court heard last week that when applying for bail in the UK, Mr Flynn had offered the substantial sums of £185,000 in cash and a £965,000 independent surety.

    In April of this year, Westminster Magistrates’ Court ordered Mr Flynn’s extradition back to Ireland but this was appealed to the High Court. The appeal was dismissed in July and Mr Flynn was brought back to Ireland to be formally charged with the credit union robbery.

    Mr Flynn (31), of Raven’s Glen, Newry, Northern Ireland is accused of the robbery of €7K, the property of Pat Bellew, at Lordship Credit Union in Bellurgan, Co Louth, on January 25, 2013.

    He is also accused of conspiring with Aaron Brady, Brendan Treanor

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