# Circuit Court - max value of case



## Lorz (28 Mar 2006)

Hope someone can help.  I believe there is a max value of payouts in cases heard in Circuit Court.  Is this true and what is the max. value?

Thanks,
Lorz


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## ClubMan (28 Mar 2006)

Is [broken link removed] of any use?


> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]*Civil business
> 
> * The civil jurisdiction of the Circuit Court is a limited one unless all parties to an action consent, in which event the jurisdiction is unlimited. The limit of the Court's jurisdiction relates mainly to actions where the claim does not exceed *€38,092* and the rateable valuation of land does not exceed *€252.95
> *


*
*[/FONT]


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## Lorz (28 Mar 2006)

Thanks Clubman - but it isn't entirely clear to me!   If both parties agree can the award be greater than ~€38k?  What is the "rateable valuation of the land"? 

Thanks again!


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## Vanilla (28 Mar 2006)

The circuit court has a limited jurisdiction. The high court is unlimited. But if both parties to an action agree, a case can be decided in the circuit court with unlimited jurisdiction. This would be to limit the costs involved, since necessarily high court costs are higher. 

The rateable valuation only applies where a case involves land. If a case involves land, the rateable valuation of the land must be less than the threshold amount. The rateable valuation of land is set by the valuation office, so to ascertain the rateable valuation of any given piece of land you should obtain a certificate of rateable valuation from your local council or the valuation office.


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## Lorz (29 Mar 2006)

Thanks Vanilla for your reply.  There is (as you have pointed out) a considerable difference between costs in Circuit court and High court.  Our solicitor has informed us that because we are seeking out of pocket expenses, our case can go before the circuit court.  The particular individual we are taking the case against is "well known" to 2 out of the 3 presiding judges and the other judge is mostly sitting over family law matters currently.


On a related note, when seeking an injunction can one party claim ill health to delay the process?


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## Vanilla (29 Mar 2006)

> On a related note, when seeking an injunction can one party claim ill health to delay the process?


 
Yes, its possible.


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## Lorz (29 Mar 2006)

Thanks Vanilla for all your help with this - much appreciated.


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## casca (29 Mar 2006)

"If both parties agree can the award be greater than ~€38k? "

Do you mean that one party has agreed to pay in excess of €35k.  Why not settle out of court


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## Lorz (30 Mar 2006)

Unfortunately not - the other party certainly hasn't agreed to pay or adhere to the conditions of the contract.  Incidentally if he did agree to the conditions of the contract, we wouldn't be seeking out of pocket expenses.


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