High Court or Circuit Court?

[Brendan Burgess]

I had always assumed that one would have to go to the High Court to progress your claim, but someone asked me why not go to the Circuit Court.

1) they can award between €15k and €75k
2) They can make an order to put a person back on a tracker

If you have lost your home and you want €500k, clearly you would need to go to the High Court.

But the vast majority of cases would be well within the Circuit Court limits.

1) I presume that the Circuit Court would be a precedent for other cases?
2) But perhaps whichever side lost in the Circuit Court would have to appeal to the High Court. But they can appeal only on a point of law. So if the Circuit Court judge says "AIB did have a prevailing rate and it was 1.5%" then that could not be overturned.

Brendan

 

[Shay75]

Agreed. There are obvious benefits for taking the case in the Circuit Court, to include it would be dealt with quicker and it would be cheaper to run the case in the Circuit Court, as Senior Counsel generally are not engaged in that jurisdiction.

 

[Johnno75]

1) I presume that the Circuit Court would be a precedent for other cases?

Brendan.

Cases decided in the Circuit Court, so far as I am aware, have limited precedent value and then only to the extent that any Circuit Court decisions are actually known by legal practitioners.

The crucial difference between the High Court and Circuit Court is that High Court judgements are almost always written and published. Not so in the Circuit Court - many Circuit Court judges issue “ex tempore” decisions - ie oral judgements, which tend not to be as thorough and as reasoned as High Court judgements.

 

[Shay75]

Brendan.

Cases decided in the Circuit Court, so far as I am aware, have limited precedent value and then only to the extent that any Circuit Court decisions are actually known by legal practitioners.

Circuit Court rulings would hold with other cases in the Circuit Court. They would not be binding in the High Court, as it is a higher jurisdiction and has no obligation to hold with the lower Court (Circuit in this case).

The crucial difference between the High Court and Circuit Court is that High Court judgements are almost always written and published. Not so in the Circuit Court - many Circuit Court judges issue “ex tempore” decisions - ie oral judgements, which tend not to be as thorough and as reasoned as High Court judgements.

You can ask the judge in the Circuit Court for a written ruling.

 

[AnthonyJoyce&Co]

Based on our own experience of dealing with over 200 Tracker Mortgage related cases, we note the following when deciding which Court to proceed in:-

- Each case will turn on its own facts and therefore the value of each case may vary considerably.
- It will depend on an individual’s circumstances. A “victim impact statement” from the individual and a detailed review of the data would reveal whether the case may achieve €75,000 or higher.
- When a case is borderline between Circuit and High, it is easier to proceed to the High Court and remit it to the Circuit Court later.
- Both Circuit and High Courts set precedents but obviously a High Court decision would set a precedent for the Circuit and High Court.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

Thanks Anthony

Our outline plan is to take a case on behalf of the full cohort of 5,600 to establish the principles involved -
1) Was there a breach of contract?
2) If so was there a prevailing rate of 1.5% in existence.

If a Circuit Court judge upholds our arguments, then I would expect AIB to appeal it to the High Court anyway. And if we lost a case in the Circuit Court, we would appeal it to the High Court.

So we have to go to the High Court.

Assuming we win, I would expect the High Court to order
A) A refund of the difference between the interest paid and the interest that would have been paid at 1.5%
B) To put the borrower on a tracker from now on until the end of the term
C) Compensation if appropriate

I would expect the Central Bank to direct AIB to roll out any High Court ruling to all 5,600 borrowers.

If the Central Bank did not order AIB to implement it, then individuals could take their own cases to the Circuit Court safe in the knowledge that the High Court decision would act as precedent and the only issue to argue over would be the level of compensation.

Brendan

 

[Megafan]

The above is a very significant post Brendan. It might be flying under the radar here today.

 

[Johnno75]

When a case is borderline between Circuit and High, it is easier to proceed to the High Court and remit it to the Circuit Court later.

This may very well be, but you now need to be extremely careful arising from the the Court of Appeal Decision in O'Malley v McCabe and the risk of a Costs Differential Order ultimately being made against your client if you bring the case in the wrong court (i.e you bring your case in the High Court but are awarded an amount within the Circuit Court's monetary jurisdiction, namely under €75,000).