Charles McGuinness v The Property Registration Authority of Ireland and Ulster Bank Ireland Designated Activity Company

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judge: Mr. Justice Murray
• Judgment Date: 10 March 2021
• Neutral Citation: [2021] IECA 65
• Docket Number: Court of Appeal Record No.: 2020/67
• Court: Court of Appeal (Ireland)
• Date: 10 March 2021

Between

Charles McGuinness

Appellant

and

The Property Registration Authority of Ireland and Ulster Bank Ireland Designated Activity Company

Respondents

[2021] IECA 65

Costello J.

Donnelly J.

Murray J.

Court of Appeal Record No.: 2020/67

High Court Record No.: 2019/16

THE COURT OF APPEAL

CIVIL

Costs – Stay – Judgment mortgages – First respondent seeking costs – Whether the order for costs ought to be stayed

Facts: The Court of Appeal (Murray J), in a judgment delivered on 5 February ([2021] IECA 25), rejected each of the arguments advanced by the appellant, Mr McGuinness, in support of his appeal against the refusal by the High Court of his application for orders directing the first respondent, the Property Registration Authority of Ireland (the PRAI), to cancel entries of judgment mortgages registered on the application of the second respondent, Ulster Bank Ireland Designated Activity Company, on properties owned by him. Murray J concluded the judgment by observing that the PRAI had been entirely successful in its defence of the appeal and that it was his provisional view that it was entitled to the costs of the appeal. Mr McGuinness delivered a submission making four requests. First, he submitted that no order for costs should be made. In this regard, he stressed: (i) that costs were awarded against him in the High Court including the cost of the procurement of an affidavit from Mr O’Shea in which hearsay averments were contained; (ii) that the PRAI could have referred the matter to the High Court but chose not to do so; (iii) that there was a delay of over 3 and a half years from his correspondence dated 21 July 2015 to the respondent until the 30 January 2019, the latter being the date of the letter he received recording an intention to refuse his application; (iv) that the second respondent did not participate in the proceedings. Second, Mr McGuiness asked that a stay be put on this order until the final determination of his application, including any final determination by the Court of Justice of the European Union (the CJEU) in relation to the matter. Third, a request was made that the order for costs be stayed until the final determination of his appeal to the Supreme Court subject to the appeal being made within 28 days from the date of perfection of any order in the Court of Appeal. Fourth, Mr McGuiness sought liberty to take up a copy of the DAR of the hearing of the appeal.

Held by Murray J that he did not believe that the matters relied upon by Mr McGuinness displaced the prima facie entitlement of the PRAI to its costs; in particular, the PRAI was not under any legal obligation to refer the matter to the High Court, and that being so could not be properly penalised by way of bearing its own costs for not adopting that course of action. Murray J ordered the costs of the appeal against Mr McGuinness. Following the decision of the Court in Allied Irish Banks v Higgins [2020] IECA 339 at para. 9, Murray J held that these would include the costs of this application. Murray J noted that the Court had made no reference to the CJEU and the issue of staying the proceedings until...