IELCA 8 - Salman -v- Minister for Justice Equality & Defence

• Year: 2013
• Decision Date: 22 July 2013

[2013] IELCA 8

THE HIGH COURT 2011 425 JR

BETWEEN DANA SALMAN PLAINTIFF

AND

MINISTER FOR JUSTICE EQUALITY AND DEFENCE

By Order dated 30 May 2011 the Applicant herein an Iranian national was given leave to apply

for relief by way of application for Judicial Review as set forth at paragraph D of his Statement

of Grounds of Application, namely:

“(i) An Order of Mandamus compelling the Respondent to issue a decision on the Applicant’s

application for Naturalisation;

(ii) A declaration that the Applicant is entitled to a decision on the application for

naturalisation within a reasonable period of time following receipt of all relevant

information in respect thereof;”

(iii) & (iv) Not relevant.

The application was ultimately listed for hearing on 29 November 2011. However, on the eve of

the hearing the Respondent issued a decision granting the Applicant a Certificate of

Naturalisation. The Applicant’s solicitor and Counsel were informed of this at the door of the

Court. The Minister’s decision rendered the proceedings moot and the sole matter remaining for

determination was that of the costs of the proceedings. This issue was argued before the Court

and in a reserved Judgement delivered16 December 2011, Kearns P. held for the reasons

outlined therein that if the application had proceeded before the Court the Applicant would have

succeeded on the basis that there was no evidence before the Court to substantiate the

Respondent’s case that there existed a fair system for dealing with applications for Certificates

of Naturalisation. Accordingly the costs of the proceedings, including reserved costs were

awarded to the Applicant.

The costs claimed in the Applicant’s bill of costs are very substantial. The instructions fee is

claimed at €34,750 and Senior Counsel’s brief fee is marked at €25,000.

Both solicitor and Counsel emphasise the importance of the application and the significance of

the High Court decision as factors to be considered in the assessment of their fees. Senior

Counsel, in her letter of 24 January 2012 addressed to her instructing solicitor states:

“It would be hard to underestimate the significance of the High Court decision in

terms of administrative and immigration law.”

Senior Counsel sets out the issues to be decided in the case, by reference to the Applicant’s and

the Respondent’s written legal submissions filed in the proceedings, which were summarised as

follows: