Kirby v Friends First Life Assurance Company Ltd
| Jurisdiction | Ireland |
| Judge | O'Malley J.,Clarke C.J. |
| Judgment Date | 05 June 2019 |
| Neutral Citation | [2019] IESCDET 112 |
| Docket Number | 2014 No. 2632 P |
| Court | Supreme Court |
| Date | 05 June 2019 |
[2019] IESCDET 112
THE SUPREME COURT
DETERMINATION
Clarke C.J.
O'Malley J.
Irvine J.
2014 No. 2632 P
Liability – Direct appeal – Constitution – Plaintiff seeking leave to appeal directly to the Supreme Court from a decision of the High Court – Whether the constitutional criteria for a direct appeal had been met
Facts: The defendant, Friends First Life Assurance Company Ltd, repudiated a contract for income protection on the basis of non-disclosure of certain medical information. The plaintiff, Mr Kirby, applied for leave to appeal directly to the Supreme Court from the decision of the High Court finding in favour of the defendant on the question of liability. The trial judge reached her conclusions by reference to the principles laid down by the Supreme Court in Chariot Inns v Assicurazioni Generali S.P.A. [1981] I.R. 199. The applicant wished to make the case, in effect, that those principles are unduly harsh and onerous as far as proposers are concerned, are no longer in harmony with modern legal values, and require rebalancing. He proposed that the applicable test should instead focus on questions of reasonableness and honesty. The applicant challenged a number of key findings of the trial judge including her assessment of a number of evidential matters.
Held by Clarke CJ, O’Malley J and Irvine J that the constitutional criteria for a direct appeal had not been met.
Clarke CJ, O’Malley J and Irvine J held that leave to appeal would accordingly be refused.
Leave to appeal refused.
RESULT: The Court does not grant leave to the Plaintiff /Applicant to appeal to this Court directly from the High Court.
REASONS GIVEN:
ORDER SOUGHT TO BE APPEALED
| COURT: High Court |
| DATE OF JUDGMENT OR RULING: 10 th December, 2018 |
| DATE OF ORDER:17 th December, 2018 |
| DATE OF PERFECTION OF ORDER: 17 th January, 2019 |
| THE APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL WAS MADE ON 14 th February, 2019 AND WAS NOT IN TIME. |
The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to hear appeals is set out in the Constitution. As is clear from the terms of Article 34.5.3° thereof and the many determinations made by this Court since the enactment of the Thirty-third Amendment, it is necessary, in order for this Court to grant leave to appeal from a decision of the Court of Appeal, that it be established by the applicant that the decision sought to be appealed involves a matter of general public importance, or that it is otherwise necessary in the interests of justice that there be an appeal to this Court. In addition, because this is an application for leave to appeal directly from the High Court, it is also necessary that it be established that there are ‘exceptional circumstances’ warranting a direct appeal to this Court.
The general principles applied by this Court in determining whether to grant or refuse leave to appeal having regard to the criteria incorporated into...
To continue reading
Request your trial