McGuinness v Property Registration Authority
| Jurisdiction | Ireland |
| Judge | Dunne J.,O’Donnell J. |
| Judgment Date | 21 October 2019 |
| Neutral Citation | [2019] IESCDET 235 |
| Date | 21 October 2019 |
| Court | Supreme Court |
| Docket Number | Supreme Court record no: S:AP:IE:2019:000049 Court of Appeal record no: A:AP:IE:2017:000283 High Court record no: 2016 No. CT 10 |
[2019] IESCDET 235
AN CHÚIRT UACHTARACH
THE SUPREME COURT
DETERMINATION
O’Donnell J.
Dunne J.
Charleton J.
Supreme Court record no: S:AP:IE:2019:000049
Court of Appeal record no: A:AP:IE:2017:000283
High Court record no: 2016 No. CT 10
IN THE MATTER OF SECTION 19(1) OF THE REGISTRATION OF TITLE ACT, 1964; AND
IN THE MATTER OF RULE 159(9) OF THE LAND REGISTRATION RULES 2012; AND
IN THE MATTER OF ORDER 96 OF THE RULES OF THE SUPERIOR COURTS; AND
IN THE MATTER OF FOLIOS CN31670F AND CN32247F
AND
RESULT: The Court does not grant leave to the Applicant to appeal to this Court from the Court of Appeal
| COURT: Court of Appeal |
| DATE OF JUDGMENT OR RULING: 22nd February, 2019 |
| DATE OF ORDER: 26th February, 2019 |
| DATE OF PERFECTION OF ORDER: 28th February, 2019 |
| THE APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL WAS MADE ON 19th March, 2019 AND WAS IN TIME. |
This determination concerns a decision of the Court of Appeal of 22 February 2019 ( [2019] IECA 44) which upheld a decision of the High Court handed down on 22 May 2017. While there are three respondents, it would only appear to be an application against the Property Registration Authority. Other respondents, on the papers, appear to have been notified. In any event, the merits of a potential appeal is what the Court is concerned with.
This case involves a challenge on the part of the applicant to the refusal of the first named respondent to permit him to inspect and obtain a copy of of Instrument Number D2013LR064719M and Instrument Number D2013LR053255M, relating to properties the applicant had previously owned, in accordance with Rule 159 in part 5 of the Land Registration Rule, ( SI No 483 of 2012). The background involves the sale of land pursuant to contract, property which the applicant once had in his ownership, it seems. This section states, in part, that
(1) The registered owner of property and any person authorised by such owner, or by an order of the court or by these Rules, but no other person, may inspect a document filed in the Registry on a dealing or transaction with the property of the owner.
(8) Any person entitled to inspect a document filed in the Registry may obtain a copy of it.
(9) The Authority may, in special circumstances and on such terms as it shall think fit, permit a person to inspect or obtain a copy of, a document filed in the Registry.
The applicant argued that special circumstances, pursuant to section 9, allowed him to inspect the documents and obtain a copy thereof. In claiming that the applicant's situation qualified as ‘special circumstances’, the sole submission he made in this regard in his applications for inspection was that “I was one of the registered owners of [the folio] when the application to transfer was lodged.” When asked for a further explanation, reference was made in a letter dated 13 March 2015 to a “criminal investigation surrounding the mortgage entered in the register at item number 3 at Part 3 of [the two folios].” The Property Registration Authority did not accept this as a special circumstance and the applicant initiated proceedings in the High Court pursuant to section 19(1) of the Registration of Title Act 1964.
In the Court of Appeal, Peart J disagreed with some of the findings of Abbott J in the High Court, notably in relation to the bona...
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