Merriman v Egan

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Court: High Court
• Judge: Mr Justice Max Barrett
• Judgment Date: 17 April 2018
• Neutral Citation: [2018] IEHC 197
• Docket Number: 2017 No. 315 CA
• Date: 17 April 2018

Between:

WILLIAM MERRIMAN

Plaintiff

– and –

DAVID EGAN

and

THE MOTOR INSURERS BUREAU OF IRELAND

Defendants

[2018] IEHC 197

Barrett J.

2017 No. 315 CA

THE HIGH COURT

Practice & Procedure – O.12, r. 1 of the Circuit Court Rules – Renewal of summons – Renewal period – Service to defendants – Personal injury summons – Balance of justice – Prejudice to defendants.

Facts: The plaintiff filed an appeal against the order of the Circuit Court for refusing to further renew the summons, on the basis that the application for the further renewal was not filed within the stipulated statutory period. The plaintiff contended that he had faced difficulty in serving the defendants.

Mr. Justice Max Barrett reversed the order of the Circuit Court. The Court ordered the renewal of the summons for six months from the date of delivery of the within judgment. The Court held that granting of the renewal of summons to the plaintiff would not do any injustice to the defendants, as the defendants already knew from the beginning about the plaintiff's intention to sue them.

JUDGMENT of Mr Justice Max Barrett delivered on 17th April, 2018.

1 These are personal injury proceedings in which the Circuit Court (1) ordered a renewal of the summons on 29th March, 2017, for a period of six months, (2) on 3rd November, 2017, refused a further renewal of the summons, on the basis that the application for the further renewal was not made within the period of the initial six-month renewal period. The events at the heart of the personal injury proceedings are claimed to have occurred on 7th September, 2013. So were new personal injury proceedings to be commenced at this time, they would be out of time. The cause for the plaintiff's seeking a repeated renewal of the summons is that, despite considerable efforts being made, great difficulty has been encountered in serving the defendant.

2 Order 12, rule 1 of the Circuit Court Rules deals with the renewal of the civil bills. It provides as follows:

'No Civil Bill shall be in force for more than twelve months from the day of the date thereof, including the day of such date; but if any defendant therein named shall not have been served therewith, the plaintiff may apply before the expiration of twelve months to the County Registrar for the County in which the Civil Bill was issued for leave to renew the Civil Bill. After the expiration of twelve months, an application to extend time for leave to renew the Civil Bill shall be made to the court. The court or the County Registrar, as the case may be, if satisfied that reasonable efforts have been made to serve the defendant, or for other good reason, may order that the Civil Bill be renewed for six months from the date of such renewal inclusive, and so from time to time during the currency of the renewed Civil Bill...'.

[Emphasis added].

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