A seven-judge Supreme Court is to hear the appeal by Independent TD Joan Collins against the rejection of her challenge to the Minister for Finance’s decision to issue €31billion in promissory notes in favour of financial institutions including Anglo Irish Bank.
The appeal, against the dismissal by a three-judge High Court in November 2013 of the TD’s challenge, is due to open on Thursday.
The High Court, copmrising Mr Justice Peter Kelly, Ms Justice Mary Finlay Geoghegan and Mr Justice Gerard Hogan, had ruled the promissory notes were validly issued under a law which was constitutional.
After that judgment, the State said it would not seek the substantial costs of the High Court hearing against Ms Collins if she did not appeal. When she made clear she would appeal, the State sought its costs against her.
In February 2014, the High Court refused the State’s costs application and ordered the State to pay 75 per cent of the substantial legal costs incurred by the TD. She would have to pay the remaining 25 per cent herself, it said.
The case raised “exceptional” issues affecting the operation of the State’s finances, many of which had never been previously considered, Mr Justice Kelly said when giving the three judge court’s ruling.
It was in the public interest the constitutionality of the “far-reaching” legislation under which the promissory notes were issued should be judicially determined, the judge said.
The fact Ms Collins had exercised her constitutional right to appeal was “an entirely neutral factor” in this case, he added.
While there might be other cases where further continuation of litigation might be oppressive and exercise of a right to appeal might be relevant to costs issues, this was not such a case.
The judge said a critical issue raised by Ms Collins was whether the concept of appropriation of public monies should be subject to a set limit. Had that been found to be correct, it would have affected budgetary allocation in “a far-reaching manner”.
