IRELAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Grainne Callanan, April McClements and Aisling Kavanagh, Matheson LLP
provision. Breach of a condition precedent means that an insurer can repudiate liability for the claim without any requirement to demonstrate prejudice. There is no requirement for a link between the breach and the damage. The consequences for breach of a bare condition are damages. In consumer contracts, conditions precedent could now be considered “continuing restrictive conditions” following the commencement of CICA. 9. Insurance Disputes 9.1 Insurance Disputes Over Coverage Insurance contracts typically contain a dispute-res- olution clause. An insurance contract may contain an arbitration clause or may stipulate another form of ADR. In a consumer contract, a consumer may make a complaint to the Financial Services and Pen- sions Ombudsman (FSPO) (see 9.7 Alternative Dis- pute Resolution (Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman)). 9.2 Insurance Disputes Over Jurisdiction and Choice of Law Choice-of-forum, venue, and applicable law clauses in (re)insurance contracts are generally recognised and enforced. If the insured is domiciled in an EU member state, the following regulations may limit these provi- sions: • Regulation (EC) 44/2001 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (the “Brussels I Regula- tion”); • Regulation (EU) 1215/2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (the “Recast Brussels Regulation”), which replaces the Brussels I Regula- tion in respect of proceedings and judgments com- menced after 10 January 2015; • Regulation (EC) 593/2008 on the law applicable to contractual obligations (the “Rome I Regulation”);
• Lugano Convention (L339, 21 December 2007) on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters; and • the Hague Choice of Court Agreements Conven- tion 2005. 9.3 Litigation Process In Ireland, the District Court deals with claims up to a monetary value of EUR15,000, the Circuit Court deals with claims up to EUR75,000 (EUR60,000 for personal injury cases), and the High Court has unlimited mon- etary jurisdiction. Insurance disputes are heard by a single judge with no jury. The Commercial Court is a specialist division of the High Court dealing exclusively with commercial dis- putes. Where the monetary value of a (counter)claim exceeds EUR1 million and the dispute is commercial in nature, either party may apply to have the dispute heard in the Commercial Court. There is no automatic right of entry; it is at the judge’s discretion and can be refused if there has been any delay. Commercial Court proceedings progress much more quickly. Generally, the time from entry into the Com- mercial Court to the allocation of a trial date rang- es from a matter of weeks to between four and six months, depending on the complexity and number of parties. Appeals from the High Court are dealt with by the Court of Appeal, except when the Supreme Court believes a case is of such public importance that it should go directly to the State’s highest court. Evidence Evidence is given orally, except in very limited circum- stances. Where a party intends to rely upon the (fac- tual or expert) oral evidence of a witness, a witness statement or expert report must be filed – unless a judge orders otherwise. Costs Typically, costs follow the event, whereby the loser pays. However, where litigation is complex, the Com- mercial Court often analyses whether the winning party has succeeded on all grounds.
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