THE requirement to pay court fees before a person could have his case heard by a court was, in effect, a bar to those persons with no money, it was claimed in the High Court yesterday.
Mr Con O'Connell, an unemployed carpenter, of Hillview Estate, Tramore Road, Cork, claimed he was asked for £53 stamp duty by the Four Courts Central Office in August 1994 when he went to lodge papers in an action for damages which he was conducting himself.
Mr Brendan Grogan SC, for Mr O'Connell, said his client had applied to Mr Justice Carney for a waiver of the obligation to pay court fees. That judge decided he had no power to do so but assigned a solicitor and counsel to argue the point.
Mr Grogan said Mr O'Connell had to borrow the £53 from a relative to pay the stamp duty. He said Mr O'Connell would not have had to pay the money had he been granted free legal aid by the State, but there was no obligation on Mr O'Connell to seek legal aid; he had a right to appear in person.
Mr Justice Geoghegan said he accepted that a citizen had a right of access to the courts but asked if there was a constitutional right for a citizen to conduct his own case. Mr Grogan said there could not be an obligation to have others litigate on a person's behalf.
The legislation governing fees was the 1936 Courts of Justice Acts (Section 65) which culminated in 1989 regulations setting out court fees payable in every instance and also setting out the parties and situations which were exempted from fees.
Mr Justice Geoghegan reserved judgment on an application by Mr O'Connell for a declaration that Section 65 of the 1936 Act discriminated against him. The mandatory element of having to pay fees prevented him from exercising his constitutional rights, Mr O'Connell claimed.
Mr O'Connell said he won his claim for damages in the High Court in 1995 and recovered his costs. Mr Brian Dempsey SC, for the State, said Mr O'Connell had not, in the event, been denied access to the courts; he was able to pay the £53; had been entitled to claim legal aid, which provided for payment of stamp duty, but chose not to do so; and was fully reimbursed when he got his costs.
The duty to revise the regulations lay with the Oireachtas, said Mr Dempsey.