ADR: Introduction Of Third-Party Funding In Ireland

Under Irish law, save for limited exceptions, third-party litigation funding is unlawful as it is contrary to the rules of maintenance and champerty.

There have been calls from the judiciary for legislative change to overhaul the rules, partly because they potentially impede constitutionally protected rights on access to justice.

Appetite for change

In Persona Digital Telephony Ltd v Minister for Public Enterprise [2017] IESC 27, the first Irish case on professional third-party litigation funding, the then Chief Justice, Susan Denham, acknowledged that with Ireland being an international trading State, and with issues arising on international arbitrations, it might be appropriate to have a modern law on champerty and the third-party funding of litigation. The courts have consistently reiterated since that any changes are more properly matters for the Irish legislators rather than the courts (see SPV Osus Ltd v HSBC Institutional Trust Services (Ire) Ltd [2018]