The Commercial Court has refused permission to a creditor to
enforce a judgment from 2010, due to delay.
Cabot Financial (Ireland) Ltd ("Cabot") sought an
order under Order 42, Rule 24 of the Rules of the Superior Courts
for leave to issue execution against a defendant on foot of a
judgment obtained by ACC Bank plc in November 2010 in the sum of
€271,637.31.
Such an application is required where a creditor wishes to
enforce a judgment which is more than six years old.
The defendant, Mr. O'Meachair, argued that as a result of
the time lapse, he had been led to believe that the judgment would
not be enforced.
The court cited the Supreme Court judgment in Smyth v Tunney
[2004] in which it was stated that the court has discretion to
allow a judgment issued more than six years previously to be
enforced, but that to engage this discretion, the applicant has an
obligation to provide some explanation for the lapse of time. The
Supreme Court stated:
