Irish Supreme Court Ruling Will Be Of Interest To Litigation Funders

Introduction

In a decision that will be of particular interest to third party litigation funders, the Irish Supreme Court has reinforced the principle that Irish courts will only in very exceptional circumstances refuse to recognise judgments of other EU Member States under the Brussels Recast Regulation on public policy grounds.

The decision in Scully v Coucal clarifies how Irish courts should approach recognition where an EU judgment is obtained on foot of an assignment of a bare cause of action which, although valid in the Member State where the judgment was obtained, would be unlawful in Ireland because to assign a bare cause of action savours of champerty and is contrary to Irish public policy.