Controversial Constitutional Court Ruling On Advance Costs Orders

The Constitutional Court has ruled that a claimant's rights to judicial protection and to a fair trial were infringed by an order to pay advance costs of €792,850.

The basis for the decision was that:

• a party's right to a court proceeding, although not absolute, must be effective and could not either be limited by the court or reduced in a way which affected the subject of the litigation;
• an order to pay €792,850 in advance costs (in addition to the maximum court fee) was a disproportionate and arbitrary restriction on the Claimant's right to a court proceeding, because this was enough to pay its legal fees 30 times over; 
• the District Court had failed to examine the claimant's means to pay this amount of advance costs.