LAWYERS FOR former judge Brian Curtin are seeking legal fees of up to €1.9 million from the Oireachtas following his two-year battle to stop impeachment proceedings against him.
The costs of Mr Curtin’s legal team, which included former attorney general John Rogers SC, are to be met by the State.
However, at a sitting before the High Court Taxing Master yesterday, there was a dispute over whether the Taxing Master had the authority to decide on the scale of the award.
The size of costs sought were not disclosed in court, although it is understood that the bill submitted by Mr Curtin’s legal team is about €1.9 million. Legal costs for the Houses of the Oireachtas are understood to be in the region of €1 million.
The Government took the unprecedented step of launching impeachment proceedings against the judge in June 2004 after charges of possession of child pornography were dismissed. These charges were dismissed after it emerged that detectives had raided his Tralee home using a warrant that was a day out of date.
Denis McDonald SC, for Mr Curtin, said the Oireachtas committee investigating Mr Curtin’s behaviour had agreed to pay the judge’s costs as early as April 2006. However, he said it was “quite extraordinary” that four years later the Houses of the Oireachtas should now seek to object to the jurisdiction of the Taxing Master in awarding costs.
Mr McDonald said the position adopted by the Houses of the Oireachtas also ignored a ruling from the Supreme Court in April 2006 which stated that Mr Curtin was entitled to legal costs.
Mr Curtin’s legal team was constitutionally entitled to legal fees, Mr McDonald said, and the only alternative was that the matter would be “left in limbo”.
Counsel for the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission, Felix McEnroy SC, said there was no statutory basis for the legal bill to be decided upon by the Taxing Master.
He said the obligation was on Mr Curtin’s legal team to establish this jurisdiction, but it was “clear as daylight” it had failed. Mr McEnroy said it was possible to interpret their approach to seeking costs in the case as “keeping going until you’re stopped”.
“In the absence of a basis to establish jurisdiction, I would ask you to decline and not to engage in this process,” Mr McEnroy said.
Taxing Master James Flynn adjourned the case yesterday to consider the submissions.
Mr Curtin’s legal bill was run up during his attempts to challenge the constitutionality of an Oireachtas committee set up to investigate him. However, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the impeachment process to continue.
In November 2006 – just before the committee was due to begin its inquiry – Mr Curtin resigned from the Circuit Court on the grounds of ill health. Following his resignation, Mr Curtin received a lump sum of €57,447 plus an annual pension of €19,149.