Solicitor given leave to challenge tribunal

A solicitor has secured leave from the High Court to bring a judicial review challenge to the Mahon tribunal's decision to proceed with inquiring into land deals in which he was allegedly involved.

Mr John Caldwell claims the tribunal is inquiring into matters outside its terms of reference and had acted in breach of natural and constitutional justice when it refused to hear submissions from his lawyers as to why it should not proceed with those hearings.

The hearings into deals at Coolamber, Lucan, are continuing. While granting leave yesterday to Mr Declan McGrath, for Mr Caldwell, to seek orders quashing the tribunal's refusal to hear the submissions, Mr Justice McKechnie did not grant leave to seek interim orders restraining those hearings.

He did grant leave to Mr Caldwell to seek declarations that the decision to hold the hearings was made in excess of jurisdiction.

Mr Caldwell, St John's, Isle of Man, claims the tribunal chairman, Judge Alan Mahon, acted unlawfully in deciding to embark on public hearings in relation to phases two to eight of the Carrickmines module without giving him the opportunity to make submissions as to whether the tribunal should hold such hearings.

When refusing to hear oral submissions from Mr Ian Finlay SC, for Mr Caldwell, on November 25th and 26th and on December 8th last, Judge Mahon said that in deciding to proceed with the hearings, the tribunal had information not available to other parties. If he heard submissions from Mr Finlay, he would have to hear submissions from others.

Earlier, Mr McGrath said the tribunal had begun an investigation last January into allegations of corruption in relation to who owned certain lands at Carrickmines. That investigation concluded late last month and Mr Caldwell had given detailed evidence. He was a witness at the tribunal and was not the subject of any allegations of impropriety. He had been assisting the tribunal for three years and if the next phases of the Carrickmines module proceeded, he was facing another two to three years of involvement with the tribunal.