Access to Justice in Irish courts for poor Irish pensioners living in UK

Manchestomato

Generally, if say an Irish citizen - widowed pensioner (over 66 years of age) living in England, whose only income was the UK state pension of £145 per week, wished to recover an amount of debt less than £10,000 by way of restitution from an Irish citizen say living in Dublin, which court in Dublin should she apply to for a summons to be issued? If one cannot afford to go to a solicitor (e.g. if ones sole income is only £145 per week), is it possible to represent oneself or appoint a member of ones family as lay representative in the appropriate Irish civil court to sue for debt less than £10,000?

dats_right

You mention the figure of £10,000, I presume you mean sterling? Which begs the question in which jurisdiction does the claim arise properly arise. Is it that the money is owed in the UK but the debtor returned to Ireland? Because then it is quite possible that the correct court to pursue the claim is through the UK Courts and then possibly seek to utilise whatever enforcement remedies are available here. But be warned cross-border disputes can be quite technical and procedural, you also have to weigh up whether even with a Court Order the likelihood of enforcing it i.e. ultimately getting paid.

And on your other question, it is perfectly acceptable for a person to conduct their own case personally but it is not permitted to have some other person do so unless of course they are a lawyer.

My advice would be talk to your local Free Legal Advice Centre (www.flac.ie)
or possibly the State's Legal Aid Board (www.legalaidboard.ie) who might be able to assist.

Spike440

Back on topic:

A lay litigant may have a friend to assist them in court (known as a McKenzie friend).

While a person can represent themselves it will be difficult for such a person to draft proceedings correctly. There are solicitors who may take such a case on a "no fee no foal" basis if the case is strong enough.

Proceedings should be issued in the Circuit Court. AFAIK it should be the circuit in which the debt accrued (probably Dublin or Eastern). It is also important to write to the debtor demanding payment within say 21 days, and stating that if no payment is made proceedings will be issued and the letter will be used to fix them with costs.

dats_right

I'm sorry to hear of your experiences with both FLAC and the Legal Aid Board. Also Spike is quite correct in what they say.

It is possible to bring the proceedings yourself, but as it will be in the Circuit Court the pleadings are a little bit more complicated and formal than say the District Court. To be honest, I would not recommend this course of action and if the matter proceeded to trial and you lost, maybe because of a 'layman's' mistake in the drafting of the proceedings or some other formality well then you might be fixed with the other sides legal costs, which would include solicitors and barristers fees. Also because not resident in the jurisdiction security for costs may also become an issue (but i'll try not overly complicate matters).

My advice OP is to ring some private solicitors and try arrange a meeting with them. Becuase if they feel there is a good case and you are pursuing a good 'mark' (i.e. someone who is good for the money) well then you might be able to find one who is willing to act on the basis that he will recover his fees against the defendant when the matter is succesfully concluded. It may well take a few phone calls and some rejections, but if there is a strong case and good chance of recovering any Court Award well then I'd be surprised if you can't get a solicitor to act.

Maximilian

OP, read the charter. No legal advice can be given here.

We don't particualrly welcome defamtory comments like the one I deleted either.

1 Week ban.