Norma Mitchell v The Defence Council and Secretary of State for Defence
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Treacy LJ |
| Judgment Date | 11 December 2023 |
| Neutral Citation | [2023] NICA 82 |
| Date | 11 December 2023 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Northern Ireland) |
1
Neutral Citation No: [2023] NICA 82
Judgment: approved by the court for handing down
(subject to editorial corrections)*
Ref: TRE12349
ICOS No: 18/079171
Delivered: 11/12/2023
IN HIS MAJESTY’S COURT OF APPEAL IN NORTHERN IRELAND
___________
NORMA MITCHELL
Plaintiff/Appellant
v
THE DEFENCE COUNCIL
Defendant/Respondent
and
SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DEFENCE
Defendant/Respondent
___________
Before: Treacy LJ and Huddleston J
__________
Nick Hanna KC with Donal Sayers KC (instructed by the Northern Ireland Human Rights
Commission) for the Plaintiff/Appellant
Dr Tony McGleenan KC with Mr Michael Egan (instructed by the Crown Solicitor’s
Office) for the Defendants/Respondents
___________
TREACY LJ (delivering the judgment of the court)
Introduction
[1] The appellant appeals against the decision of McAlinden J in which he held
that her private law proceedings commenced by writ were an abuse of process, in
breach of the exclusivity principle enunciated by the House of Lords in O’Reilly v
Mackman [1983] 2 AC 237, and that her public law challenge ought to be bought by
way of judicial review.
[2] Having considered the detailed written and oral submissions we indicated at
the conclusion of the hearing our finding that the primary focus or the dominant
issue inherent in the plaintiff’s claim was a public law challenge which should have
been brought by way of judicial review. Accordingly, we refused leave, dismissed
the appeal, affirmed the order of the court below, ordered the appellant to pay the
respondents costs, gave brief reasons and reserved our written judgment.
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