Communicated on 16 December 2020 Published on 11 January 2021

FIFTH SECTION

Application no. 35537/19 John O ’ CONNELL against Ireland lodged on 25 June 2019

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

The applicant is a block-layer who claims he was wrongfully excluded from membership of the Building and Allied Trades Union ( ‘ the Union ’ ) and blacklisted by employers due to the actions of the Union. He issued proceedings in the High Court against the Union and three of its officials on 16 October 2002. A statement of claim was delivered on 19 February 2004. The High Court hearing took place over nine days in 2014 and a written judgment was delivered on 11 July 2014. Both parties appealed to the Supreme Court. Their appeals were transferred to the newly-established Court of Appeal on 30 October 2014. The appeals were heard on 5 November 2015 and judgment delivered on 17 November 2016. The Court of Appeal remitted the matter to the High Court for assessment of the applicant ’ s damages. The High Court hearing took place over four days in April and June 2018 and a decision was delivered on 21 June 2018. The applicant appealed to the Court of Appeal. His appeal is listed for hearing before the Court of Appeal on 19 January 2021.

The applicant complains that the period of 18 years and 3 months from the start of the proceedings to the next hearing date is incompatible with the “reasonable time” requirement of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention.

QUESTION TO THE PARTIES

Was the length of the civil proceedings in the present case in breach of the “reasonable time” requirement of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention?

What steps were taken by the applicant to expedite the proceedings, in particular between the issue of his plenary summons on 16 October 2002 and the High Court hearing in 2014, between the remittal of proceedings to the High Court in 2016 and the second High Court hearing in 2018 and after the delivery of the second High Court decision on 21 June 2018?

Does the applicant have at his disposal an effective domestic remedy for his complaint under Article 6 § 1, as required by Article 13 of the Convention, having regard to the decision of this Court in Keaney v. Ireland , no. 72060/17, 30 April 2020 and the recent decision of the Court of Appeal in O ’ Callaghan v. Ireland and the Attorney General [2020] IECA 180?