Supreme Court of Ireland Decisions

1. On the 12th July, 1983, the above named Eileen O’Keefe (then Bohane) married one Denis O’Keefe at Castlehaven, County Cork. In matrimonial proceedings entitled “The High Court 1986 No 5M between Denis O’Keefe Petitioner and Eileen O’Keefe Respondent” the Petitioner sought a decree of nullity on the grounds that the Respondent at the date of marriage suffered from a personality disorder of such a degree that she lacked the capacity to form and sustain a normal marital relationship with the Petitioner. By order dated the 15th day of October, 1986, the Master of the High Court determined the questions to be tried and ordered that Dr Patricia Casey, the above named Defendant and the Respondent to this appeal be and was thereby appointed to carry out a psychiatric examination of Mrs O’Keefe and report in writing to the Court thereon by registered post in a sealed envelope addressed to the Master of the High Court. Dr Casey reported to the High Court on the 14th of January, 1987, and furnished an addendum to that report under cover of a letter dated the 29th day of January, 1987. The petition was at hearing in the High Court before Blayney J for six days in June of 1987. In the course of the hearing Dr Casey gave evidence and she was cross-examined at some length by Ms Mary Robinson, SC, Counsel on behalf of Mrs O’Keefe. Dr Casey was examined in relation to her opinion and the matters of fact on which it was based. In addition the medical opinions of Drs Murphy, O’Sullivan, Kellegher and Morgan were all put to her in the course of her cross-examination.

2. In his judgment Mr Justice Blayney analysed the expert opinions of the various doctors who gave evidence before him. He accepted the contention that information of circumstances and surrounding facts ascertained by the doctors were material to the opinions which they expressed. He concluded that the marriage of the Petitioner and the Respondent was null and void by reason ofa personality disorder of Mrs O’Keefe. A significant symptom of the disorder was an aptness to tell lies about matters of no direct importance. It was, therefore, of importance, as the learned Judge recognised, for the doctors in reaching their expert opinion to make a judgment as to whether or not the Respondent had that propensity. The learned Judge reviewed the inquiries which the doctors had made in that respect and in addition went on to express his own view in the following terms:-

3. In the circumstances the learned Judge made the decree of nullity. From that decree Mrs O’Keefe appealed to the Supreme Court and her appeal was dismissed on the 24th of July, 1990.

4. The proceedings herein were instituted by plenary summons issued on the 4th day of November, 1992. By notice of motion dated the 25th day of November, 1996, the thirdly named Defendant, Dr Casey, sought an order dismissing the Plaintiff’s action as against her for want of prosecution and on the ground that the proceedings did not in any event disclose a cause of action against her. The matter was adjourned from time to time and ultimately heard by Mr Justice O’Sullivan on the 24th day of June, 1998. In the meantime a statement of claim had been delivered in November, 1997. The first and secondly named defendants in the proceedings are the solicitor and barrister who were, or had been, instructed to conduct the appeal in the matrimonial proceedings and against whom negligence in that regard was alleged by the Plaintiff. Against Dr Casey it was contended that she was negligent in failing to conduct a careful and thorough psychiatric examination: in failing to confirm with the Plaintiff adequately or at all facts disclosed to her by others in the course of the assessment and by placing reliance in reaching her conclusions upon inaccurate and incorrect information. The fourthly and fifthly named Defendants were sued as employers of Dr Casey.

5. On the motion to strike out, Mr Justice O’Sullivan had the benefit of written submissions and argument by Counsel on behalf of both Mrs O’Keefe and Dr Casey. The learned Judge acceded to the application on behalf of Dr Casey and made an order striking out such parts of the statement of claim as asserted a cause of action against her. He did so, as he explained, on the basis of the inherent jurisdiction of the Court to dismiss proceedings which disclosed no reasonable cause of action.

6. Mrs O’Keefe then sought to appeal the judgment and order of Mr Justice O’Sullivan. At that stage she did not retain a solicitor or counsel. This may explain why the notice of appeal and other documentation relating to it is very confusing in its terms and perhaps misconceived in its purpose. Mrs O’Keefe herself made numerous applications to the Supreme Court. One of her concerns was to obtain liberty to introduce new evidence for the purpose of the appeal. She appears to have been convinced that it was essential to adduce evidence which would support her contention that Dr Casey was incorrect or mistaken in the evidence of fact which formed the basis of her medical opinion. Mrs O’Keefe believed that she would advance her cause if she could produce evidence showing that Dr Casey had not made adequate inquiries on which to base her conclusions. In the result Mrs O’Keefe appears to have spent a great deal of time conducting inquiries and investigations with persons who did or could have provided evidence in relation to her personality or character. This was done notwithstanding the fact that it was clearly explained by Mr Justice O’Sullivan in his judgment that (applying the decision of Kelly J in Ennis .v. Butterly [1996] 1 IR 426), in dealing with the motion, he was bound to assume

7. Accordingly as the facts were assumed in favour of Mrs O’Keefe there was no need for the purposes of the hearing in the High Court, or any appeal from it, to adduce evidence in support of her contention.

8. Judges presiding in the Supreme Court to which applications were made by Mrs O’Keefe encouraged her to obtain professional assistance. In particular it was pointed out that difficult questions of law could arise on the question whether an expert or other witness was immune from proceedings in relation to evidence given by him or her in the course, or for the purposes, of legal proceedings. Subsequently Counsel appeared in the Supreme Court and, after some discussions had taken place, informed the Court that he had received irrevocable instructions from his solicitor to argue the issue of witness immunity. This was confirmed by Mrs O’Keefe in open Court. That issue was then remitted by consent to Mr Justice O’Sullivan for determination by him. He resolved the issue in favour of Dr Casey and from that decision Mrs O’Keefe has once again sought to initiate an appeal to this Court in the terms of a very informal document received by the Office of the Supreme Court on the 15th February, 2001. Her first ground of appeal was that, apparently notwithstanding the irrevocable instructions which she had given to them, she had, she maintained, dismissed her solicitor and counsel prior to the renewed hearing of the application by Mr Justice O’Sullivan. Whether or not she had done so it is not possible for this Court to resolve. What can be said is that the issue of law remitted to Mr Justice O’Sullivan was dealt with fully by him: that he had the benefit of written submissions on behalf of Mrs O’Keefe and Counsel did in fact appear before him purporting to act on behalf of Mrs O’Keefe, presumably with the understanding - which would appear to this Court to be entirely reasonable - that the instructions given to him were irrevocable.

9. When the matter came for hearing before this Court Mrs O’Keefe sought an adjournment to instruct a new solicitor. As there had been numerous adjournments granted in the proceedings concerning the wrong alleged to have been perpetrated by Dr Casey some fourteen years earlier, the Court allowed only a brief adjournment to enable the solicitor whom Mrs O’Keefe wished to instruct to review the submissions which he proposed to make to the Court and which he then did with commendable clarity.

10. The troubled history of this matter reflects the intense concern of Mrs O’Keefe for the injustice which she feels has been perpetrated on her. In the circumstances it was always difficult for her to identify the particular issue with which the Courts were concerned. Less still could she see the possible injustice to Dr Casey of the innumerable changes in legal representation made by her, and the lengthy delays to which such changes contributed. It was clear, however, to the lawyers that an important question of law was involved in the appeal, namely, the nature and extent of the immunity (if any) enjoyed by a witness in Court proceedings.

11. The immunity from suit to which this appeal relates does not derive from any right or privilege enjoyed by a potential defendant. It is merely the by-product of conflicting constitutional rights and the impact of public policy on the administration of justice. The Constitution implicitly recognises that every citizen should have a right of access to the Courts to determine the existence or breach of a legal obligation owed to him by any potential defendant. On the other hand the Constitution expressly recognises the need for finality in the judicial process. Moreover it isrecognised that justice is more likely to be achieved where persons participating in litigation whether as parties, witnesses, judges, jurors or lawyers can discharge their function without the fear of being held to account , at the suit of, perhaps, a disgruntled litigant for the manner in which he performs his role. That these factors should result in a witness being protected from proceedings in respect of evidence given in Court has been long recognised and was reiterated in the United Kingdom by Salmon J (as he then was) in Marrinan .v. Vibart [1962] 1 AER 869. In Rondel .v. Worsley [1967] 3 WLR 1666 the House of Lords held that, as a matter of public policy, a barrister was immune from a suit to ensure that he carried on his duty to the Court fearlessly and independently and also for the reason that an action for negligence against a barrister would involve retrying the original action and prolonging litigation contrary to the public interest. The decision of the House of Lords in Saif Ali .v. Sydney Mitchell & Co [1978] 3 AER 1033 was significant in that it limited the immunity of a barrister to such pre-trial work undertaken by him as was intimately connected with the conduct of the case in Court. Similarly in Evans .v. London Hospital Medical College [1981] 1 AER 715 the immunity of an expert witness was extended to work done by the expert in the preparation of the evidence given in Court but the immunity did not extend to advice given to the client as to the merits of the claim. In Hall .v. Simons [2000] 3 AER 673 the House of Lords determined that it was no longer appropriate that barristers or solicitors should enjoy immunity from proceedings for negligence against them in respect of the manner in which they conducted proceedings in Court. To that extent they reversed the earlier decision in Rondel .v. Worsley (above). I will return later to the decision in Hall .v. Simons .

12. In the concluding paragraphs of his judgment O’Flaherty J - having referred to the passage already quoted from O’Dalaigh CJ in In re Haughey (above) - agreed that a boundary must be set to this immunity. He explained the position in the following terms:-

13. Barrington J in agreeing with the judgment of the Chief Justice and of Mr Justice O’Flaherty expressly agreed with the qualification that there might be some limit to the “so called” absolute privilege of a witness in the case of flagrant abuse. However he went on to point out that that was not such a case.

14. The decision of the House of Lords in Hall .v. Simons (above) has the effect of restricting significantly the range of persons to whom immunity will be extended in the United Kingdom. It seems clear that lawyers will not be immune from suit if it is established if they acted negligently on behalf of their client whether in the preparation for, or the conduct of,legal proceedings. Even if that decision were to be followed in this jurisdiction it would not affect the outcome of these proceedings. The decision in Hall .v. Simons was confined to the position of lawyers. It did not purport to strip witnesses of the immunity which had been conferred on them in the public interest. So far from it, the House of Lords appears to have reaffirmed the immunity of witnesses but rejected the argument that lawyers were entitled to immunity by analogy to that conferred on witnesses. Dealing with that situation under the heading“ The Witness Analogy” at page 688 of the report Lord Hoffman explained the position as follows:-

15. That would seem to me to be a classical restatement of the immunity which of necessity is conferred on witnesses who give evidence in the Courts in the United Kingdom. Lord Hoffman declined to extend that principle to lawyers.

16. The right of Dr Casey to be protected from proceedings by Mrs O’Keefe or anybody else in respect of the evidence given by her in the original matrimonial proceedings is particularly strong. Dr Casey was not retained by either party. She did not advise the Petitioner or the Respondent. The proceedings were not instituted or defended as a result of what she said or did. Her terms of reference were dictated by the order of the Master of the High Court and her report was made, as already noted, in a sealed envelope addressed to him. The evidence she gave was based on her professional expertise and the investigations which she undertook. All of these matters were open to examination, and were fully examined, in the course of the proceedings. The learned trial Judge - Mr Justice Blayney - considered the expert evidence afforded to him in the light of the examination and cross-examination of the witnesses and submissions made to him by Counsel. As Mr Justice O’Sullivan pointed out in his judgment on the 24th day of June, 1998, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to conclude that any negligence on the part of the Doctor could be shown to be the cause of the decision ultimately made. Even if, however, it could be established that Dr Casey was guilty of negligence and that her negligence brought about the judgment and order of which Mrs O’Keefe complains I am satisfied that Mr Justice O’Sullivan was correct in concluding that the law in this jurisdiction confers upon a witness - whether expert or otherwise - immunity from proceeding in respect of a wrong committed in such circumstances. That immunity is subject to the qualification already noted that if a witness - or even a judge - so departed from the duties which he or she was purporting to perform as to abuse his position that he would forfeit the immunity which he was abusing. In the present case although it has been urged strenuously over many years that Dr Casey erred and, Mrs O’Keefe alleges, acted negligently, it was not and could not be suggested, that she attempted to abuse the position of expert witness to which had been appointed by the High Court.

17. I would dismiss the appeal. This will bring to an end the claims of Mrs O’Keefe against Dr Casey and I would hear the parties as to what order should now be made to give effect to that result.