People challenging planning decisions may have to take a greater financial risk under proposed Government changes of the judicial review regime. At present in the case of major planning decisions that affect the environment, the usual rules on legal costs do not apply and people who challenge court rulings do not have to pay the other side’s costs if they lose. The Government believes this is driving the increased number of judicial reviews of big developments. The Government is proposing that an individual might have to pay €5,000, and a legal entity €10,000, towards a notice party’s costs, when a notice party successfully defends a judicial review. Also, the notice party would not have to pay more than €40,000 towards the costs of the applicant, if the applicant wins the judicial review. The plan is to shift more risk towards those taking the cases but “in a balanced and fair way that does not in any way infringe their rights,” Minister of State for Local Government and Planning Peter Burke told The Irish Times.
Read the full article at The Irish Times
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