A High Court judge has refused to permit Ryanair appeal to the Supreme Court against his refusal to allow it bring a judicial review challenge to new charges at Dublin Airport.
Mr Justice Peter Kelly ruled today Ryanair had failed to advance any point of law of exceptional public importance arising from his refusal which required determination by the Supreme Court.
Nor had the airline advanced any public interest grounds for an appeal, the judge added. “It is not desirable in the public interest this litigation should be allowed proceed one step further.”
The judge also told Martin Hayden SC, for Ryanair, he “can’t be serious” in seeking to appeal orders for costs made against it by the judge in light of his findings Ryanair had seriously misled the court and told untruths to and about the court and to Transport Minister Noel Dempsey.
The judge remarked he could have considered jailing orders in light of the untruths told by Ryanair.
The refusal of leave to appeal means Ryanair cannot now pursue its bid for a court order aimed at quashing the Commission for Aviation Regulation’s decision last December approving charges for Dublin Airport for the period 2010-2014.
While Ryanair had appealed against the charges to an Appeals Panel set up by Minister Dempsey and that panel recently upheld some of Ryanair’s arguments, its findings are not binding on the regulator.
Judicial review proceedings related to decisions made under the Aviation Act may only be brought with leave of the High Court. The High Court’s decision is final unless it certifies an appeal to the Supreme Court on grounds the applicant has raised a point of law of exceptional public importance which should, in the public interest, be determined.
Last week, in a judgment highly critical of Ryanair’s conduct of its court proceedings, Mr Justice Kelly refused leave to Ryanair to bring judicial review on grounds the airline had itself said its preferred and most effective means of dealing with its complaint was via an appeal to the appeals panel.
The judge also said, given untruths told by Ryanair to and about the court, and to the Minister, he was driven to conclude “the truth and Ryanair are uncomfortable bedfellows”.