Lawlor widow takes action against tribunal

The widow of the late Liam Lawlor TD has secured leave in the High Court to bring an action aimed at preventing the Mahon planning tribunal from making any findings of serious misconduct against herself or her husband unless it can prove those beyond reasonable doubt.

Ms Hazel Lawlor said the tribunal had destroyed the life of her husband, herself and their family and had displayed a "vindictive and vengeful" attitude towards her husband. She was in personal fear of the powers of the tribunal and how they might be used against her, she added.

Mr Martin Giblin SC for Ms Lawlor, of Somerton House, Lucan, Co Dublin got leave from Mr Justice Michael Peart today to bring judicial review proceedings against the tribunal in which she is seeking a number of orders and declarations including an injunction, pending further court order, restraining further inquiries by the tribunal into matters concerning her.

She is also seeking several declarations, including that the tribunal may not make findings of serious misconduct against her late husband, who died in a car crash in Moscow in October 2005, or against herself, unless supported by evidence proven beyond any reasonable doubt, not on the basis of balance of probabilities.

In an affidavit, Ms Lawlor, a mother of four, said no findings as such were made against her late husband by the Tribunal as no module in which he was involved was brought to a conclusion by the time of his death. He had found the tribunal proceedings to be interminable and the failure to start and finish lines of enquiry was a matter of great frustration, confusion and exhaustion to him.

She and their children shared those feelings and felt the tribunal proceedings were never going to end. There was an "oppressive degree of attention" focused on her late husband. Although he had made every effort to supply the information, he was nonetheless found to be in contempt. Many of the documents sought were material but her husband was not legally obliged to retain them and many were of great antiquity.

Ms Lawlor said her husband was fearful that findings would be made against him without adequate proof and without a proper opportunity to challenge his accusers. "I and my family continue to share that fear. The time spent on Tribunal business and the enormous pressure put on my late husband had a dreadful effect on him on me and on our children. The Tribunal ruined our lives in a way which would not have occurred if my late husband had legal representation".

Mr Lawlor, she added, was the "victim of some appalling publicity which was factually incorrect, factually distorted and libelous". The Tribunal, as far as she could ascertain, did not lift a finger to protect her husband or her family from damaging leaks.

The treatment of Mr Frank Dunlop by the Tribunal was "in stark contrast" to that meted out to Liam Lawlor, she said.