The Supreme Court has overturned as "entirely unsatisfactory" a High Court decision which had rejected a challenge by Prof Conall Fanning, professor of economics at University College Cork, to the initiation of disciplinary proceedings against him.
The three-judge Supreme Court yesterday returned the case to the High Court for a full hearing on all the issues involved. The court also restored an injunction restraining UCC from publishing the findings of its disciplinary inquiry concerning Prof Fanning and awarded costs to him against the university.
When dismissing Prof Fanning's challenge at the High Court last July, Mr Justice Lavan criticised the professor as not having come to court "with clean hands". As he did not accept Prof Fanning's evidence, Mr Justice Lavan said it was therefore not necessary to make findings on the important issues raised by the pleadings, which included claims by Prof Fanning that the disciplinary procedure was unlawful, in excess of UCC's powers and did not apply to him given his statutory appointment.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court said the finding that Prof Fanning had not come to court with clean hands was not supported by evidence and no such claim had been advanced before the High Court. It remitted all the issues to the High Court.