A CIVIL action in which a woman alleged her brother sexually abused and assaulted her at their family home when she was a child has been halted by the High Court.
The president of the High Court, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns, yesterday granted the man’s application to stop the case on grounds it was statute-barred and there was inordinate and inexcusable delay in prosecuting it.
The woman, now in her 50s, alleged sexual abuse, assault and battery against her brother on dates between 1969 and 1972 at their family home in the west of Ireland. He denied the claims.
In criminal proceedings, the brother was charged with indecent assault. At his first trial in 2008, the jury failed to reach a verdict, while a retrial resulted in his acquittal by unanimous jury verdict in early 2009. The woman initiated civil proceedings in 2006. The case was set down for trial in February 2010.
That trial date was adjourned at the woman’s request as she was unable to travel from her home outside Ireland. She suffers from serious physical disorders. In June 2010, her solicitors told the man’s lawyers she remained unable to travel and suggested re-evaluating her condition later. They sought another adjournment on the basis of a medical report, but this was opposed by the man’s lawyers.
The High Court indicated the man could seek to have the case halted if the woman did not confirm at the next court call-over of jury cases the case was ready to proceed. When the case was called in the jury list last February, the woman was not represented due to an oversight by her solicitors’ office. The notice of trial was then struck out. Her brother applied to have the action struck out.
Yesterday, Mr Justice Kearns found the woman was not entitled to avail of a 2000 law extending time to bring claims arising from child sexual abuse. He upheld the man’s claim the action was statute-barred. He noted the requirement to move legal proceedings speedily here was more stringent due to the European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003. This case had existed since November 2006 and allowing it proceed now would be “unfair to the highest degree”.