Under the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003, anyone intending to seek compensation for a personal injury (other than a personal injury arising out of medical negligence) must make an application to InjuriesBoard.ie, formerly known as the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB). InjuriesBoard.ie handles personal injury claims relating to motor accidents, accidents in the workplace and claims involving public liability. The application can be submitted online, by post or by phone. Kevin will also need a medical assessment form that has been completed by his doctor and a fee of €45.
In Kevin's case, the matter is being brought to the High Court. Civil Law suits can also be brought to the Circuit Court, but the amount of damages rewarded is at max €38,092.14 and because he may no longer be able to make a living as a professional golfer, his damages are much higher, and the High Court can award damages from anywhere above that amount. This will allow Kevin to return to the position that he was in before the injury occurred. (restitutio in integram)
7An appellate court does not enjoy the opportunity of seeing and hearing the witnesses as does the trial judge who hears the substance of the evidence but, also, observes the manner in which it is given and the demeanor of those giving it. The arid pages of a transcript seldom reflect the atmosphere of a trial. If the findings of fact made by the trial judge are supported by credible evidence, this Court is bound by those findings, however voluminous and, apparently, weighty the testimony against them. The truth is not the monopoly of any majority.
There is also the possibility that the Supreme Court might order a re-trail in the High Court and this re-trail must be presided over by a new judge. This in effect would be a hearing "de novo" in the High Court.
As Kevin's solicitor, I would also make it known that any appeal to the Supreme Court could result in the Supreme Court finding the damages awarded excessive and rather than order a re-trail the Supreme Court could adjust the level of damages itself. [8] This is regarded as being part of its inherent jurisdiction under Article 34.4.3°
I would advise Kevin to think about the out-come of the High Court case and the sum awarded, if he is still determined to pursue an appeal to the Supreme Court I would recommend that we continue with an appeal on the issue of quantum regarding the issues listed above a - f. As his earnings as a professional golfer would be considerably higher than the average person, his earnings would also be more sporadic and depend on his playing form. These facts could be hard to prove in the court.
The second reason of appeal would be to defend the amount awarded by the judge in the High Court, this would only be necessary if Sean decides to appeal to the High Court, my advice would be similar to the advice I have stated above. We would prove that the amount awarded by the High Court was justified. We would do this by again referring to the book of quantum,
The main distinction between civil law and criminal law is that in civil law the legal action is begun by the plaintiff to establish rights (in which the state is not concerned) against a defendant, whereas in criminal law, legal action is initiated on behalf of the state. The essence of the distinction lies not in the nature of the wrongful act but in its consequences. An act can be both a crime and a civil wrong depending on its consequences.
As you are interested in the case and it has already been reported to the Gardi, we can proceed by reporting an indictment against Sean. Firstly the Gardi have to investigate the situation as they have the right to arrest and detain the person involves in disturbing the peace such as Sean. [9] Although the periods of detaining a person differ from one case to another, it is all related to the significance of the each situation. Secondly, the Garda station will send files regarding the case between you and Sean to the Director of Public Prosecution. Finally, the Director then decides whether to go ahead and prosecute the case or not, although some factors should be taken into account.
In your case, the prosecution will be held in the district court, as Article 38.2 of the Constitution provides that minor criminal offences may be tried in the District Court empowered to hear and determine minor criminal offences, while serious criminal matters are heard in the Circuit Criminal Court or the Central Criminal Court according to Article 38. Your case is generally regarded as less serious than, say, murder or rape, and is generally classified as minor offences, such as assault, drink-driving, minor larcenies and criminal damage. Not only is this case less severe than murder, manslaughter and rape, but the moral quality of this case in question could not be regarded as non-minor offence.
As well as the reason why this case should be tried in the District Court is because in general, such indictable offences will be sent for trial in a higher court only after it has been dealt with in the District Court. Sean is charged with indictable offence, the Criminal Procedure Act 1967 provides 2 options that either to deal with the case summarily in District Court first or send the case forward to the Circuit Criminal Court for sentencing only. There is no jury in District Court unless the accused asks. In District Court, Imprisonment is limited to maximum 12 months and in relation to fines, no more than 2000euro is prescribed in general.
A Bail is likely to happen if the accused is sent to jail before the trial, the Bail Act 1997, provides that a court may now refuse bail to prevent a serious offence by person and people who don't appear in court regardless of loss in property they deposited. That is why the court must take into account a couple of things such as, any previous conviction of the accused person, the nature and strength of evidence in support of charge, degree of seriousness of the offence and any other offence relating to which the accused person is charged.
An arraignment will be held and the indictment reading will take place before the court of trial. If Sean pleads not guilty, a jury is empanelled to hear the case. If Sean pleads that he is guilty for the assault that took place, he might have a chance of getting a less severe imprisonment period.
11Article 38 sets out important principles concerning the trials in court, it includes non-minor offences shall be administered by a jury. If Sean pleads not guilty we will have an adversarial system. This means that the judge's role in the courtroom is impartial referee between both sides in the contest that happens in the court room. Each side represents their case, opinions and arguments while the judge controls the case. We can win the case by presenting as much relevant evidence as we can, for example pictures, documents, hospital receipts …etc.
There are a couple of rules regarding evidence in courts that are important to point out. Any of our proofs that we will be presenting in the courtroom with us has to be relevant to Sean and his case. Any irrelevant evidence will be discharged. Opinion evidence is when experts in a particular area give evidence of what happened that day, such as the doctor you went to after the fight. It is important to get as much testimonies as possible from him or her about the bruises, cuts in your face, the bone and nerve damage. It is important to get a document from the doctor relating to the damages Sean caused you and photographic evidence.
