400-year-old law on third party funding for legal cases ‘needs to be reinterpreted’

A law concerning third party funding of legal cases in Ireland comes from an era when people thought the earth was the centre of the universe, witches were burned at the stake, and the rule of law paled in comparison to the rule of the sword, the High Court has heard.

A British company is funding the damages claim by the runner-up in the bid to win the 1996 competition for a mobile phone licence that was awarded to businessman Denis O’Brien’s Esat Digifone consortium.

It claims Esat won the competition by bribing the then minister for communications Michael Lowry, which is denied.