Asking courts for damages: Rejecting claims is not enough

It may be tempting, as they slip from memory, to forget recommendations the troika made.

One was a root-and-branch restructuring of how the legal professions operate. That issue was active before Alan Shatter left the Department of Justice but whatever zeal existed for reform subsequently wilted in the face of powerful lobbying.

That capitulation may have frustrated Mr Shatter, but he will take some small comfort in yesterday’s Court of Appeal ruling supporting judgments that the “seriously damaging” conclusions in the Guerin report were reached “in breach of fair procedures and constitutional and natural justice”.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny may now regret his misjudged treatment of a cabinet colleague.

The troika’s advice on the legal professions, because of a series of decisions in damages cases, has a new relevance.

“Settling on the steps”, if the opposing parties can agree a figure, is a time-honoured tradition. It may save on the eye-watering costs of a court action. It may manage legal costs, but it has an impact on insurance costs.

Insurance costs are inflated by unjustified claims too. A more sceptical attitude to claims seems to have informed a number of cases in recent times. Generosity has been replaced by a more rigid scrutiny.

That, however, is only half the battle. Those who, under oath, make false claims should face the provisions set down to deal with that eventuality.