Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004
Letter of claim.
8.—(1) Where a plaintiff in a personal injuries action fails, without reasonable cause, to serve a notice in writing, before the expiration of F2[one month from the date of the cause of action,] on the wrongdoer or alleged wrongdoer stating the nature of the wrong alleged to have been committed by him or her, F2[the court hearing the action shall]—
(a) draw such inferences from the failure as appear proper, and
(b) where the interests of justice so require—
(i) make no order as to the payment of costs to the plaintiff, or
(ii) deduct such amount from the costs that would, but for this section, be payable to the plaintiff as it considers appropriate.
(2) In this section “date of the cause of action” means—
(a) the date of accrual of the cause of action, or
(b) the date of knowledge, as respects the cause of action concerned, of the person against whom the wrong was committed or alleged to have been committed,
whichever occurs later.
Annotations
Amendments:
F2
Substituted (28.01.2019) by Central Bank (National Claims Information Database) Act 2018 (42/2018), s. 13(2), S.I. No. 2 of 2019.
F3
Substituted by Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 (65/2015), s. 220(1)(a), not commenced as of date of revision.
F4
Inserted by Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 (65/2015), s. 220(1)(b), not commenced as of date of revision.
Modifications (not altering text):
C2
Prospective affecting provision: subs. (1) amended and subs. (3) inserted by Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 (65/2015), s. 220(1), not commenced as of date of revision.
8.—(1) F3[Subject to subsection (3), where] a plaintiff in a personal injuries action fails, without reasonable cause, to serve a notice in writing, before the expiration of 2 months from the date of the cause of action, or as soon as practicable thereafter, on the wrongdoer or alleged wrongdoer stating the nature of the wrong alleged to have been committed by him or her, the court hearing the action may—
(a) draw such inferences from the failure as appear proper, and
(b) where the interests of justice so require—
(i) make no order as to the payment of costs to the plaintiff, or
(ii) deduct such amount from the costs that would, but for this section, be payable to the plaintiff as it considers appropriate.
(2) ...
F4[(3) This section does not apply to a clinical negligence action within the meaning of Part 2A.]
C3
For purposes of certain proceedings, section to be read as if deleted as provided (10.04.2023) by Garda Síochána (Compensation) Act 2022 (33/2022), s. 24(2)(b), S.I. No. 163 of 2023.
Additional provisions regarding proceedings
24. (1) The proceedings referred to in section 23 shall, subject to this Act and the Act of 2003 as applied by section 19 and with any necessary modifications, be deemed to be a personal injuries action for the purposes of any enactments relating in whole or in part to personal injuries actions (including the Act of 2004) and shall be treated as if they were a personal injuries action within the meaning of those enactments, including for the purposes of costs.
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the Act of 2004 shall apply to the proceedings referred to in section 23 with the following modifications: ...
(b) it shall be read as if section 8 of the Act of 2004 were deleted;
...