Administrative Law+Judicial Review

Mason Hayes+Curran has developed what it believes to be one of the premier public law practices in Ireland in terms of client base, experience, expertise and quality of service. 

Its public law unit acts for a wide range of clients, including government departments, regulators, disciplinary bodies and public bodies generally. The firm also acts for persons dealing with such bodies. The day-to-day practice of the unit is comprised solely of advising and assisting in matters of public law.

The unit advises and assists, often in collaboration with other units and departments in the firm, in particular, in relation to procedural and substantive issues of administrative, freedom of information, public procurement, planning, commercial licensing and data protection law. The unit has also advised in relation to matters arising under the Ombudsman, investment intermediaries and standards in public office legislation and in relation to professional and educational regulation.

The unit engages in both non-contentious advisory work and in contentious work.

On the non-contentious side, it advises and assists in relation to matters such as the determination of the true scope of the powers, functions and duties of public bodies, the interpretation of relevant statute law and adherence to fair and/or prescribed procedures.

On the contentious side, it advises and assists in relation to dispute resolution and litigation related to public law matters, consisting mainly of judicial review actions (both conventional and statutorily modified) and appeals on points of law to the High Court against decisions of the Information Commissioner under the Freedom of Information Act. The firm’s public lawyers also advise and assist in relation to ordinary plenary proceedings, tribunal work and specialised challenges to public procurement processes.  

Mason Hayes+Curran feels it is in the nature of a dedicated administrative/public law practice that both contentious and non-contentious matters ought to be dealt with, and be capable of being dealt with, by the same lawyers. 

In fact, the coal-face experience of litigating in relation to matters that our lawyers also advise, generally results in more rounded, up-to-date and practical advice. This advice is given with a feel and an understanding for what the courts, as ultimate arbiters of any legal question, might decide, and the procedure by which, and the timeframe within which, they might decide it, together with the likely cost of doing so.

The public law unit is particularly keen to imbue its lawyers with advocacy and drafting skills and, accordingly, encourages its lawyers, in appropriate circumstances, to conduct their own advocacy on behalf of clients and to draft court documents.

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