Background to the Personal Injuries Guidelines
The Personal Injuries Guidelines were adopted by the Judicial Council in 2021. The Personal Injuries Guidelines Committee prepared the Guidelines in accordance with the provisions of section 90(3) of the Judicial Council Act 2019. In doing so, it had regard to economic factors (including the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices), decisions of the courts, and awards in this and other jurisdictions.
Overall, this resulted in a reduction in the damages available in lower and moderate injuries, while those suffering catastrophic injuries would receive a modest uplift in their award of general damages. It was also anticipated the improved guidance provided by the Guidelines would have a number of secondary benefits including earlier settlement of cases and reducing legal costs.
Review of the Guidelines
The Committee is required to review the Guidelines at least every three years. The first such review was carried out during 2022 and 2023. The outcome of the review was submitted to the Board of the Judicial Council in March 2024.
In carrying out its review, the Committee had regard to the same factors considered when drafting the original guidelines. Two of those matters are of note. The first is the fact that in the three years since the adoption of the original Guidelines, significant global and national inflation has occurred. The second is the jurisprudence of the Superior Courts that emerged in the period regarding the proper approach to the assessment of damages in multiple injuries cases.
The Committee did not find it possible to carry out any meaningful analysis of the quantum of court awards given under the Guidelines that might inform this review. This is because the inevitable delay between the commencement of proceedings to which the then new Guidelines applied and their trial has meant few award decisions have been reached - certainly not enough to be statistically significant.
Outcome of the Review
The Committee’s review of the Guidelines has resulted in a recommendation to adjust the values in the Guidelines to take account of a rise in the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HIPC) since the adoption of the Guidelines in 2021.
Accordingly, the Committee has prepared draft amendments and submitted them to the Board for its review. The draft amendments provide that, due to the HICP rate rise of 15.6% in the three years since the adoption of the guidelines, an overall increase of 15.6% to the original values is appropriate. The revised figures have been rounded up or down for convenience and ease of use.
The Board of the Judicial Council next considered the proposed amendments on 21st October 2024. It modified the guidelines only in one respect, bringing the HICP rate up to date at the time of that meeting, resulting in an overall increase of 16.7%. Those draft amended guidelines may be accessed here: Personal Injuries Guidelines - Draft Amendments as modified by the Board.pdf
Next Steps
The proposed amendments will be considered by the Judicial Council at the end of January 2025. Depending on the outcome of that consideration, the proposals will be referred to the Minister for Justice to be dealt with in accordance with amendments made in July 2024 to the Judicial Council Act 2019. The proposals then need to be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas for approval and passed by each House.