Applications for adjournments on Medical Grounds  - 21 May 2025

The principles governing applications to adjourn proceedings on grounds that a party is unfit to progress the litigation are set out in the case law of the Supreme Court (Tracey v. McDowell [2016] IESC 44 and Tracey v. Irish Times [2019] IESC 62) and of the Court of Appeal (Kildare County Council v. Reid [2018] IECA 370; Hanrahan v. Gladney [2018] IECA 403; Geary v. Property Registration Authority [2020] IECA 132 and Hanrahan v. Minister for Agriculture and Food [2020] IECA 340).

These principles apply to applications for adjournments based upon medical grounds of matters listed for hearing before the Court of Appeal.

A party intending to apply for an adjournment on medical grounds of any matter listed before the Court of Appeal should do so as soon as is practicable once the party apprehends that they will not be medically fit to progress the litigation.

Normally, the application will be made in the Directions List of the Court of Appeal. The applicant should apply to the Office of the Court of Appeal to list the matter for mention in the next List. The other parties to the appeal should be notified of the intention to seek an adjournment on medical grounds, the date of the application and a summary of the basis for the application.

If, due to a medical emergency, it is not possible to list the matter in the Directions List of the Court of Appeal before the appeal is heard, the correspondence addressed to the Office of the Court of Appeal requesting the adjournment should be copied to the other parties to the appeal. They will be afforded an opportunity to respond thereto, provided time permits, and the Court will rule on the application.

In accordance with the case law, any application for an adjournment sought on medical grounds must be supported by evidence in the form of a medical report or certification prepared by a medical professional furnished to the Court which:

1.  identifies the medical professional and provides details by which they may be contacted.
2.  outlines the medical professional’s familiarity with the party’s medical condition and states whether they are treating the party.
3. identifies the party’s medical condition (s) based upon a proper examination.
4. if the medical practitioner is of the opinion that the party is medically unfit, the report should outline the features of that condition which prevent participation in the appeal/ attendance in court.
5. identifies when the party may be able to attend court in the future, given his or her condition and the prognosis thereof.
6. identifies whether the party is medically fit to make written submissions and/or to participate in a remote hearing of the appeal.

Save in the case of a medical emergency, applications for adjournments on medical grounds which are not supported by a medical report satisfying these requirements are unlikely to be granted.

The party submitting the medical evidence should indicate whether he or she has any objection to all or part of that evidence being provided to the other parties to the appeal and, if so, the basis of its objection.

Where a party indicates that it opposes the application for an adjournment, and/or the Court’s provisional view is to refuse the adjournment, the Court, in the exercise of its discretion, may give such directions as it thinks fit regarding the furnishing of any medical report(s) relied upon by the applicant, or some lesser form of disclosure of the evidence in support of the application, to the other parties to the appeal, as is in the interests of justice.