Harrington -v- An Bord Pleanála &Ors. Pays/Territoire Irlande Type de cour Nationale - cour supérieure Date Jul 11, 2006 Source UNEP, InforMEA Nom du tribunal High Court of Ireland Juge Macken. Numéro de référence [2006] IEHC 223 Langue Anglais Sujet Énergie, Questions juridiques, Environnement gén. Mot clé Planification territoriale Gaz naturel Responsabilité/indemnisation Résumé The Applicant sought leave to apply for judicial review of a decision to grant planning permission for the development of a gas terminal and peat deposition site to be used for the reception and separation of gas taken from the Corrib Gas Field. Having being denied leave, he applied for a certificate to appeal. The High Court made an order for costs in favour of the unsuccessful Applicant in respect of the hearing for leave to apply for judicial review. They made orders for costs in favour of the Respondents and Notice Parties in respect of the hearing for leave to appeal the decision refusing leave to issue judicial review. It would be almost impossible for the Applicant to claim that he had no private interest in the case. The applicable statutory framework required him to show "substantial interest". Where this is a requirement to bring judicial review and yet the Applicant raises complex legal issues of general importance, he should not be precluded from being granted costs in the appropriate case. To conclude otherwise could lead to an injustice in the matter of costs. This case concerned a novel development for processing gas, which involved issues as to the application of EU legislation. However a stronger test was to be applied at the appeal stage, namely that the Applicant show that a question of exceptional public importance arose. On the facts he had failed to do so. The Court acknowledged the difficulty for an applicant who must prove substantial interest to be afforded standing only to be denied a special costs order for having this same interest.