Court of Appeal, on appeal from a refusal of the High Court to set aside a notice of discontinuance served by the plaintiff, who was the party applying for the order, in personal injuries proceedings against the Motors Insurer's Bureau of Ireland and a driver who was thought to be uninsured, but subsequently it became apparent that he was insured, dismisses the plaintiff's appeal where the High Court did not err in finding that the plaintiff cannot unilaterally withdraw the notice of discontinuance unless there is an abuse of process.
Appeal against refusal of High Court to set aside notice of discontinuance - plaintiff sought to discontinue case - road traffic accident - plaintiff driving motorcycle - alleges struck by car and thrown to ground suffering personal injuries - motor car did not remain at scene of accident - plaintiff later identified second defendant as driver - not normally permissible to bring proceedings against MIBI in respect of an unidentified or untraced vehicle - in which another party is joined who is alleged to be the owner and/or user of the vehicle - limited exception - application to set aside - appellant argues judge erred in accepting that it did not have jurisdiction to set aside notice of continuance - consideration HC judgment - court notes at early stage it was clear that this was likely a unidentified/untraced motorist case - plaintiff signed statement acknowledging Gardai themselves thought they did not have enough evidence for charges - second defendant later confirmed to have been insured - Court of Appeal ultimately refuses appeal - CoA notes that trial judge did not actually say that it had no jurisdiction to set aside notice of discontinuance - plaintiff cannot withdraw a notice of discontinuance unilaterally unless existence of abuse of process - jurisdiction is both exception and only in compelling circumstances.