- within Law Department Performance, Family and Matrimonial and Antitrust/Competition Law topic(s)
- in European Union
In its latest newsletter, the Law Reform Commission ("LRC") has indicated that its report on Third-Party Litigation Funding is at an advanced stage, with final stakeholder meetings planned for early 2026. The LRC expects to publish its recommendations in late Spring 2026.
The LRC recommendations are highly anticipated as they will inform whether there will be any change to the existing prohibition against third-party litigation funding in Ireland and the regulation of third-party litigation funding. Third-party litigation funding is where a third party (with no existing connection to the litigation) agrees to finance a party's costs of litigation in return for an entitlement to a portion of any proceeds recovered by the funded party.
Any relaxation of the existing prohibition on third-party litigation funding would have a wide ranging impact, not least as regards collective redress in Ireland. As discussed in our briefing entitled Representative Actions in Ireland: 2025 Mid Year Review, while the Representative Actions for the Protection of the Collective Interests of Consumers Act 2023 (the "Act") has introduced a mechanism for qualified entities to bring representative actions on behalf of consumers in respect of alleged infringements of their rights under specified enactments, the prohibition on third-party litigation funding impacts the effectiveness of this legislation given the likely costs associated with a representative action.
The recommendations are relevant also to commercial arbitration and will likely inform the commencement of section 124 of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2023 ("2023 Act") which was signed into law on 5 July 2023. As noted in our briefing entitled Third Party Funding of International Commercial Arbitration in Ireland, once commenced, section 124 of the 2023 Act will permit third-party funding of commercial arbitrations which fall within the scope of section 5A of the Arbitration Act 2010 (as amended).
This article contains a general summary of developments and is not a complete or definitive statement of the law. Specific legal advice should be obtained where appropriate.
