PART VI

Jurisdiction of Controller

362. —It shall be a function of the Controller pursuant to references or applications under this Act to determine, within a reasonable period of time, disputes arising under this Act between licensing bodies and persons requiring licences or organisations claiming to be representative of those persons.

363. —(1) The Minister may make rules in relation to proceedings before the Controller under this Act and, subject to the consent of the Minister for Finance, may also make rules in relation to the fees chargeable in respect of such proceedings.

(2) Rules made under this section shall—

(a) specify the parties to proceedings and permit the Controller to make a party to the proceedings a person or organisation satisfying the Controller that the party concerned has a substantial interest in the matter, and

(b) require the Controller to give the parties to proceedings an opportunity to state their case orally or in writing.

(3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), rules made under this section may make provision for prescribing matters incidental to or consequential upon appeals from decisions of the Controller under section 366 .

364. —(1) The Controller may order that the costs of a party to proceedings before him or her under this Act, including costs associated with the appointment of an arbitrator under section 367 and costs of a party to proceedings before that arbitrator, shall be paid by such party as the Controller may direct, and the Controller may determine the amounts of the costs or direct the manner in which they are to be paid.

(2) A copy of an order made by the Controller under subsection (1) which is certified by the Controller to be a true copy shall, in proceedings under this Act, be evidence of the order unless the contrary is proved.

365. —(1) In any proceedings before him or her under this Act, the Controller may, where he or she thinks fit, and shall, on the request of all the parties to the proceedings, appoint an assessor who is specially qualified in regard to all or any of the questions arising in the course of the proceedings to aid the Controller in his or her consideration of those questions.

(2) Subject to subsection (3), the Minister shall approve, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, the amount of remuneration (if any) to be paid by the Controller to an assessor appointed by him or her under this section.

(3) The amount of remuneration referred to under subsection (2) shall be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, to such an extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance.

366. —(1) An appeal on a point of law arising from a decision of the Controller under this Act shall lie to the High Court.

(2) Provision shall be made in the rules made under section 363 limiting the time within which such an appeal may be brought.

(3) Provisions may be made in the rules made under section 363 for all or any of the following, namely:

(a) suspending, authorising or requiring the Controller to suspend the operation of orders of the Controller in cases where his or her decision is appealed;

(b) modifying, in relation to an order of the Controller the operation of which is suspended, the operation of any provision of this Act as to the effect of that order;

(c) the notification of, or the taking of other steps for securing that, persons affected by the suspension of an order of the Controller shall be informed of its suspension.

(4) Subject to subsection (5), a decision of the High Court under this section shall be final and may not be appealed.

(5) By leave of the High Court, an appeal from a decision of the High Court under this section shall lie to the Supreme Court on a question of law.

367. —(1) In the case of a dispute referred to the Controller under this Act, the Controller may at any time—

(a) where the parties to the dispute consent, or

(b) where a matter requires any prolonged examination of documents or other investigation requiring specialist knowledge which could not be made by him or her,

order the matter to be referred to an arbitrator agreed by the parties or, in the absence of such agreement, appointed by the Controller.

(2) The Controller shall decide whether or not to refer a dispute to arbitration no later than 3 months after the dispute has been referred to the Controller.

(3) The arbitrator shall make his or her award within 3 months of the reference from the Controller, or within such further period of time as may be agreed with the Controller.

(4) The award made by an arbitrator in a case referred to him or her under this section shall, where the parties consent to the reference, be final and binding on the parties.

(5) An appeal from an award made by an arbitrator pursuant to a reference under this section to which the parties to the dispute did not consent shall lie to the High Court and the High Court may make such order confirming, annulling or varying the award of the arbitrator as it thinks fit.

(6) Subject to subsection (7), a decision of the High Court under this section shall be final and may not be appealed.

(7) By leave of the High Court, an appeal from a decision of the High Court under this section shall lie to the Supreme Court on a question of law.

(8) In any reference to an arbitrator under this section, the Controller on giving notice to the parties to the dispute shall have the same power to apply to the court for the removal of that arbitrator under section 24 of the Arbitration Act, 1954 , as if he or she had been a party to the arbitration.

(9) Nothing in subsection (8) shall affect the rights of the parties to the arbitration.

(10) For the avoidance of doubt, in the event of an arbitrator being removed under subsection (8), a second or subsequent arbitrator may be appointed to arbitrate the dispute in accordance with this section.

368. —The Controller may, in any case of doubt or difficulty arising in connection with the administration of any of the provisions of this Act, apply to the Attorney General for advice in the matter.

369. —For the purposes of this Chapter, “dispute” shall include any matter referred to the Controller for decision or resolution by reference or application under any provision of this Act.