The Gazette 1910-11

The Gazette of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.

[DECEMBER, 1910

170

Murphy, Joseph V., 46 Dawson Street, Dublin. Shell, John J., 18 Bachelor's Walk, Dublin. Turnbull, Martin H., 7 Chichester Street, Belfast. Legal Appointments. THE Lord Lieutenant has been pleased to appoint Mr. Robert Henderson Todd, of Londonderry, and 3 Suffolk Street, Dublin, to be Crown Solicitor for the County of Londonderry in room of Mr. Thomas Fitzgerald, resigned. The Lord Lieutenant has been pleased to appoint Mr. Henry Thomas Gallagher, of Strabane, and 121 Saint Stephen's Green, West, Dublin, to be Crown Solicitor for the County of Donegal, in room of Mr. Thomas Fitzgerald, resigned. New Solicitors. ADMISSIONS DURING NOVEMBER, 1910. Name Served Apprenticeship to Currie, William .. John K. Currie, Ballymena. Hanratty, Simon E. .. J. H. Russell, Newry, and John Fisher, Newry. Lynam, Richard V. .. D. O'Connell Miley, Dublin. McGrane, John Joseph M. L. Hearn, Dublin, and Thomas F. Burke, Dublin Wallace, John E. .. T. W. Delany, Longford. Petty Sessions Court Proceedings. IN the year 1890 queries were submitted by the Society to the then Solicitor-General (now Lord Atkinson) in reference to the conduct of proceedings in Petty Sessions Courts in Ireland by persons other than complainants or their Solicitors. It is con sidered desirable to reproduce these queries for the information of members. The follow ing are the queries and the replies thereto :— Query :—I. What is the legal meaning of the word " agent " in the Petty Sessions Act ? Reply :— 1. I have carefully considered this case, and upon the construction of the several sections, from the 9th to the 20th inclusive, of the Petty Sessions Act, am of opinion that the word " agent " means legal agent— i.e., either counsel or attorney. The only other meaning it could have would be, the person authorised by complainant or defendant to appear and conduct the case for the person

so authorising him. There is nothing in the statutes or in the general law to require that such an agent should be appointed in writing, nor is there anything to circumscribe the class from which such an agent should be chosen. The word " agent," therefore, must mean either legal agent or any adult in the community whom the complainant or defendant may authorise to appear for him. But the 45 & 46 Vie., cap. 24, clearly shows that the latter is not the true meaning of the word " agent," and the persons named in the statute could have appeared independently of its provisions, save, possibly, the wife, if the word were to be taken in its general sense in the Petty Sessions Act, and that, too, without the restrictions imposed by the latter statute. It is, in my opinion, clear that the latter statute was passed to meet the difficulties that arose when the principal party was unable to attend, and it was desirable from the nature of the case or position of that party to avoid the expense of employing a professional man. It was, therefore, because agent means legal agent in the earlier statute that the latter statute became necessary in the main. Query :— 2. Is a land agent authorised in law to represent and act in court for his principal in proceedings at the suit of or against his principal under section 20 of the Petty Sessions Act, and to conduct such proceedings and examine witnesses ? Reply : —2. See answer to last preceding query. Query : —3. Can an agent, appointed under power of attorney "to do all acts " for his principal, conduct proceedings personally in any court, in which proceedings his principal is plaintiff or defendant ? Reply :—3. No. NOTE—Section 1 of 45 and 46 Vie., cap. 24, referred to in the above reply to Query 1, provides as follows:— " In the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, "1851, the word ' agent' shall include the " father, son, husband, wife, or brother of the " complainant or defendant; provided that " any such person be thereunto authorised "in writing by the complainant or defen- ' : dant (as the case may be), and to receive "no remuneration therefor, and have the "leave of the Court to appear and be heard,