The Gazette 1944-46

MEMORANDUM FROM THE REGISTRAR OF TITLES.

In a recent English case (Stotesbury v. Turner, 1943, K.B. 370) an attempt was made to justify the use of statements made without prejudice in order to deprive the party making them of his costs. The matter arose in the first instance before an arbitrator whose duty it was to arbitrate on a claim by the applicant for £1,135, the defence being that the sum of £120 and no more was lawfully due. In the course of a friendly discussion at a preliminary meeting before the arbitrator the respondent's solicitor informed the arbitrator of attempts made without prejudice to settle the dispute and mentioned that his client was prepared to increase a previous offer, made without prejudice, to £550. The efforts at settlement were inconclusive and at the hearing before the arbitrator a bundle of correspondence was produced on behalf of the respondent which included a letter written by the applicant's solicitor to the respondent's solicitor, marked without prejudice, and refusing the offer of £550. Counsel for the applicant objected to the admission of this letter on the ground that it was marked "without prejudice," but the arbitrator stated that it was useless to object as he knew of the offer which had been made. By his award he directed the respondent to pay to the applicant a sum lower than the amount of £550 which had been offered in settlement by the respondent, and he directed the applicant to pay the costs of the proceedings. An application to the High Court to set aside the award was successful. Atkinson. J., held that the exercise by an arbitra tor of his discretion in dealing with the costs of proceedings before him is identical with that of a judge and can be exercised only judicially. A purported direction exercised by an arbitrator on no grounds, or on grounds not properly before him, could not be a judicial discretion. In the present case the arbitrator had stated in his award the reason why he exercised his discretion as he did, and it was plain that he based his discretion on the ground that an offer had been made to the applicant "without prejudice" of nn amount which exceeded the amount ultim ately awarded by the arbitrator and that that offer had been refused. His Lordship also re ferred to seveial cases in which it has been held that nothing which is written or said without prejudice should be looked at without the consent of both parties, for otherwise the whole object of the limitation would be destroyed. Letters written without prejudice ought to be held very sacred; for, if parties were to be afterwards prejudiced by their efforts to compromise it would be impossible to effect an amicable settle ment of differences, i

Searches in the Land Registry. PRACTITIONEHS will note that as from 3rd April, 1944, the Registrar has given directions that the card index of the Land Registry shall contain, in addition to the particulars prescribed by the Rules, the name of the townland and the area in each case. As time goes on it is believed that this will facilitate solicitors in ascertaining exactly the particular Folio which they require to inspect. On the indexes the meagre particulars prescribed by the 1937 Rules have entailed the inspection of a large number of Folios and consequent payment of fees which would not be necessary if particulars of the area and townland were given. Of course these particulars are only inserted on the index as new Folios opened or as Dealings with the land take place and the benefit of the new regulation'will not be widely felt for some considerable time. Lodgment of Dealings in Central Office, Land Registry. As it would appear that practitioners are under some misapprehension with regard to the sug gestion contained in the "Memorandum on Land Registry Practice" recently circulated to the Profession, it is thought desirable to emphasise that the suggestion was made solely in the interests of solicitors and their clients in view of Rule 58 of the Land Registration Rules, 1937, which provides that applications and Instruments rank in priority of registration in the order in which they are received in the Central Office. It was considered that by adopting the sugges- [ tion in the Memorandum as to lodgment through the town Agents that time would be saved and priority preserved, or in some cases gained. It is, of course, to be understood that there is no obligation whatever on Practitioners to do this and it is quite open for them either to lodge the documents in the Local Registrar's Office or to forward them to the Central Office by post if the find either of these courses more convenient. Evidence of Valuation of Property. As some practitioners seem to be under the impression that the Certificate of Valuation is required where evidence of valuation is necessary, the Registry officials desire to point out that the production of a Certificate of Valuation is not

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