The Gazette 1961 - 64

and he erected a fence around it. He remained there until September, 1961, when the defendants as weekly tenants of the freeholders entered on the site. The plaintiff brought an action against them for trespass. In 1954 he had written two letters to the freeholders offering to purchase the property. It was held by the trial judge and also by the Court of Appeal upholding him that the offer in writing by the plaintiff to the freeholders to buy the property constituted an acknowledgement and his action was dismissed. In the Court of Appeal it was said that .what constituted an acknowledgment of title in any particular case depended on the proper construction of the document in question and all the surrounding circumstances. Although the plaintiff had not, by offering to purchase the property, acknowledged that the vendors had a marketable title to it, what he had acknowledged was that, as between himself and them, they had the better title, and that seemed to be all that was required. (Edginton v. Clarke & Anor. Solicitors' Journal, August 2nd, page 617.) Fatal injuries claim—subsequent re-marriage In June, 1959, C., aged 22, was killed in a collision between a motor bicycle which he was riding and a motor-car. C.'s widow brought an action for damages under the Fatal Accidents Act, 1846, and the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1934, against the executors of the driver of the motor-car. The action was heard in January, 1962, when the widow, who had no children, was aged 24. The trial judge found that C. was one-third to blame for the accident, that the amount by which the widow would have been likely to benefit in the future was £6 a week, and assessed the damages at £4,000, saying that the widow was a presentable young lady who would have opportunities, if she were so minded, of re-marriage and that it was right to make some real diminution in the amount of damages awarded because of that factor. Owing to the fact that she had broken down when giving evidence at the trial, the widow had not been asked about the possibility of re-marriage. In March, 1962 before the expirty of the time for giving notice of appeal, she re-married. On appeal by the defendants against the amount of damages awarded, they sought leave under R.S.C, Ord. 58, r. 9 (2), to adduce evidence of the widow's re-marriage on the ground that if it was granted they would contend that, by her re-marriage, the widow had not lost the financial support assessed by the judge. The defendants tendered no evidence as to the amount by which the re-marriage was benefiting the widow. HELD : the appeal would be allowed and the amount of damages awarded reduced because where, as here, the re-marriage occurred soon after the trial, 35

Ireland has'taken a leading part in implementing the machinery of the Convention. It has extended to its citizens the right of individual petition to -the Human Rights Commission, and was the first country to agree to accept the jurisdiction of the proposed European Court of Human Rights, which came into operation when the necessary minimum of eight countries was reached. The supplement will serve as a useful introduction to the Convention, and can be had on request from the National Correspondent of the Directorate of Information, Council of Europe. His address is 42 Dawson Street, Dublin. DECISIONS OF PROFESSIONAL INTEREST Confidential report on a minor not disclosed to one of the parties in a wardship matter In a case reported under the above heading in the June, 1963 issue of the GAZETTE at page 15 it was held by the Court of Appeal in England that a confidential report of the official solicitor should be made available to the mother of the minor, the subject of the report, in wardship proceedings. This decision has now been reversed by the House of Lords. Lord Evershed giving the judgment of the Court said that there could not be an absolute right on the mother's part in this case to see the official solicitor's report. The judicial proceedings in this case were for the benefit of the infant and for the purpose of making a decision about his or her immediate future upbringing or control. For such a purpose the infant was in relation to the Court in a special position distinct from that of the other parties for he or she was a ward of the Court exercising the ancient prerogative of parental jurisdiction. If this were the case, then it could not be right that the Court was always compelled in circumstances such as had arisen here to choose the lesser of two evils and to do that which in the Court's view would be against the infant's interest and to console itself in so doing by regarding the result as a distressing consequence of a broken home. In conclusion His Lordship observed that the sub mitting of confidential reports as a general practise was not to be recommended but only in those circumstances when the official solicitor felt strongly that the information which he had obtained should be submitted confidentially. (Official Solicitor v. K. (Infants) & Another, Solicitors' Journal, August and, page 617.) Possessory title—whether offer to purchase is an acknowledg ment of title In 1947 the plaintiff occupied a vacant bomb site which he used for car parking and other purposes,