The Gazette 1967/71

The first lecture was given by the Property Arbitrator, Mr. Owen McCarthy, B.E., B.Sc., on "The Preparation and Submission of a Claim in a Compulsory Arbitration". Amongst the points made was that the compulsory service of a notice to treat is laid in Section 18 of the Land Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845 and subsequently in Section 79 of the Housing Act, 1966. Local Authorities can now easily acquire land under the Local Government (No. 2) Act, 1960; once a notice to treat has been served on a claimant, he should consult his solicitor, and if necessary, a surveyor, valuer, or other expert on the pre paration of his Notice of Claim; all these costs should be included in his Notice of Claim. The claimant should set out fully the interest he claims — if leasehold, the nature and term of the lease, whether it is a building lease, etc. If a person owns lands, which includes a house unfit for human habitation, and not capable of being ren dered fit at reasonable expense, the tenant is entitled to compensation for disturbances. Under the Rules, the value of the land is normally its market value. As well as compensating the claim ant for the value of the land, the acquiring author ity must also compensate him for all the loss in curred by the expulsion. Mr. Justice Murnaghan contributed a further individualist paper on "Aspects of the High Court Practice." He stated that the Courts were com pletely out of step with modern ideas, and it was difficult to bring about changes. The detailed practice in relation to third party applications for contributions under Section 30 of the Civil Lia bility Act, 1961 was next considered: It was suggested that the best procedure would be to deliver the appropriate statement of claim and the defence before asking the Judge for directions. He next dealt with the case Gillespie v. Fitzpatrick and McCartney (No. 2), where more than one defendant seeks contribution from another (see September/October Gazette, 1970, page 78.) The notice for the sitting of the Court should normally be served on a person who has not entered an appearance, or who is not represented by a soli citor; such notice must be served for "the sitting of the Court" and the Court must be informed accordingly. It was emphasised that, under Kondor Plus v. Honeywell Leasing (see January 1970 Gazette, page 92), in relation to applications for leave to serve proceedings out of the jurisdiction, it was necessary to specify the sub-head of Order II, Rule I, under which the application was made. It is unnecessary to prepare maps on too large a

scale in jury cases. Furthermore, in a civil action, when the jury had disagreed, or been discharged, it was usually necessary to set down the action for trial, if it were to be continued. In the absence of consent on the part of the husband, the Court cannot grant alimony pendente life not merely on behalf of the wife, but also on behalf of children in the wife's custody. The proper procedure is to issue a summons under the Guardianship of Infants Act to be heard at the same time as the application for alimony. The correct manner to challenge a juryman was to use the word "challenge" and not "objection". In reply to questions, it was stated that it was not the practice to pay interest to a successful party with money lodged by the Defence. If plaintiff unreasonably refuses to submit himself to a medical examination, the issue of the defence will be postponed until after such examination. Unless the number of judges were to be greatly increased, it is normally not possible to fix a special day for a civil jury action. It was unfortunate that inevit able postal delays obviated the service of registered Court documents by post. In probate Actions there should be at least six photostat copies of original documents like wills for the jury, as well as copies for Counsel and the Judge. In preparation for the introduction of the deci mal currency system on 15th February, 1971, there was a display of literature on the subject. Mr. H. J. Morrison, the Public Relations Officer of the Decimal Currency Board, then gave a talk on the subject, and emphasised that in such a system, money is reckoned uniformly in tens, which will save time and labour in business and commercial transactions. While one pound by itself can still be expressed as £1, the sum of one pound and eight new pence will now be written £1.08. As the present 6d. is equivalent to two and a half new pence, only multiples of 6d. will have exact deci mal equivalents, and every 10 new pence is equiv alent to 2/-. A list of the new coins was given; the only ones that have not yet appeared are 5 new pence (I/-), 2 new pence (4.8d.), and one new penny (2.4d.). The new -£d. (l-2d.), will not count for practical purposes. LEGAL NEWS OF THE MONTH CERTIFICATES FOR AUBIT Some accountants in recent years have been asking solicitors to certify not only as to the position of deeds but also as to freedom from 13&