The Gazette 1971

Court Orders The repository for legal records in Ireland prior to the establishment of the Irish Free State was the Four Courts (including the Public Record Office). The fire which gutted the entire building in the first week of Juy, 1922 destroyed practically all the old records. The records now held date for the most part from about October, 1922. In theory, records more than twenty years old are sent to the Public Records Office but in practice some of the older records have been retained in the Supreme Court Office. The following is the state of affairs as of May, 1971 :— 1. Cause Books showing number and title of Appeal, Court or Judge appealed from, date of order appealed from, date of service of Notice of Appeal, nature of Order appealed from, date of Supreme Court Order(s) and result of Appeal, Solicitor for Appellant and Solici- tor for Respondent: 2. Registrar's Court Books: These are the books in which the Court Registrar enters his notes at the hear- ing of an Appeal. The amount of information varies from one Appeal to another, some containing only a list of cases and statutes cited and a brief note of Court Order, others containing a precis of the argument and of the judgment given. As a general rule, the older the Book the briefer the record. The Books available run from 26th October, 1922 to date. 3. New Trial Motion Cause Book: This Book covers the period from 1922 to 1926 when the Office abandon- ed the old procedure of dividing applications to the Supreme Court into two classes—Appeals (entered in Cause Book—see item 1) and New Trial Motions. The New Trial Motion Cause Book was more a record of the bespeaking of the Trial Judge's note, and the in- formation recorded is not as full as for the Cause Books. The New Trial Motion Cause book is held in the Public Record Office under the reference no. 2B-82-105. 4. Supreme Court Orders: Bound volumes of Orders have been kept since 1928 and their are retained in the Supreme Court Office. Prior to that date the draft Order was filed with the relevant papers in the case (the 'Book of Appeal'). 5. (a) Copies of Judgments delivered between early 1922 and 17th June, 1965. The 1922-1927 judgments are held in the Public Record Office. Some are typed but the majority are hand-written. They are filed in four bundles 1922-24, 1925, 1926 and 1927, and the Public Record Office reference No. is 2B-82-111 to 114. The 1928-1965 copy judgments are at present held in the Supreme Court Office, though some of these are scheduled for removal to the Public Record Office in due course. Again, some are typed, more are manu- script. The majority of Reserved Judgments delivered are available, hut occasional Judgments are missing, (b) original Judgments delivered since 18th June, 1965. Vol. 1 March, 1922 to December, 1932 Vol. 2 January, 1933 to December, 1944 Vol. 3 January 1945 to December, 1955 Vol. 4 January, 1956 to December, 1962 Vo. 5 January, 1963 to December, 1968 Vol. 6 January, 1969 to date All are held in the Supreme Court Office.

The earlier system whereby copies of judgments were supplied to the Office by the Court Reporters, was discontinued in June, 1965. A Register of all Re- served Judgments from 18th June, 1965 is now kept and the original Judgment is retained in the Office. The series is complete. 6. Legal Diaries: This Broadsheet has been published daily for over 120 years, and gives the Lists forthe various Courts (Supreme Court, High Court, Circuit Court, Central Criminal Court, Land Commission Court, etc. but not the District Courts). Bound volumes of the Legal Diary are kept in the Taxing Master's Office from 1923 on. Loose copies are available in the Supreme Court Office. 7. Law Reports: The Reports relied on for the purpose of summarising Judgments were :— (a) Irish Reports 1922 to 1956 (b) Irish Law Times Reports 1922 to 1956; (c) Irish Jurist Reports 1935 to 1956. The Irish Reports have been taken to be the authori- tative reports, the other two reports being availed of to cover appeals not reported in the Irish Reports. J. B. MCCARTNEY (Lecturer in Law, Queen's University, Belfast)

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