The Gazette 1973

Chapter 58: Bankruptcy of Solicitors and Auctioneers —Major Recommendations Changes recommended either under (1) the Solicitors Act 1954, Sections 34, 51, 61 and 69; (2) the Solicitors Act 1960, Sections 21 and 32; and (3) the Auctioneers and House Agents Act 1967, Sections 5, 11, 14 and 15. No change recommended. Chapter 59: Doctrine of Relation Back— Major Recom- mendation The doctrine of relation back should be abolished. Certain transactions by a debtor within three months of adjudication should, however, be void against the Official Assignee. Chapter 60: Married Women— Major Recommenda- tions It is recommended that husband and wife can claim against each other as if they were not married. Chapter 61: Reputed Ownership— Major Recommen- dations The reputed ownership or order and disposition clausc should not be re-enacted. Chapter 62 The Trustee Clauses contained in Sections 87-122 of the Bankruptcy Ireland Amendment Act 1872 should not be re-enacted. Chapter 63: Wards of Court— Major Recommenda- tions As regards persons of unsound mind the Committee state that no special legislation is necessary to deal with the case of a bankrupt becoming a person of unsound mind. On the other hand, if an infant under twenty-one is liable at law in respect of any debt or obligation, he should be liable to be adjudicated a bankrupt and to obtain the protection of the Court. The draft Bankruptcy Bill set out in Appendix D contains 174 sections and 2 schedules. The draft Bank- ruptcy Rules set out in Appendix E contains 37 sections divided into 124 rules and in addition there are 51 forms. courtroom which will be in use for relatively few days in the year. The Twelfth Interim Report of the Committee on Court Practice and Procedure averted to this situation and their report includes the following recommenda- tion : "We are of opinion that so far as is possible courtrooms outside Dublin which are only in periodic use should be so designed as to be capable of being used for other community activities when the court is not actually in session." The report also recommends that local authorities be relieved of the expense of providing and maintaining accommodation which is used only for the purpose of court work but should bear a share of the expense involved in providing dual purpose accommodation. Irish Independent (24 July 1973)

tor. His expenses and those of his assistants should be borne by bankrupt's estates. It should be a misde- meanour to obstruct an auctioneer appointed by the Minister or the Court or the Inspector or his assistant. No provision for payment to the Inspector of a percen- tage of the amount realised by the sale of a bank- rupt's goods and chattels should be made. Chapter 53: Auxiliary Provisions— Major Recommen- dations The auxiliary provisions or order in aid section should not alone be retained but extended to other countries, as evidenced by the following : (1) Avant-projet de convention relative á la faillite, aux concordats et aux procedures analogues. (2) Rapport sur la convention relative á la faillite, aux concordats et aux procedures analogues. Rather than delay presentation of the Report we decided not to await an English translation which was not immediately available nor to work on the French version, which of necessity would be slow. Chapter 54: Rule Making Authority— Major Recom- mendations A separate and independent Rule Making Authority should be established to deal with bankruptcy matters. Chapter 55: Preferential Payments— Major Recom- mendations Preferential payments of all kinds should be abol- ished. Chapter 56: Returns to Parliament— Major Recom- mendations Both the annual return to Dail Eireann and the half- yearly return to the Examiner should be abolished. Chapter 57: Second or subsequent Bankruptcies— Major Recommendations Creditors in second and subsequent bankruptcies should have priority in those bankruptcies. Readers may recall a similar direction to the' then Minister for Justice made by Mr. Justice Henchy in respect of Drogheda Courthouse in October 1971. A further order was made in that case in April 1972 recommending the Minister to contact the Minister for Finance with a view to getting the Commissioner for Public Works to carry out the repairs. This is a liaison envisaged by Section 6 (1) (a) of the Courthouses (Provision and Maintenance) Act, 1935, which places on local authorities the responsibility for the upkeep of courthouses. It is by now notorious that very many of our court- houses, and in particular district courthouses, are in a deplorable state of disrepair. Drogheda and Waterford were only two outstanding examples. The problem is finance : local authorities are natur- ally reluctant to spend money on the upkeep of a

Finance seen as the crux for repair of courthouse

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