The Gazette 1974

EDITORIAL The Proposed Planning Board

Members are doubtless aware that, under the pro- posed Local Government (Planning and Development) Bill, 1973, it is proposed to establish a new Appeal Planning Board in substitution for appeals to the Minister for Local Government directly, as provided by the Act of 1963. The former procedure undoubtedly led to a great many abuses, and one had assumed that the new Planning Board would be an improvement. But when one reads that the Minister may appoint the full- time Chairman for a three-year period, and no specified and detailed qualifications are laid down for the appointment, one begins to wonder. Furthermore the Government may remove him at any time, if his re- moval appears to be necessary, and the Dail and the Seanad are merely informed by a statement in writing of the reasons for the removal; no parliamentary motion need be passed. There are also two other mem- bers of the Board, who may be civil servants; they are Proceedings of the 7 MARCH 1974 The President in the chair, also present : Messrs William B. Allen, Walter Beatty, John F. Buckley, John Carrigan, Anthony Collins, Gerard M. Doyle, Mrs. Felicity Foley, James R. C. Green, Gerald Hickey, Christopher Hogan, Michael P. Houlihan, Nicholas S. Hughes, Thomas Jackson, jnr., Francis J. Lanigan, John Maher, Ernest J. Margetson, Patrick Moore, Patrick McEntee, Job n J. Nash, Peter E. O'Connell, Patrick F. O'Donnell, James W. O'Donovan, Rory O'Connor, John A. O'Meara, William A. Osborne, David R. Pigot, M rs. Moya Quinlan, Brian W. Russell, Robert McD. Taylor, and Ralph J. Walker. Public Relations Leaflets The Council decided that leaflets should be prepared and issued by the Society on the following topics : 1. Buying a house. 2. Making a will. 3. The Incorporated Law Society of Ireland. Abortive Mortgage Transaction Members wrote to the Society concerning an opinion published in the June 1972 Gazette which was to the effect that a mortgagor's solicitor is not entitled to claim costs from a mortgagee in an abortive mortgage transaction. Members pointed out that an agreement made between the two parties prior to loan would be binding upon the parties and would supersede the ruling of the Council. The Council considered this matter and agreed that such an agreement would supersede the Council's ruling. THE SOCIETY

appointed and removable by the Minister at will. Need- less to say, no member of the Board can be a member of the Oireachtas or of a Local Authority. It would be hard to devise a less independent tri- bunal, who must keep in the good graces of the Minister in order to remain members of the Board. The only puny restriction appears to be that a member may not act in relation to any matter in which he has a financial or beneficial interest. The Board must keep itself in- formed of the policies and objectives of the Minister, as well as of the planning and local authorities, and is subject to any general ministerial policy directives. It is difficult to see how such a Board, hedged in with so many restrictions, could act independently. In one sec- tion, the High Court may prohibit unauthorised devel- opment or use of land, but otherwise apparently Consti- tutional arguments will have to be found in order to sustain a High Court declaration of unconstitutionality. Council T he 18th Interim Report of the Committee on Court Practice and Procedure This report deals with the execution of money judg- ments. The Committee recommended that money judg' merits in the District and Circuit Courts should be of the same status as High Court judgments and that the lower Courts should have similar jurisdiction as the High Court has in making the various forms of execu- tion orders, stop orders, etc. The Council on consid- eration of this aspect of the report saw no reason why the lower Courts should not have such similar juris- diction. A more radical proposal in the report was that judg- ment mortgage system should be replaced and in i^ place a central judgments registry should be attached to the High Court wherein all judgments for £100 or more should be registered. The registration would operate as a legal charge and all interests of the judgment debtor in immovable property vested in him at the date of registration or vesting in him thereafter during the life- time of the judgment. Mr. Justice Kenny, a member of the Committee, strongly dissented from this recommen- dation which he believed would cause considerable delay in the conclusion of all sales of land, e.g. a regis* tration of a mortgage against one Sean Murphy would mean that all purchasers from any person bearing the name Sean Murphy would have to be conclusively satisfied that the person from whom they are buying lS not the person against whom the judgment has been registered. The Council on consideration of this matter felt that the Society should write to the Department of Justice supporting the dissenting view of Mr. Justice Kenny. 100