The Gazette 1978

OCTOBER 1978

GAZETTE

stage, and from now on, a sight of the C.R.V. before contract stage will be clearly advisable. 17.11 Title Insurance: The Committee discussed this matter with a representative of the C.T.I.—Title Insurance Co. Ltd. Discussions with local insurance interests are pending and thereafter a report with recommendations will be submitted to the Council. 17.12 Apart from the above-mentioned specific matters, the Committee dealt during the year with many points in relation to practice aqd procedure. The Committee welcomes comment from members on any practical or procedural points which they may come across from time to time. The Committee met in January 1978 to review Report No. 66 of the National Prices Commission and the action taken by the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Energy thereon in reducing the 50% N.P.C. Recommendation in respect of Schedule II costs to 40%. The Committee decided to make applications to the Court Rules Committees and to the Chief Justice for: (i) a 100% increase in Circuit Court Costs, as recommended by Professor Lees; (ii) a 150% increase in District Court Costs; and (iii) a 40% increase in Schedule II costs. Subsequently, the Court Rules Committee agreed to the following adjustments. (i) Superior Courts Rules 50% (ii) Circuit Courts Rules 100% (iii) District Court Rules 100% (iv) Schedule II Costs 40% The draft Orders were forwarded by the various Committees to the Minister for Justice. In June 1978 they were referred back by his Department seeking clarification on various matters. 18.2 In an effort to expedite a decision on what has now become a most involved and ineffective process, the President wrote to the Minister for Justice on 30 November 1977, 16 February 1978, 15 and 26 May 1978, and again on 20 June 1978. Eventually representatives of the Society discussed the problem with the Minister on 19 September 1978. 18.3 In the discussion the Society's representatives made the following points: (a) General dissatisfaction with the cumbersome method of negotiating increases and the need for a Standing Costs Committee. (b) The absolute necessity to do something immediately to break the log jam on the existing applications. (c) The impossibility of endeavouring to develop scales of costs which would "on average" produce an increase of 50% as recommended by the N.P.C. (d) The desirability of increasing (i) Superior Court Costs by 50% at once; (ii) District and Circuit Court Costs by at least 50% immediately with a further review as soon as the jurisdictions in those Courts are increased. (e) The absolute necessity to deal with conveyancing on a "market value" rather than P.L.V. basis. For his part the Minister made it clear that there could be no departure at this stage from overall control by the Ministry for Industry, Commerce and Energy on the advice of the N.P.C. Within that context, he could see the advantage of a Costs Committee. However, this would require legislation. To overcome the present difficulty where the matter is technically between the Rules Committees and the Minister, he suggested further discus- sions with officers of his Department. These discussions were being put in hand at the close of the year. 18.4 Notwithstanding that no final decision had been reached on the original application in May 1975 an application for a further adjustment in costs to compensate for increases in overheads since 1974 was made to the National Prices Commission in March 1977 and followed up with a detailed submission and survey report by Coopers and Lybrand in February 1978. However, the Commission was not prepared to consider the application in the form submitted. Following several discussions between the consultant to the Commission, the Director General and Mr. B. Barry, Coopers and Lybrand, it was decided to make a submission to the Commission dealing specifically with Court Costs and the fees specified in Schedule II. This submission was made in September 1978. 18.1

COSTS COMMITTEE

WflUam A. Osborne

Chairman

Denis Bergbi Thomas CaOan Laurence CoDen John H. DockreO Domlnlek Kearna William D. McEvoy Gerald J. Moloney Robert Plersc John Rochford Raymond Walker

170