The Gazette 1982

GAZETTE

JULY/AUGUS T 1982

generally in the State, to be varied". The Minister must lay such an order before the Oireachtas in the usual way. Until 1981, interest on judgment debts also ran on the costs awarded with it but this applied only to decrees and orders of the High Court. Now, Section 27 of the Debtors (Ireland) Act 1840 has been extended by Section 21 of the 1981 Act so that interest runs on Circuit Court costs. Another innovation is that judgment debts not exceeding £150 do not carry interest irrespective of the Court in which the judgment was obtained (S.23 1981 Act). The Minister for Justice may vary by order the figure of £150. The new statutory discretion to award interest By Section 22 of the 1981 Act, a judge has discretion in any proceedings where he orders payment of money, including damages, to order payment of interest thereon. This section is modelled on Section 3 of the English Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1934. It must be remembered, however, that the Irish section has several important differences from its English counterpart. It is worth quoting Section 22 of the 1981 Act in full: 1. Where in any proceedings a court orders the payment by any person of a sum of money (which expression includes in this section damages), the judge concerned may, if he thinks fit, also order the payment by the person of interest at the rate per annum standing specified for the time being in section 26 of the Debtors (Ireland) Act, 1840, on the whole or any part of the sum in respect of the whole or any part of the period between the date when the cause of action accrued and the date of the judgment. 2. Nothing in subsection (1) of this section — (a) shall authorise the giving of interest, or (b) shall apply in relation to any debt upon which interest is payable as of right whether by virtue of any agreement or otherwise, or (c) shall affect any damages recoverable for the dishonour of a bill of exchange, or (d) shall authorise the giving of interest in respect of a period before the passing of this Act, or (e) shall authorise the giving of interest on damages for personal injuries, or in respect of a person's death, in so far as the damages are in respect of — (i) any loss occurring after the date of the judgment for the damages, or (ii) any loss (not being pecuniary loss) occurring between the date when the cause of action to which the damages relate accrued and the date of the said judgment. 3. In this section— "damages for personal injuries" includes damages for personal injuries arising out of a contract;

"pecuniary loss" means loss in money or money's worth, whether by parting with what one has or by not getting what one might get; "personal injuries" includes any disease and any impairment of a person's physical or mental condition; "proceedings" includes proceedings to which the State or a State authority (within the meaning of the [Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act 1961]) is a party." Already the High Court has considered this Section in the judgment of Finlay P. in Mellowhide Products Ltd. -v- Barry Agencies Ltd. (22 February, 1982 unreported). This case involved the usual summary summons to recover payment for goods sold and delivered. The Master of the High Court ordered that the Plaintiff be at liberty to enter final judgment for the debt in question together with interest at 11% from the date of issue of the summons. The Registrar of the High Court refused to enter judgment for the interest being of the opinion that she did not have power under Section 22 of the 1981 Act. The matter went back to the Master who transferred the summons to the High Court judge's list, having discharged his earlier order. Finlay P. had to consider, firstly, whether it was within the jurisdiction of the Master to grant interest under Section 22 (1) of the 1981 Act and secondly, whether his discretion to do so should be exercised in this particular case. The learned President reluctantly concluded that the phrase in the Section, "the judge concerned . . . ", could not be construed as giving the Master any jurisdiction. The Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act 1961 made it clear that a judge of the High Court could only be one appointed under the Constitution and could not include the Master or a Registrar. It followed therefore that the new statutory discretion to award interest was not available in the Master's Court. Finlay P. pointed out that this was not only different from the U.K. section in their 1934 Act but also caused an anomaly that the legislation might consider remedying. He stated: "If in order to recover interest before judgment a creditor suing in default of appearance or in default of defence has to seek to have the matter put in the judge's list then such creditor will be put to additional cost and expense and if the amount is recoverable in full the debtor will be put to additional cost and expense even if he does not appear or defend". In the President's view there did not appear to be any logical reason why the Master should not have the statutory discretion. Finlay P. decided to allow the claim of the Plaintiff for interest from the date of issue of the summons, stating:— "Where a debt is due as the result of an ordinary trading or commercial transaction it would appear to me that the debtor delaying the due payment of his liabilities is clearly and in a sense intentionally depriving his creditor of the use and value of the money concerned". He was also influenced by "the fact as a matter of common knowledge" that prevailing interest rates

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