The Gazette 1982

GAZETTE

JULY/AUGUS T 1982

Correspondence

Yours faithfully, Peter Lennon, Esq., Solicitor, 58 Merrion Square, Dublin 2.

The Editor, Incorporated Law Society Gazette, Blackhall Place,

Dublin 7. Dear Sir,

Further to Professor Wolfe's Article in the January/ February, 1982 Gazette regarding the enlargement of the Malicious Injuries Code under the Malicious Injuries Act 1981, practitioners may be interested to note that the Circuit Court has now given Judgment in favour of two Applicants against a Local Authority for damage caused to motor vehides stolen from outside the Applicants private dwelling houses and subsequently recovered in a crashed and severely 'amaged state. These Applications which were previously unsustainable under the old Malicious Injuries Code are now actionable against the Local Authority in whose area the car was stolen from. The Applications are brought under Section 5, subsection (2), subsection (d) of the Malicious Injuries Act 1981 and His Honour Judge Martin in a decision given on the 5th November, 1982 has ruled that that subsection was specifically drafted and included by the Legislature to cover cases where the private property of individuals was stolen or taken away and subsequently recovered in a damaged state. Judge Martin stated that the phrase "whether or not" for the purpose of commiting a crime against the property damaged were the essential words of the section. He stated that he had no doubt that subsection (d) was intended to provide relief to Applicants for the exceedingly common acts of malice and wanton destruction of private property which were so common place nowadays. Practitioners should note however that this section will not provide relief where there is evidence adduced by the Local Authority to prove that the damage occurred as a result of a direct Act of negligence by the unknown party in either crashing into another vehicle or crashing into another person. Practitioners should also be aware of the scope of Section 12 (1) which allows the Court to take into consideration any contributory negligence by the Applicant in his conduct as respect any precautions that might reasonably have been taken by him to avoid the damage and the loss in these particular applications, in particular the question of whether or not the car was securely locked or parked in a normal and careful manner. Prior to the determination of the above mentioned matter by Judge Martin, the City Manager and County Manager had made it a rule of practice that cases of this type would not be settled in a Consent list and would all be remitted to a Defendant List. It must be hoped therefore that in view of the decision of the Circuit Court more types of this particular case will be settled without the necessity of bringing the matter into the Defendant List.

The Editor, Incorporated Law Society Gazette, Blackhall Place,

Dublin 7. Dear Sir,

For over twenty years I have been registered as Owner of some £9.00. 6% Land Bonds and £4.00.4% Land Bonds representing small fees allocated to me in Land Commission Purchases. The interest is totally insignificant and not worth the trouble of Banking. The dividend Warrants are sent out in separate envelopes at ordinary postal charges and the waste of expensive Civil Service time which this involves is dreadful to contemplate. The chances of the Bonds being redeemed seems slight. There must be many similar holdings in the hands of solicitors all over the country and it occurs to me to suggest that to turn the bonds and the interest they earn to anything like worthwhile account they could by a process of individual donations be consolidated to the credit of the Solicitors Benevolent Association. I therefore proffer a donation of the Bonds to the Association on the basis of my professional brethren doing the same. Incidently, this would save the taxpayer quite an appreciable expense.

Yours sincerely, Noel Reid, Esq., Solicitor, 13 Lr. Ormond Quay, Dublin 1.

GEORGE GAVAN DUFFY MEMORIAL LECTURE

A Memorial Lecture on the occasion of the centenary of the birth of Mr. Justice George Gavan Duffy was delivered by Mr. Colum Gavan Duffy, former Librarian of the Society and former Editor of the Gazette, to the Clogher Historical Society in Monaghan on 30 November, 1982, and will subsequently be delivered in Dublin, Cork and Galway. A copy of the script of this lecture will be available for consultation in the Society's Library. 227