The Gazette 1992

MARCH 1992

GAZETTE

not form part of the originally concluded oral contract, achieved the desired degree of certainty. The Supreme Court so held in allowing the appeal of the defendants against the decision of Barrington J that there had been a concluded oral contract for the sale of land between the parties and a sufficient note or memorandum thereof to satisfy the requirements of Section 2 of the Statute of Frauds (Ireland) 1695 and in holding that there was no contract for the sale of land between the parties which could be specifically enforced by the Court.

agreement for the purposes of satisfying the requirements of section 2 of the Statute of Frauds (Ireland), 1695 was a desirable aim. The statement that a note or memorandum of a contract made orally was not sufficient to satisfy the Statute of Frauds unless it directly or by very necessary implication recognised not only the terms to be enforced, but also the existence of a concluded contract between the parties, and the corresponding principle that no such note or memorandum which contains any term or expression, such as "subject to contract" can be sufficient, even if it can be established by oral evidence that such a term or expression did

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Eamonn G Hall

Frank Lanigan

practice under the following headings: How to Start? Form a Committee, Method of Naming, Matters for Each Client, Audit, Nominal Ledger, New Files, Keeping up the Momentum, Cheques, Receipts, Transfers, Bills, Posting, Cash Flow Control, Credit and Bank Reconciliation Balance. In the same edition of Legal Abacus for January, 1992, Delia Venables, an independent computer consultant, deals with the issue of Client Data Bases. Again, this article is of considerable practical interest to many practitioners. Many lawyers will welcome the recent decision of the Supreme Court in Boyle -v- Lee (Irish Times Law Report, February 10, 1992). The Supreme Court (Finlay CJ, Hederman, McCarthy, O'Flaherty & Egan, JJ.) dealt, inter alia, with the issue of the meaning of the phrase "subject to contract." The Supreme Court held that the law applicable to the formation of contracts for the sale of land should be as certain as it is possible to make it and to that end certainty in the question of what constitutes a sufficient note or memorandum of Subject to Contract

Acts of the Oireachtas, 1991

No. 1. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Act, 1991. 2. Marine Institute Act, 1991. 3. Sugar Act, 1991. 4. Destructive Insects and Pests (Amendment) Act, 1991. 5. Worker Participation (Regular Part-time Employees) Act, 1991. 6. Child Abduction and Enforcement of Custody Orders Act, 1991. 7. Social Welfare Act, 1991 8. Contractual Obligations (Applicable Law) Act, 1991 9. Radiological Protection Act, 1991 10. Presidential Establishment (Amendment) Act, 1991 11. Local Government Act, 1991 12. Educational Exchange (Ireland and the United States of America) Act, 1991 13. Finance Act, 1991 14. Adoption Act, 1991 15. Health (Amendment) Act, 1991 16. University of Limerick (Dissolution of Thomond College) Act, 1991 17. Child Care Act, 1991 18. Statute of Limitations (Amendment) Act, 1991 19. Temple Bar Area Renewal and Development Act, 1991 20. Courts Act, 1991 21. Courts (No. 2) Act, 1991 22. Tirade and Marketing Promotion Act, 1991 23. Courts (Supplemental Provisions) (Amendment) Act, 1991 24. Competition Act, 1991 25. Payment of Wages Act, 1991 26. Fisheries (Amendment) Act, 1991 27. Sea Pollution Act, 1991 28. Liability for Defective Products Act, 1991 29. B & I Line Act, 1991 30. Industrial Development (Amendment) Act, 1991 31. Criminal Damage Act, 1991 32. Appropriation Act, 1991 81