The Gazette 1992

GAZETTE

SEPTEMBER 1992

E NIC E

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Family Home Protection Act, 1976 of prior transactions as the Register, in the absence of actual fraud, is conclusive as to the validity of any such transaction. Therefore in light of this decision Requisition 23.5 should be amended so that where it refers to Registered Land enquiries should be confined in respect of the 1976 Act to after the current registered owner was registered.

payable to G who now cares for and maintains I.

Criminal Injuries Compensation

Dear Editor,

A further twist in this story is that the Compensation Board in Britain will not make any payment to G on behalf of I, until G establishes parental rights over I, by being appointed I 's guardian and I becoming a Ward of the Court. The likely level of awards under the British scheme is illustrated by details I have received showing awards of £750 for a broken nose, £11,500 for total loss of hearing in one ear and £20,000 for loss of one eye. Not only does "crime not pay", but in Ireland being a victim of crime does not pay either!

The President of the Law Soceity's recent call for an extension of the Criminal Injuries Scheme as reported in the July/August issue of the Gazette has caught my eye. When practising in England I pursued a number of claims with the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme in that country. Paradoxically, upon returning to practise in Ireland, my first instruction was from a client resident in Ireland who suffered injury as a result of a crime committed in London. The contrasting approach of the two countries' similar schemes is illustrated by the likely awards payable in this particular case. Taking the fact situation: H (husband) W (Wife) and I (infant child of H+W). H murders W (in London), and is eventually convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. I, then becomes effectively an orphan, and is cared for by G (I's grandmother), who witnessed some of the criminal act and suffers minor physical but more serious psychological injuries. Under the British scheme, I, as a dependent of W can expect to receive a bereavement award of STG £7,500, and an additional award based upon the financial dependency of I to W. In addition, a "reasonable s um" is payable in respect of W's funeral expenses. G can also claim compensation for her physical and psychological injuries. If the crime had happened in Lucan, rather than London, neither I or G would be eligible to claim under the Irish scheme. The only financial contribution of the State in this case is an Orphan's Allowance of £32

Yours etc. John Kilraine, BA, LLB, Apprentice Solicitor. Taylor's Hill, Galway.

Yours etc.

ÍT - ,

*

JohnHussey John Hussey & Co. Fermoy Co. Cork.

Irish Document Exchange 37 Fenian Street, Dublin 2. Phone: 01-764601. Fax: 01-767093. DX 1 DUBLIN. OVERNIGHT, EVERY NIGHT, EVERYWHERE Now members of the Irish Document Exchange can reach, overnight, more than 1,500 other users of the system throughout Ireland.

Objections & Requisitions on Title, August, 1990 (Revised) Edition.

Dear Editor,

Requisition 23.5 of the above edition states in relation to the Family Home Protection Act, 1976, "Was the property or any part thereof at any time or does it presently comprise the "family home" as defined in the Act of any person other than the Vendor or previous owner on Title?" This requisition fails to take into account the High Court decision of Mr Justice Gannon in Guckian -v- Brennan [1981 ] IR 478 where he held that in respect of Registered Land there is no obligation on the purchaser of such land to make enquiries as to the validity under the

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