The Gazette 1924-27

The Gazette of the Incorporated Law Society ol Ireland.

28

[DECEMBER, 1926

retired. It would be impossible to deal with this Act in any detail within reasonable limits of time, but the cardinal idea is to establish in the High Court one central office and a number of sub-divisions, and to make the staff of.these sub-divisions interchange– able. The object apparently aimed at is economy and efficiency. It is too soon yet to say whether these objects will be attained, but at all events your Council will use every endeavour to make the changes successful. High Court and Supreme Court Rules. Consequent on the passing of the Court Officers Act, the new Rules of the High Court and Supreme Court came into force on 1st October last. These new Rules are comprised within twenty or thirty pages, and, except so far as the practice is altered by them, the former Rules and practice are to prevail. The principal change effected by the Rules is to establish the important office of the Master of the High Court, with power to hear and dispose of matters heretofore dealt with by one of the Judges, and to give to the Master the general control of the Offices of the Court. As your President I attended several meet– ings of the Rule-making Authority, and I should like to take this opportunity of thanking the Chief Justice and his colleagues for the invariable courtesy extended to me and the careful and sympathetic considera– tion with which any suggestions I made in your interest were received. The Schedule of Fees which is annexed to the Rule was prepared by a Special Committee of the Council, and was adopted by the Rule- making Authority without practically any alteration. The Schedule of the Court Fees or stamps payable in connection with the work in the High Court was submitted to me, and the amendments in same which I suggested, after consultation with your Council, were all adopted by the Rule- making Authority. Whilst these Court Fees have been substantially increased, I do not think the general public and the litigants who use the Court can complain that ;hey are excessive. I would only say in passing that these Rules must be regarded as tentative, as, no doubt, anyone can at once

point to defects in them and can make suggestions which would be an easy improve– ment. But it is undesirable that these amendments should be made piecemeal, and I think the profession would do well to watch developments through your Council, and bring all the proposed changes or amend– ments before the Rule-making Authority to be dealt with at the same time. Circuit Court Rules. During the past year a Special Committee appointed by the Council has devoted much attention to the preparation of the Rules for the Circuit Court. Owing to the largely increased jurisdiction under the Courts of Justice Act it has been necessary to scrap practically the entire body of the old Rules of the County Court. These new Rules numbering in all some 500 and running into over 150 pages were finally adopted by the Rule-making Authority and sent to the Minister for Justice in July last, but owing to a controversy about some of these Rules in the Dail the motion for their adoption was withdrawn, -and they are still the subject of consideration by the Rules Committee. In the Rules as drafted originally there was no detailed scale of fees, and provision was made until such scale was prescribed that the ordinary costs of the High Court, less one-third, should be those payable in the Circuit Court. At the request of the Minister the Schedule of Fees has now been prepared and is at present under consideration. There has been some division of opinion amongst practitioners in the Circuit Court as to whether there should be pleadings, and the matter having been fully discussed by the Council, we came to the conclusion that in many cases a serious miscarriage of justice might result if the defendant was not bound, within a reasonable time before the hearing, to serve some document in the nature of a pleading stating what was his real defence. The Rules as at present proposed provide for pleadings in actions where the amount claimed exceeds £50, but in actions for amounts not exceeding that sum there is to be no further pleadings after service of the Summons and Claim, unless the Court otherwise orders. In this connection I should like to thank particularly Messrs. W. Gordon