The Gazette 1973

LAW SOCIETY TO GO TO LAW OVER COURTHOUSE Waterford Corporation recently acquired the 18th- century meeting house of the Society of Friends, which it is reconstructing as a temporary District Court at a cost of £10,000. The secretary of the Waterford Law Society said, however, that it would be unworkable because of inadequate parking facilities, and that this measure merely represented another temporary ex- pedient. The Irish Times (6 June 1973) RULES OF SUPERIOR COURTS (No.1)-1973 S.I. No. 220 of 1973 In a bid to get a proper courthouse for the city, the Waterford Law Society is to take High Court proceed- ings against Waterford Corporation. For almost three years now no regular sittings have been held in the 130-year-old courthouse because of its dilapidated and dangerous condition, and for the first time since 1919 it was not used as the local centre for the counting of votes in this year's General Election. Sittings of the Waterford district, civil and children's Courts are now held eight miles away in Tramore, while sessions of the Waterford Circuit Court and the High Court on circuit take place in Dungarvan, 28 miles from the city.

43 of the Act, endorsed the warrant on foot of which the District Court, under Section 47 of the Act, ordered the delivery over of the person named or described in the warrant. The Rules can be purchased from the Government Publications Sale Office, Dublin, for 2£p plus postage.

These Rules provide (1) that an application for release under Section 50 of the Extradition Act 1965 (No. 17 of 1965) shall be made by special summons and (2) that the summons shall be served on the person (the Com- missioner of the Garda Siochana, a Deputy Commis- sioner or an Assistant Commissioner) who, under section

BACK TO THE BREATHALYSER The breathalyser is with us again—this time with a vengeance and the loophole in the regulations govern- ing blood samples has been smoothed out by the Minis- ter for Local Government, Mr. James Tully.

by the Medical Bureau of Road Safety, were on hand in all Garda stations. The doctor had to break a seal on the bottle in the defendant's presence and take the blood sample. The blood was then put in the bottle which contained anti-coagulant and preservative and was supposed to be sealed by the doctor. In practice, however, the "sealing" or "stopping" consisted only of screwing back the top on the bottle before it was placed in a self-sealing envelope and sent to the Medical Bureau. Now, however, the bottles have been supplied with a self-sealing strip which complies with the regulations. These new bottles have not yet been supplied to Garda stations but are expected within the next few days. Mr. Tully, in his announcement, advised the public that he had taken steps to enable the breathalyser procedures to operate effectively. Irish Independent (15 June 1973)

Mr. Tully spelled out his message in clear simple terms last night. "The Minister wishes to take this opportunity to warn those who may think they can continue to drink and drive with impunity that the measures taken by him have been designed to enable Gardai to enforce the law related to drinking and driving effectively." Thousands of motorists charged under the special blood-test regulations of the 1968 Road Traffic Act have smiled as District Justices dismissed charges follow- ing a High Court and then a Supreme Court ruling that the manner in which the blood tests were being carried out was not in line with the regulations. The problem was in the sealing of the bottles used by Garda doctors for blood samples. The bottles, supplied

EXEMPTION AND REDUCTION IN STAMP DUTIES

of houses and lands. It also provides for exemption from stamp duty on mortgages up to £10,000 and for the increase from ten to fifteen per cent of the rate of stamp duty chargeable on contracts for the construction of office buildings. It can be purchased at the Government Publications Sales Office, G.P.O. Arcade, Dublin 1. Price £0.7£. 178

The attention of members is being drawn to the Imposi- tion of Duties (No. 206) (Stamp Duty on Certain Instruments) Order 1973 S.I. No. 140 of 1973 which came into operation on 1 June 1973 and affects any instrument executed on or after that date. This Order provides for exemption from and reduc- tion of the rates of stamp duty chargeable on transfers