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JULY, 1926]
The Gazette of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.
15
Court Officers' Bill, 1926.
The above Bill as passed by both Houses
of the Oireachtas can be obtained from
Messrs. Eason and Son, 40 and 41 Lower
O'Connell Street, Dublin. Price sixpence.
Circuit Court Pleadings.
The following resolution has been passed
by the Council, and copies of it have been
sent to the two members of the Circuit
Courts' Rules Committee, who represent the
Solicitors' profession on that Committee :
Resolved :
" Having regard to the great
extension of jurisdiction conferred upon
the Circuit Courts by the Courts of Justice
Act, 1924, as compared with the former
County Courts' jurisdiction, the Council is
of opinion
that certain pleadings are
essential.
The Council is of opinion that the following
would be a suitable form of procedure :
1. Document containing particulars of
plaintiff's claim.
2. Document combining appearance and
defence and (if any) counterclaim.
" The Council is of opinion that no
further document
in
the nature of a
pleading is requisite, and that the plaintiff's
Splicitor should serve seven days' notice
of trial, and in default that defendant's
Solicitor should be at liberty to do so.
" The Council consider that in many
cases serious miscarriage of justice might
result if the defendant was not bound
within reasonable time before hearing to
serve a document disclosing the nature of
bis defence."
Public Records.
The following is a copy of a letter which
has been received from the Assistant Deputy
Keeper of Public Records, and the Council
invite the attention of members of the Society
to the requests contained therein :
Public Record Office of Ireland,
Dublin, 14th May, 1926.
Dear Sir,
Might I ask you to bring before the Council
of the Incorporated Law Society the urgency
of
requesting Solicitors
to co-operate
in
building up again the Public Record Office
by presenting it with original probates qr
letters of administration or certified copies of
Records obtained from the Record Office or
other Legal Departments,
e.g.,
Wills, Grants,
Hearth Money and Census Returns, Patents,
Chancery
and
Exchequer
Bills
and
Pleadings, etc.
Plain copies and extracts from Wills,
Marriage Licence Bonds and other similar
documents, if preserved, would often be of
great genealogical interest.
The legal profession and its clients have
already suffered irreparable loss through the
destruction of the original records which
were preserved here, and, under the circum–
stances, it is of the greatest importance that
any substitutes for them which exist should
be preserved.
In April, 1924, Government issued an
appeal to Solicitors to deposit such documents
here, and several have done so.
On the
whole, however, the response to the appeal
was very small.
As the indexes in the
Record Office have for the most part been
salved, notation can be made in them of
documents presented, which will thus be
rendered much more accessible to Solicitors
as well as to the general public than if they
remain in private custody.
Anyone presenting a Record will be per–
mitted at any time to inspect it, and, if a
certified copy of the Record is required, it
will be supplied to the donor free of charge.
In the case of Solicitors who do not wish to
permanently surrender Records
in
their
possession, I shall be greatly obliged if they
will deposit them here for a short time to
enable Record copies to be made, and the
originals will be returned to them. This plan
has already been adopted by some Solicitors.
Yours faithfully,
(Signed), JAMES F. MORRISSEY,
Assistant Deputy Keeper of
Records.
The Secretary,
Incorporated Law Society of Ireland,
45 Kildare Street, Dublin.