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DECEMBER, 1926]
The Gazette of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.
27
the Society. My valued friend and colleague,
Mr. F. G. McKeever, of Drogheda, a member
of the Council; Mr. Croker Barrington, a
past member of the Council; Sir Charles
Brett, Belfast ;
Mr. John Read, Dublin ;
Mr. J. H. McLoughlln, Dublin ; Mr. Edward
A. Shaw, Mullingar ;
Mr. J. F. Williams,
Dungarvan ;
Mr. W. J. Dunlea, Cork; and
Mr. Michael M. Kenny, Longford.
We
tender
to the relatives of each of these our sympathy.
The several matters of importance that
have arisen during the past year are so fully
dealt with in the Report of the Council that
it is unnecessary for me to address you at
any length.
The Courts of Justice Act, 1924.
The fundamental principle of the Courts
of Justice Act, 1924, is the decentralisation
of the administration of justice. At our
meeting in May last, whilst I stated that your
Council and the profession generally would
continue to do everything possible to make
the new administration and its procedure a
success, I ventured to question the wisdom
of the Act.
It is becoming more manifest
every day that if the Irish Free State is to
make progress and become really prosperous
it can only be done by cultivating friendly
relations with England and the world beyond
our shores; by extending our trade and
commerce, and by broadening and strength–
ening our credit.. That credit can only rest
on a sure foundation when it is made clear
that there is machinery provided for a certain
and speedy enforcement of obligations.
Under the old procedure a creditor for any
substantial sum, by taking proceedings in the
High Court, could obtain a judgment for his
debt in a few weeks at most and at a small
cost, which was fixed and reasonable, and
at the same time the defendant was amply
protected against any chance miscarriage of
justice. Under the new system a creditor a
merchant in London, Manchester, Glasgow or
Dublin is practically compelled, unless his
claim exceeds £300, to sue his debtor in the
local Circuit Court with all the consequent
delay entailed by the fact that that Court
only sits at intervals of months, with the great
expense of bringing witnesses to a remote
country town, and with a further prospect
of having to defend an appeal after he has
obtained the judgment of the Circuit Court.
This is not likely to encourage wholesale
merchants to give credit, and there are not
wanting signs that the Act has already had
some effect in drying up that credit. No
doubt a creditor may institute proceedings
in the High Court, but if the amount claimed
does not exceed £300, the defendant can
always move to transfer the action to the
local Circuit Court, and in any event, the
plaintiff can only recover the costs payable
in respect of a like claim brought in the
Circuit Court.
Apart from its effect on
credit, it cannot be said that so far the
Circuit Courts provide a speedy remedy.
There are only eight Circuit Courts for the
whole of the 26 counties, and in many
counties the arrears are accumulating, and
with the additional work put upon them by
the greatly
increased
jurisdiction,
it
is
impossible for the Judges to overtake the
arrears.
Court Officers Act, 1926.
This Act, which is supplementary to the
Courts of Justice Act, became law in July
last. During its progress as a Bill in Parlia–
ment your Council gave close attention to
all the provisions of the Bill, and a deputa–
tion submitted to the Minister a number of
suggested amendments, with a view
to
insuring that the principal officers to be
appointed under the Act should be persons
who had skilled knowledge of the work they
would have to discharge, evidenced either by
their professional standing or gained by
their experience in similar offices.
Some of
the suggestions were adopted by the amend–
ments brought in by the Minister himself, but
they did not go so far as
the Council
desired.
One of our great difficulties in
dealing with measures of
this kind,
so
intimately affecting the profession, is that
these Bills are drafted without any previous
consultation with your Council or with any
members of
the profession, and once so
drafted it is difficult to make any impression
on the Minister or party responsible for the
draft. The effect that the Act had is to
make very sweeping changes in the working
of the offices attached to the several Courts of
Justice.
These changes were effected as
from 1st October, and as a result a number
of
the old and experienced officers have