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The Gazette of the Incorporated Law Society ol Ireland.
[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