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JUNE, 1926]
The Gazette of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland,
Richard Orpen, was President of this Society
for the record period of sixteen years, from
1860 to 1876. We have with us to-day, I
am glad to say, two sons of Mr. Orpen,
Mr. Charles St. G. Orpen and Mr. Arthur
H. S. Orpen, both of whom have occupied
this Chair with distinction for themselves
and, I may add, with benefit to the profession.
But it is not alone in the law that Mr. Orpen
has left worthy representatives. Mr. R.
Caulfield Orpen is eminent alike in archi–
tecture and in art. Another son, Sir William
Orpen, R.A., stands to-day almost without
a rival as the greatest living portrait painter.
And here, parenthetically, may I say how
much our profession
is
indebted to Sir
William for his masterpiece,
" The Last
Lord Chief Justice of Ireland," which he
painted for us as a presentation to Sir
Thomas Molony, Bart.
In accordance with custom I now ask your
attention to some of the principal matters of
importance and interest that have occupied
your Council since the last General Meeting,
and in doing so you will readily understand
that, within the limits of time, it is only
possible
for me
to
touch on
the most
important, in broad outline and without
detail.
Courts of Justice Act and Court Officers' Bill.
Law generally may be divided into two
classes: Substantive Law, which defines
new rights or alters or modifies existing
rights ;
and Adjective Law, which provides
the procedure for aiding and protecting those
rights. Whilst we as ordinary citizens are,
of course, largely interested in the Substantive
Law, as a profession we are more directly
concerned in the Adjective Law or procedure.
Our new legislature has, from its inception,
been very active in respect of the latter
branch of law.
The Courts of Justice Act, 1924, made
fundamental changes in the establishment of
Courts of Justice and the procedure therein.
It must be regarded as a novel and great
experiment, for the root idea underlying the
Act, by largely extending the jurisdiction of
Local or Circuit Courts, is the decentralisa–
tion of the administration of justice.
It is
yet too soon to say whether the Act will
prove the success that is hoped for, but it
certainly is very debatable whether, in a
small country such as the Free State with
a widely scattered population, and depending
for its prosperity largely on the credit which
it is able to maintain not alone abroad, but
with its own capital city and large towns,
such a system as the Act establishes is
desirable.
Above all
else,
the pressing
necessity is the establishment of the credit
of the Free State, and that creditors, whether
at home or abroad, should feel that there is
a certain and speedy means of enforcing the
obligations of their debtors. Whatever the
defects under the old system may have been,
there was at least provided by it machinery
whereby in cases of contract (and they form
by far the
largest number of cases
in
litigation) the creditor could obtain a speedy
and effective judgment in the High Court
where the debtor made default in appearance
to the writ, or where he entered an appearance
merely for the purpose of delay, and this
remedy was obtainable at a minimum of
inconvenience, at small cost and without any
undue hardship on the debtor. Of course,
that remedy will still exist under the new
Rules;
but creditors,
except
for
large
amounts, will be slow to accept the penalties
imposed on them for proceeding in the High
Court, where the case is within the limits of
the jurisdiction of the Circuit Courts. The
new Rules for the several Courts established
by the Act have been drafted for some time,
and we are assured that they are ready to
be brought into operation as soon as the
present Bill dealing with the Court Officers
has been passed.
It is hoped that the Rules
in the Circuit Court will at least make
provision both for judgments by default of
appearance, and for a speedy disposal of
those cases where the debtor enters an
appearance merely with a view of borrowing
time till the next Sessions are held, perhaps
at an interval of months.
The Court Officers' Bill at present before
the legislature
is complementary
to
the
Courts of Justice Act, 1924. As soon as the
draft Bill was printed, your Council met
specially to consider it, and appointed a
Special Committee to deal with it in detail.
That Committee
accepted
the
general
principles of the Bill, and devoted themselves
to such details as would ensure the efficient
working of the several offices. The central