181 / 262
LAW SOCIETY TO GO TO LAW OVER
COURTHOUSE
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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
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)
EXEMPTION AND REDUCTION
IN STAMP DUTIES
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
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