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GAZETTE
MARCH 1992
Frank Lanigan
practice under the following
headings: How to Start? Form a
Committee, Method of Naming,
Matters for Each Client, Audit,
Nominal Ledger, New Files, Keeping
up the Momentum, Cheques,
Receipts, Transfers, Bills, Posting,
Cash Flow Control, Credit and Bank
Reconciliation Balance.
In the same edition of
Legal Abacus
for January, 1992,
Delia Venables,
an independent computer consultant,
deals with the issue of
Client Data
Bases.
Again, this article is of
considerable practical interest to
many practitioners.
Subject to Contract
Many lawyers will welcome the
recent decision of the Supreme
Court in
Boyle
-v-
Lee
(Irish Times
Law Report, February 10, 1992). The
Supreme Court (Finlay CJ,
Hederman, McCarthy, O'Flaherty &
Egan, JJ.) dealt, inter alia, with the
issue of the meaning of the phrase
"subject to contract."
The Supreme Court held that the
law applicable to the formation of
contracts for the sale of land should
be as certain as it is possible to
make it and to that end certainty in
the question of what constitutes a
sufficient note or memorandum of
agreement for the purposes of
satisfying the requirements of section
2 of the
Statute of Frauds (Ireland),
1695
was a desirable aim. The
statement that a note or
memorandum of a contract made
orally was not sufficient to satisfy
the Statute of Frauds unless it
directly or by very necessary
implication recognised not only the
terms to be enforced, but also the
existence of a concluded contract
between the parties, and the
corresponding principle that no
such note or memorandum which
contains any term or expression,
such as "subject to contract" can
be sufficient, even if it can be
established by oral evidence that
such a term or expression did
not form part of the originally
concluded oral contract, achieved
the desired degree of certainty.
The Supreme Court so held in
allowing the appeal of the
defendants against the decision of
Barrington J that there had been a
concluded oral contract for the sale
of land between the parties and a
sufficient note or memorandum
thereof to satisfy the requirements of
Section 2 of the
Statute of Frauds
(Ireland) 1695
and in holding that
there was no contract for the sale
of land between the parties which
could be specifically enforced by
the Court.
•
Eamonn G Hall
Acts of the Oireachtas, 1991
No.
1. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Act, 1991.
2. Marine Institute Act, 1991.
3. Sugar Act, 1991.
4. Destructive Insects and Pests (Amendment) Act, 1991.
5. Worker Participation (Regular Part-time Employees) Act, 1991.
6. Child Abduction and Enforcement of Custody Orders Act, 1991.
7. Social Welfare Act, 1991
8. Contractual Obligations (Applicable Law) Act, 1991
9. Radiological Protection Act, 1991
10. Presidential Establishment (Amendment) Act, 1991
11. Local Government Act, 1991
12. Educational Exchange (Ireland and the United States of America) Act, 1991
13. Finance Act, 1991
14. Adoption Act, 1991
15. Health (Amendment) Act, 1991
16. University of Limerick (Dissolution of Thomond College) Act, 1991
17. Child Care Act, 1991
18. Statute of Limitations (Amendment) Act, 1991
19. Temple Bar Area Renewal and Development Act, 1991
20. Courts Act, 1991
21. Courts (No. 2) Act, 1991
22. Tirade and Marketing Promotion Act, 1991
23. Courts (Supplemental Provisions) (Amendment) Act, 1991
24. Competition Act, 1991
25. Payment of Wages Act, 1991
26. Fisheries (Amendment) Act, 1991
27. Sea Pollution Act, 1991
28. Liability for Defective Products Act, 1991
29. B & I Line Act, 1991
30. Industrial Development (Amendment) Act, 1991
31. Criminal Damage Act, 1991
32. Appropriation Act, 1991
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