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22
The Gazette of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.
[JANUARY, 1920
Mr. Clayton, K.C., appeared for defendant,
and in reply to his Lordship, said that they
did not refute the breach.
It was done
intentionally to raise the question.
The plaintiff said that restrictive covenants
were common in such cases as these in his
business.
Mr. H. Johnston, for the plaintiff, referred
to precedents of such agreements, which
showed that the restraint was good if it was
reasonable.
Mr. Clayton, for the defendant, said that
his client was contesting the position which
was taken up by the plaintiff as being vital
to him in the prosecution of his business.
He would not call any evidence.
The
question was one of law. The effect of such
an agreement must not be to restrain com
petition
per se.
In this case it did.
It was
not limited to the period during which the
plaintiff or his assigns were in business.
Mr. Justice Eve, after stating the facts,
said that there was a restriction on the
defendant in terms during his life against
acting within seven miles of Tamworth.
The question was whether that was reason
able, first, in the interests of the contracting
parties, and, secondly, in the interests of the
public. He (his Lordship) was not anxious
to make contributions to the literature on
the subject, and accordingly he would take
language culled from that literature. The
I
matters from doing which the defendant was
restrained were such as ought to be jealously
guarded or they might otherwise be attended
with
disastrous
consequences
to
the
employer.
The restriction was not more
than was adequate for the protection of the
covenantor. But it was said that it was
invalid because of its duration—for life.
But he (his Lordship) was unable to agree
with that contention. Having regard to the
language of Lord Parker
in
Morris
v.
Saxelby
he (his Lordship) could not think
that
the agreement was attended with
inconvenience to the public or was injurious
to them.
Therefore he would grant the
injunction, and the defendant must pay the
costs of the action.
(Reported,
Weekly Notes,
17th January,
1920.)
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Small
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