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GAZETTE
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1990
AUCTIONEERS WERE NOT
LIABLE FOR FAILING TO
DETECT A MASTERPIECE
The Court of Appeal (Lord Justice
Slade, Lord Justice Mann and Sir
David Croom-Johnson) held in
Luxmoore - May and another -v-
Messenger May Baverstock
(The
Independent (UK) December 22,
1989) that the standard of care to
be expected of provincial auction-
eers and valuers in assessing the
sale value of an unattributed work
of art was analogous to that of a
medical general practitioner, as
opposed to a specialist, and
allowed ample scope not only for
differing views, but even for a
wrong view, without necessarily
rendering the valuer liable for
breach of his duty.
The Court of Appeal allowed an
appeal by the
defendants,
Messenger May Baverstock, from
the decision of Mr. Justice Simon
Brown (The Independent, 23
November 1988) who awarded the
plaintiffs, Penelope Luxmoore-May
and Paul Andrew Luxmoore-May,
the sum of £101,625, including
£76,222 damages and £25,403
interest, on their claim against the
defendants for breach of contract
in failing to exercise reasonable skill
and care in the valuation and sale
of two oil paintings.
These paintings which were now
said to be the work of George
Stubbs ARA (1724-1806), had
initially been valued by the de-
fendants at £30 to £50 the pair.
They were sold at the defendants'
auction house for £840. Five
months later they fetched £99,000
at Sotherbys.
to which one consents is not an
injury) and ex turpi causa non oritur
actio (an action does not arise from
a base cause) could not succeed.
The Court of Appeal so held
when dismissing an appeal by the
Chief Constable of Greater Man-
chester Police from the order of Mr.
Justice Tudor Evans on December
21, 1988, awarding the widow
damages of £6,717 under the UK
Fatal Accidents Act, 1976
and the
UK
Law Reform
(Miscellaneous
Provisions) Act, 1934.
THE PERFECT GARDA
The publication of the
Annual
Report of the Garda Siochana
Complaints Board
for 1988-1989
prompts the writer to recall the
words of Professor August Vollmer,
a leading police administrator in the
United States, who argues in his
book
The Police and Modern
Society
that
"the citizen expects police
officers to have wisdom of
Solomon, the courage of David,
the strength of Samson, the
patience of Job, the leadership of
Moses, the kindness of the Good
Samaritan, the strategical
training of Alexander, the faith of
Daniel, the diplomacy of Lincoln,
the tolerance of the carpenter of
Nazareth and finally an intimate
knowledge of every branch of
the natural, biological and social
sciences. If he had all these he
might be a good policeman".
The
Annual Report of the Garda
Siochana Complaints Board
for
1988-89 is published by the
Stationery Office (PI. 6637) £2.20.
The Chairman of the board is Mr.
Seamus MacKenna, S.C.
POLICE LIABLE TO
SUICIDE'S WIDOW
The Court of Appeal (Lord Justice
Lloyd, Lord Justice Farquharson
and Sir Denys Buckley) held in
Kirkhan -v- Anderton
(The Times,
January 4, 1990) that where a
prisoner committed suicide in a
remand centre while suffering from
clinical depression and the police
knew of his suicidal tendencies, yet
failed to pass that information on
to the remand centre authorities,
his widow was entitled to recover
damages in negligence against the
police.
In the circumstances, the de-
fences of volenti non fit injuria (that
THE IRISH SECRET
SERVICE
The
Appropriation Accounts
to-
gether with the
Report of the
Comptroller and Auditor General
for
1988, recently published by the
Stationery Office (PI. 6615 £9.00),
disclose that the sum of £90,906
was expended for Secret Service
out of a grant of £150,000. A sur-
plus of £59,094 had to be sur-
rendered. The Accounting Officer
explained the cause of variation
between expenditure and grant by
stating that the estimate was nec-
essarily conjectural. The Comp-
troller and Auditor General certified
that the amount shown in the
account to have been expended
was supported by certificates from
the responsible Ministers. •
RETIREMENT OF AIB
GROUP LAW AGENT
After 31 years combined service with
Allied Irish Banks and its constituent
Provincial Bank of Ireland, Rory
O'Connor retired as Group Law
Agent on 1st January this year.
During his years as legal adviser
to AIB, Rory kept in constant touch
with the profession through his
active involvement in the work of
the Law Society and served on
various committees. He contri-
buted to the work of the Education
Committee and was involved at
different times with the work of the
Law School. He was a founder
member of the AIB/Law Society
Annual Golf Competition which has
done much to foster good business
relations between the Bank and the
members of the Solicitors profes-
sion. In 1988, Rory had a definitive
work on the law and practice
of notaries in Ireland,
The Irish
Notary,
published by Professional
Books. We understand that Rory
will be continuing in private
practice and has been retained by
AIB for a particular professional
assignment in a non-banking area
which is likely to keep his mind
active for some time to come. •
IS
h
photo on p
.20)
SADSI
The Solicitors Apprentices Debat-
ing Society of Ireland are entering
a team for the Philip C. Jessup
International Law Moot Court
Competition. The competition
takes the form of a moot court,
with each team being required
to present arguments for both
applicant and respondent based on
the hypothetical problem of pol-
lution of the international environ-
ment. The competition involves the
preparation of detailed written
memorials and the presentation of
oral arguments over a one week
period from the 24th to 31st March
in front of a panel of international
judges in Washington D.C. This
prestigious competition, which is
organised by the American Society
for International Law, has this year
attracted entries from thirty-five
countries. The Law Society has
made a very generous contribution
towards the cost of sending this
five person team. However, the
apprentices are now faced with the
task of raising the remaining
necessary funds, which it is
estimated will be in the region of
£3,500. It is hoped that members
of the profession will support the
team by making a generous
contribution the the S.A.D.S.I.
Jessup Fund, at the Bank of Ireland,
Stoneybatter.
<s#o
photo on p.20)
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