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The Gazette of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.
[FEB., 1908
present appeal was brought; but the only items
in respect of which the plaintiffs persevered in
the appeal were items 80 and 81—viz., the fees
of
£4.
4-r. each paid to Dr. Burke Savage and
Surgeon Kennedy.
These gentlemen had
attended the deceased when he came up to
Dublin to undergo an operation, shortly before
his death, and prior to the making of his will.
They had been summoned as witnesses under
the direction of senior counsel; and the two
items of ^4 4^. were expressed to be for con
sultation and reports on the mental condition
of the testator prior to the date of the making
of the will. The bill of costs furnished by the
plaintiffs' solicitors contained the
following
statement :—" When it became known that the
defendant's case was grounded on the alle
gation of deceased's insanity, the executors
were entirely at a loss to understand what
particular form of insanity (if any) was alleged.
The correspondence between the solicitors on
both sides with reference to the case did not
touch upon
the matter. Consequently the
solicitors for the plaintiffs were driven to pre
pare to rebut at the trial any allegations that
could possibly be made as to the deceased's
insanity. Had the executors known that the
defendant was going to make the case that
deceased was suffering from a particular form
of mania, the working up of the plaintiffs' case
would have been more simple." The Taxing
Master, in the exercise of his .discretion, dis
allowed the two items on the ground that the
special reports were unnecessary, and did not
appear to have been of any benefit in the case.
The Court unanimously dismissed the appeal
on the ground that there was no good reason
for interfering with the order made by Andrews,
J., and by consent measured the costs of the
appeal at ;£io loj.
Reported in I.L.T.R., Vol. XLII., page 2.
Labourers (Ireland) Act, 1906.
AN application was made upon the 22nd of
January to His Honor Judge Barry, sitting at
Bray, in some cases heard by him at Naas,
in which he had granted petitions against
Rural District Councils, and had directed
schemes to be amended by striking out cer
tain lands proposed to be acquired for the
purposes of the Labourers (Ireland) Act, 1906,
that the costs of the petitioners, which he had
directed' to be paid by the Rural District
Councils, should be taxed under the higher
scale relating to equity proceedings under the
County Courts (Ireland) Orders.
Rule 15 of
the Provisional County Court Rules of Z4th
Isfovember, 1906, regulating procedure in the
County Court under the Labourers (Ireland)
Act, 1906, is as follows :—"The costs payable
under any order of a County Court Judge shall,
if not otherwise prescribed under these rules,
be in all cases in his discretion ; but, in fixing
the amount, regard shall be had, so far as prac
ticable, to the amount of costs which may be
awarded in analogous cases in the equity juris
diction of the County Court Judges. All costs
which are taxed shall be taxed under the Rules
and Schedule of Fees relating to equity pro
ceedings under the County Courts (Ireland)
Orders. Where no fees are thereby provided
for any work done under these Rules the fees
thereby fixed for analogous work shall be
applicable."
Judge Barry directed that the costs of the
petitioners should be taxed under the higher
scale of the Schedule of Fees relating to
equity proceedings under the County Courts
(Ireland) Orders.
Irish Land Act, 1903.
THE following Memorandum for counsel with
reference to the investigation of title by them
for the purposes of section 17 of the Irish Land
Act, 1903, and the giving of Certificates on the
Form T to the Rules of the Estates Commis
sioners dated the 4th November, 1907, has
been approved of by the Hon. Mr. Justice
Wylie :—
The object of counsel's certificate is
to
satisfy the Estates Commissioners that the
vendor is a person having power to sell under
the Land Purchase Acts the lands set forth in
the ist Schedule to the originating application
or request, and thus enable them, subject to
the advertisements and notices prescribed by
their rules, without any further investigation of
title, to deal with vendors as the owners of
their estates for all purposes other than the
distribution of the purchase-money or the pay
ment of any percentage out of the Land
Purchase Aid Fund.
Counsel is not concerned with
the actual
form of agreement which may have been
entered into between a vendor and his tenants,
or the agreement which may be in contempla
tion between a vendor and the Estates Com
missioners- :•••-"
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