404 / 736
obtained in the absence of an express
written limitation in the undertaking.
(b)
a solicitor should satisfy himself of his
ability to fulfil an undertaking before
giving it.
(c) an undertaking given by a solicitor binds
the firm in the absence of a stipulation
to the contrary.
(d)
if no time limit is specified promise of
performance within a reasonable time,
having regard to the ordinary custom
and practice of the profession and the
circumstances, is implied.
(e)
there is a strict professional obligation on
a solicitor to fulfil a personal undertak
ing at his own expense if necessary.
Dated this
day of
19
.
Signed .........................................
death duties. Several cases have recently occur
red in which executors paid death duties in cash,
being unaware of the fact that Government stock
belonging to the estate, then standing below par,
could have been tendered and accepted. The view
of the Revenue Commissioners is that once the
death duties have been paid in cash Government
stock may not be accepted and accordingly the
estate may be at a considerable loss amounting
to the difference between the actual assessment
and the market value of the equivalent nominal
value of the stock. A number of Government
loans
issued during recent years carrying this
advantage now stand below par.
CURRENT LAW DIGEST
SELECTED
Address
PUBLIC RELATIONS DEVELOPMENT
To further the interests of the profession, and
its better appreciation by the news media and the
public, the Society has appointed a Public Rela
tions Consultant. He is Mr. Maxwell Sweeney,
a well-known journalist, broadcaster and specialist
in communications. He worked with the Society
as PR Consultant during the successful Inter
national Bar Association Conference in Dublin
two years ago.
Part of the development project will include
the giving of talks by members on the law and
the public—or special sectors of it—to organisa
tions throughout the country. For this purpose it
is desirable that a panel of members willing to
participate in the project should be established:
it would be appreciated if members interested in
this aspect of the work would contact the Secre
tary. Preliminary discussions are taking place to
provide facilities for a short practical course in
communications—specifically for television, radio
and other public appearances—through the Com
munications Centre. Members will be advised of
progress on this project.
ACCEPTANCE OF GOVERNMENT STOCK
IN PAYMENT OF DEATH DUTIES
The attention of members acting for intended
personal representatives in the administration of
estates is drawn to the fact that a number of
Government stocks are issued on terms that stock
can be tendered in lieu of cash in payment of
In reading this digest regard should be had to differences
between Irish and English statute law.
Arbitration
An arbitration in Scotland under a Royal Institute
of British Architects contract between English owners of
property in Scotland and a Scottish firm of contractors
was held to be governed by the law of Scotland so that
the arbitrator could not be required to state a special
case for the opinion of the English High Court.
Their Lordships allowed an interlocutory appeal by
the Scottish contractors, James Miller & Partners Ltd.,
of Glasgow, from the decision of the Court of Appeal
(the Master of the Rolls, Lord Justice Davies and Lord
Justice Widgery [1969]
1 W.L.R. 377) that the proper
law of a contract between them and Whitworth Street
Estates
(Manchester) Ltd. was English and
that
the
arbitration was governed by English law.
James Miller & Partners Ltd. v. Whitworth Street
Estates (Manchester) Ltd. House of Lords 3/3/'70.
Conflict of Laws
See Arbitration: James Miller & Partners Ltd. v.
Whitworth Street Estates (Manchester) Ltd. House of
Lords 3/3/'70.
Companies
His Lordship granted an application by Boxco Ltd.
for the restoration of the company's name to the register
and ordered that a legal charge created by the company
after it had been struck off on October 28, for failure
to file its annual returns for 1966-'67 and to notify the
registrar of
its change of address, should be
treated
retrospectively as having been duly created and
the
particulars duly delivered for registration as from Decem
ber 31, in pursuance of section 353(6) of the Companies
Act, 1948.
In re Boxco Ltd., Chancery Division 16/3/'70.
Constitution—See under Planning Act
118