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The first lecture was given by the
Property
Arbitrator, Mr. Owen McCarthy, B.E., B.Sc., on
"The Preparation and Submission of a Claim in
a Compulsory Arbitration". Amongst the points
made was that the compulsory service of a notice
to treat is laid in Section 18 of the Land Clauses
Consolidation Act,
1845 and
subsequently
in
Section 79 of the Housing Act, 1966.
Local
Authorities can now easily acquire land under
the Local Government (No. 2) Act, 1960; once
a notice to treat has been served on a claimant,
he should consult his solicitor, and if necessary,
a surveyor, valuer, or other expert on the pre
paration of his Notice of Claim; all these costs
should be included in his Notice of Claim. The
claimant should set out fully the interest he claims
— if leasehold, the nature and term of the lease,
whether it is a building lease, etc. If a person
owns lands, which
includes a house unfit for
human habitation, and not capable of being ren
dered fit at reasonable expense, the tenant is
entitled to compensation for disturbances. Under
the Rules, the value of the land is normally its
market value. As well as compensating the claim
ant for the value of the land, the acquiring author
ity must also compensate him for all the loss in
curred by the expulsion.
Mr. Justice Murnaghan contributed a further
individualist paper on "Aspects of the High Court
Practice." He stated that the Courts were com
pletely out of step with modern ideas, and it was
difficult to bring about changes.
The detailed
practice in relation to third party applications for
contributions under Section 30 of the Civil Lia
bility Act, 1961 was next considered:
It was
suggested that the best procedure would be to
deliver the appropriate statement of claim and
the defence before asking the Judge for directions.
He next dealt with the case
Gillespie v. Fitzpatrick
and McCartney (No.
2), where more than one
defendant seeks contribution from another (see
September/October Gazette, 1970, page 78.) The
notice for the sitting of the Court should normally
be served on a person who has not entered an
appearance, or who is not represented by a soli
citor; such notice must be served for "the sitting
of the Court" and the Court must be informed
accordingly. It was emphasised that, under
Kondor
Plus v. Honeywell Leasing
(see January 1970
Gazette, page 92), in relation to applications for
leave to serve proceedings out of the jurisdiction,
it was necessary to specify the sub-head of Order
II, Rule I, under which the application was made.
It is unnecessary to prepare maps on too large a
scale in jury cases. Furthermore, in a civil action,
when the jury had disagreed, or been discharged,
it was usually necessary to set down the action
for trial, if it were to be continued.
In the absence of consent on the part of the
husband, the Court cannot grant
alimony pendente
life
not merely on behalf of the wife, but also
on behalf of children in the wife's custody. The
proper procedure is to issue a summons under
the Guardianship of Infants Act to be heard at
the same time as the application for alimony. The
correct manner to challenge a juryman was to use
the word "challenge" and not "objection".
In
reply to questions, it was stated that it was not
the practice to pay interest to a successful party
with money lodged by the Defence. If plaintiff
unreasonably
refuses
to
submit himself
to a
medical examination, the issue of the defence will
be postponed until after such examination. Unless
the number of judges were to be greatly increased,
it is normally not possible to fix a special day for
a civil jury action. It was unfortunate that inevit
able postal delays obviated the service of registered
Court documents by post.
In probate Actions
there should be at least six photostat copies of
original documents like wills for the jury, as well
as copies for Counsel and the Judge.
In preparation for the introduction of the deci
mal currency system on 15th February, 1971, there
was a display of literature on the subject. Mr. H.
J. Morrison, the Public Relations Officer of the
Decimal Currency Board, then gave a talk on
the subject, and emphasised that in such a system,
money is reckoned uniformly in tens, which will
save time and labour in business and commercial
transactions. While one pound by itself can still
be expressed as £1, the sum of one pound and
eight new pence will now be written £1.08. As the
present 6d. is equivalent to two and a half new
pence, only multiples of 6d. will have exact deci
mal equivalents, and every 10 new pence is equiv
alent to 2/-. A list of the new coins was given;
the only ones that have not yet appeared are 5
new pence (I/-), 2 new pence (4.8d.), and one
new penny (2.4d.). The new -£d. (l-2d.), will not
count for practical purposes.
LEGAL NEWS OF THE MONTH
CERTIFICATES FOR AUBIT
Some accountants in recent years have been
asking solicitors to certify not only as to the
position of deeds but also as to freedom from
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