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G A Z E T T E
N O V E M B E R 1976
THE DUBL IN SOLICITORS' BAR
ASSOCIATION
At the Annual General Meeting of the Association,
held at Solicitors' Building, Four Courts, Dublin on
Monday the 25th October 1976, the following Council
was elected for the ensuing year:
President: John P. A. Hooper.
Vice-President: Thomas Jackson.
Hon.-Secretary: Andrew F. Smyth.
Hon.-Treasurer: Mrs. Maeve Breen.
Hon.-Auditors: Patrick Glynn and Peter Maher.
Other members of the Council: John F. Buckley.
Stephen Maher, Vivian Matthews, Charles Meredith.
Rory O'Donnell, Colm Price, Laurence Shields, Mrs.
Moya Quinlan and Miss Mary Cantrell.
Although the business of the Annual General Meet-
ing tends, necessarily, to be of a formal character, a
number of matters of interest to the profession were
discussed, including difficulties which members were
experiencing with the City and County Sheriffs; delays
in the Registry of Deeds, and legal aid.
Stephen Maher was instrumental in suggesting that
the Association should initiate during the coming year
a series of regular Meetings of an educational nature
and it was agreed that this proposal should be implem-
ented.
The Annual Dinner was also discussed and, on a
show of hands, it was resolved that the date of the
Dinner should be changed from December to February.
The next Annual Dinner will be held in February
1977, at a place and time yet to be decided.
DUBLIN SOLICITORS' BAR ASSOCIATION
At the monthly Council Meeting of the Association
held on Wednesday, 3rd November, 1976, the following
Sub-Committees were appointed for the year 1976/77 :
(a) Court Practice and Procedure: D- R. Pigot (Con-
venor); Vivian Matthews; Rory O'Connor.
(b) Landlord and Tenant and Conveyancing: Rory
O'Donnell (Convenor); John F. Buckley; Colm Price;
Charles Meredith; Steven Maher.
(c) Family Law: Laurence Shields (Convenor); Mrs.
Maeve Breen; Mrs. Moya Quinlan; Miss Thelma King.
(d) F.L.A.C. Liaison Officers: Thomas Jackson; John
F. Buckley; Gerard M. Doyle.
(e) Publicity: Charles Meredith (Convenor); David
Pigot; Steven Maher; Laurence Shields.
(f) Activities Committee: Miss Mary Cantrell; Steven
Maher.
(g)Dinner Sub-Committee: Thomas Jackson; David
R. Pigot; John F. Buckley; Laurence Shields; Mrs.
Maeve Breen.
(h) Nominees to Incorporated Law Society: Thomas
Jackson; Rory O'Donnell; Andrew F- Smyth.
Various matters were discussed, which are the subject
of investigation or attention from appropriate Sub-
Committees, including the following :
1. Representations to improve the service given by
the Dublin City and Dublin County Sheriffs' offices.
2. The possibility of the re-publication of the Garda
Siochana Guide-
3. Representations being made to Mr. Michael Neary,
County Registrar, in relation to the improvement of
the performance of the Dun Laoghaire, Civil Bill Officer.
4. Representations to the Department of Justice and
to the Registrar of Deeds, Henrietta Street, with a view
to improving the present service in the Registry of Deeds
which has been deteriorating in recent years through
lack of staff.
5. Agreement as to a standard form of Architects'
Certificate of Compliance with Planning Permissions
which would be acceptable throughout the profession
and in particular, to solicitors acting for lending agencies.
6. Representations to the Department of Justice and
to the appropriate local authorities with regard to the
improvement of the procedure relating to Malicious
Injury Applications.
The appropriate Sub-Committees will report in due
course.
MEMORANDUM RE CONTENTIOUS PROBATE
PROCEEDINGS IN THE CIRCUIT COURT
Having regard to the provisions of the Courts
(Supplemental Provisions) Act 1961 and the Succession
Act 1965 the requirement contained in Order 34 Rule
12 of the Circuit Court Rules of 1950 that a certified
copy of the affidavit as to jurisdiction, required to be
lodged in the Principal or District Probate Registry be
lodged in the Circuit Court in a contentious probate
proceedings, does not any longer apply-
The practice therefore which heretofore was followed
of lodging such an affidavit in the Principal or District
Probate Registry and obtaining from the Registrar a
Certificate to be transmitted to the Circuit Court has
been discontinued. Proof of the jurisdiction of the
Circuit Court to hear such contentious proceedings will,
as in any other type of action, be a matter for evidence
in the Circuit Court itself.
T. A. Finlay
President of the High Court
{Continued from overleaf)
mentation furnished or otherwise to give them cause
for believing that the evidence furnished was not ac-
curate. The Certificate of compliance with building
covenant having been signed and dated a month after
a house was supposed to have been roofed is an ex-
ample of the sort of case that would be regarded with
suspicion.
The second type of case is that of old leases which for
one reason or another were not adjudicated. In these
cases it is obvious that the evidence mentioned above
for current cases simply will not be available. At the
time most of these leases were granted, evidence was
available from the Local Authorities as to the dates
of inspection of the houses at foundation level, wall
plate level, roof level and completion. These records
are no longer available. Most of these old cases are
ones that could easily have been adjudicated at the
time. The Revenue Commissioners have indicated that
they will take a reasonable view of old cases from the
point of view of the evidence of the stage of completion
at the date of the agreements and the date of com-
pletion of the mortgages on the new house. The other
is, where the person seeking to adjudicate the Lease is
himself the original purchaser and can furnish a de-
tailed declaration verifying the stage of construction at
the date of signing of the Contract. In such a case of
course such a declaration would not be any use if for
example the property had been mortgaged say 3 weeks
after the date of the Building Agreement and Agree-
ment for Lease.
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