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MAYO SOLICITORS' BAR ASSOCIATION
At the annual general meeting of the association
held in Castlebar on April 3rd,
the following
officers were elected :—President:
J. MacHale ;
Vice President: P. J. Durcan; Hon. Secretary :
D. Lambe ; Hon. Treasurer :
B. Hynes.
Committee :
Messrs. E. A. Corr, J. King, P.
Brennan, W. Dillon-Leetch and T. V. O'Connor.
THE CIRCUIT COURT.
DUBLIN CIRCUIT.
SERVICE OF DOCUMENTS.
An order has been made by Judge Conroy
pursuant to order 10, rule 3 of the Circuit Court
Rules, 1950, as amended, directing service of Circuit
Court civil bills and other originating documents in
the Swords area by registered post for a period of
three months from the date of the order (i9th April
1963) or until appointment of a summons server
whichever event shall first happen.
THE DISTRICT COURT,
DISTRICT NO. 10.
SERVICE OF SUMMONSES
An order has been made by District Justice
O'Donoghue under rule 46(2) of the District Court
Rules 1948 as substituted by rule 5 of the District
Court Rules (No. i) 1962 providing for service of
summonses in the Balbriggan area by registered
post. The order remains in force until a summons
server is appointed.
The order is dated for 23rd April 1963.
BOOK-KEEPING EXAMINATION
The book-keeping examination will be held on
Monday, June 24th. The last day for giving notice
of intention to enter for the examination is Monday,
May 27th.
DECISIONS OF PROFESSIONAL
INTEREST
County Court costs—money paid into court
The Court of appeal allowed an appeal by a
plaintiff, Mr. Sol Gold, salesman, of Willesden Lane,
N.W., from the decision of the County Court,
which had held that it had no power under the
County Court Rules, 1936, to award the plaintiff any
costs where a payment was made into Court by the
defendants, Introductions Ltd., of Shaftesbury
Avenue,W.,in respect of the plaintiff's claim and the
plaintiff did not serve a notice of acceptance until
more than four days after receiving notice of the'
payment in.
Order n, rule n, of the County Court Rules,
1936, provides :
" If a plaintiff fails to give notice
of acceptance within the time limited by Rule 7 or
Rule 9 of this Order, he may give notice of acceptance
subsequently, but the money in court shall not be
paid out without an order of the court and the
court may order the plaintiff to pay any costs
reasonably incurred by the defendant since the date
of payment into court, including the costs of
attending court to obtain the order."
The Master of the Rolls said that on August 7,
1962, Mr. Gold brought an action in the County
Court against
the defendant company claiming
commission of £307 is. 3d. based on commission of
£8 for each pig sold by him to customers in Kenya
and the Rhodesias. The defendants, within eight
days, on August 15, paid into court a sum of
£59 is. 3d. together with £5 scale costs, and put in
a defence that the commission of £8 a pig was
payable only when the pigs were paid for, so that
the amount claimed by the plaintiff was not due.
The plaintiff did not take that sum out of court. The
action went on;
there were applications
for
particulars by each side; and as time went on the
defendants paid more money into court, until they
had paid £83 altogether, admitting liability. The
plaintiff did not take it out within the four days'
limit provided under Order n, rule 9, of the
County Court Rules; and the action continued,
particulars being delivered by each side. Then, on
November 29, the plaintiff gave notice that he
accepted the sum of £83 in satisfaction of his claim.
The whole question was, that having been done,
to what costs was the plaintiff entitled ? It was plain
that under Order n, rule 11, the court could order—
as it had ordered—that the plaintiff should pay the
defendants' costs from the date of the payment in
to the date when the money was taken out. But it
was said that the plaintiff could not recover any
costs—not even his scale costs of £5—and the Judge
had so held, deciding that the effect of rule 11 was
to enable the court to award costs to the defendant
but not award costs to the plaintiff where notice of
acceptance had not been given within four days.
If that was right, it would be a surprising result,
for it would mean that a plaintiff who had brought
his action quite properly and carried it on for a long
time with a payment eventually being made into
court, could not get the costs up to the date of the
payment in. But looking at the rules in Order n,
his Lordship thought that that was not the result.
In his view rules 7 and 9 should be imported into
rule 11, so that if a plaintiff gave notice of acceptance
after the four days everything had to happen as it
would have done under rule 9 ; and under that rule
the plaintiff might lodge for taxation a bill of the