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ACQUISITION
OF LAND—OWNER’S
COSTS OF ARBITRATION PRO
CEEDINGS
T
he
Council have submitted the following state
ment to the arbitrator appointed under the above
mentioned Act.
Solicitors who are concerned
in arbitrations should prepare their costs on the
lines indicated in the statement. In any case of
unusual difficulty it would be advisable for the
solicitor appearing for the owner to have particulars
of his costs ready for submission to the arbitrator
at the conclusion o f the proceedings. While the
costs of showing title do not arise at the arbitration
stage, and are not a matter for the arbitrator, never
theless, in appropriate cases, the costs o f examining
leases, rentals and other documents necessary to
ascertain the interest being acquired are properly
allowable as part o f the costs of preparing the
case for compensation.
1. When land, or house property, is acquired
compulsorily by a local authority, the com
pensation being assessed under the Acquisition
of Land (Assessment o f Compensation Act),
1919, it is proper that the owner should
be fully indemnified by the local authority
in respect of the costs which he is liable
to pay to his own solicitor in connection with
the assessment o f compensation.
These
costs comprise the preparation of the case for
the arbitration and the presentation o f the
case at the arbitration. It seems clear from
Section 5, o f the Act, particularly subsection
(1) that the arbitrator has power to order
that the acquiring authority shall pay all
the owner’s costs.
2. In accordance with the terms of Section 5,
owners whose property is being acquired
should be paid the amount o f their costs o f
preparing the case for the arbitration and all
proper disbursements made by the solicitor.
3. In addition to the costs mentioned in
paragraph 2, the solicitor for the owner,
appearing at the arbitration, should be allowed
a fee of four guineas as a minimum fee for
the actual appearance where he is required
to travel outside his own town, and three
guineas in any other case.
4. The Council o f this Society agree that in
normal cases which do not present any
exceptional difficulty in provincial towns, it
is a matter for the arbitrator to say whether
or nor counsel’s fee should be allowed, if
counsel is briefed.
5. I f any dispute arises between the acquiring
authority and the owner as to the costs to
be allowed, the owner should be entitled
to have the costs referred to the Taxing
Master.
6. The question of valuers’ fees is not one which
directly concerns the solicitors’ profession,
but it would seem that the services o f a
competent valuer are usually necessary, and
that the valuer’s fee should be allowed.
The fee to be allowed should be whatever
amount the owner would be legally obliged
to pay to the valuer for his services.
COUNTY SOLICITORS
C
opy
of letter dated 18th January,
1950, from
the
Department of Local Government to the Society
I am directed by the Minister for Local
Government to acknowledge receipt of your letter
o f the 7th instant, about the salary scale offered
for the position of whole-time Law Agent to local
authorities. The memorandum enclosed with your
letter reiterates the points made by the deputation
from the Society received in the Department on
2nd, ultimo. A full report of the representations
o f the deputation was placed before the Minister
who carefully considered it before directing the
issue o f the Department’s letter o f the 15 th, ultimo.
The views expressed to the Society in that letter
accordingly represent the Minister’s policy or
current appointments. The Minister will be prepares
to consider any further representations which the
Society may seem fit to make in connection with
any further appointments of this kind which may
be proposed in the future.
Reply to above dated 4th February, 1950 :—
I received your letter dated 18 th January and
brought it before the Council of this Society. I am
to say that the Council take note of the last sentence
o f your letter, which states that the Minister will
consider further representations from the Society
in connection with future appointments, and that
it is assumed that before the terms o f such appoint
ments are advertised, the Department will invite
the views o f the Council regarding them. With
regard to the appointments recently advertised, the
Council adhere to the view expressed in the
memorandum submitted to the Department on
7th January and they hope that their submissions
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