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GAZETTE
JULY/AUGUS
T 1982
generally in the State, to be varied". The Minister
must lay such an order before the Oireachtas in the
usual way.
Until 1981, interest on judgment debts also ran on
the costs awarded with it but this applied only to
decrees and orders of the High Court. Now, Section
27 of the Debtors (Ireland) Act 1840 has been
extended by Section 21 of the 1981 Act so that
interest runs on Circuit Court costs. Another
innovation is that judgment debts not exceeding
£150 do not carry interest irrespective of the Court in
which the judgment was obtained (S.23 1981 Act).
The Minister for Justice may vary by order the figure
of £150.
The new statutory discretion to award
interest
By Section 22 of the 1981 Act, a judge has
discretion in any proceedings where he orders
payment of money, including damages, to order
payment of interest thereon. This section is modelled
on Section 3 of the English Law Reform
(Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1934. It must be
remembered, however, that the Irish section has
several important differences from its English
counterpart. It is worth quoting Section 22 of the
1981 Act in full:
1. Where in any proceedings a court orders the
payment by any person of a sum of money (which
expression includes in this section damages), the
judge concerned may, if he thinks fit, also order
the payment by the person of interest at the rate
per annum standing specified for the time being
in section 26 of the Debtors (Ireland) Act, 1840,
on the whole or any part of the sum in respect of
the whole or any part of the period between the
date when the cause of action accrued and the
date of the judgment.
2. Nothing in subsection (1) of this section —
(a) shall authorise the giving of interest, or
(b) shall apply in relation to any debt upon which
interest is payable as of right whether by
virtue of any agreement or otherwise, or
(c) shall affect any damages recoverable for the
dishonour of a bill of exchange, or
(d) shall authorise the giving of interest in
respect of a period before the passing of this
Act, or
(e) shall authorise the giving of interest on
damages for personal injuries, or in respect of
a person's death, in so far as the damages are
in respect of —
(i) any loss occurring after the date of the
judgment for the damages, or
(ii) any loss (not being pecuniary loss)
occurring between the date when the
cause of action to which the damages
relate accrued and the date of the said
judgment.
3. In this section—
"damages for personal injuries" includes
damages for personal injuries arising out of a
contract;
"pecuniary loss" means loss in money or money's
worth, whether by parting with what one has or
by not getting what one might get;
"personal injuries" includes any disease and any
impairment of a person's physical or mental
condition;
"proceedings" includes proceedings to which the
State or a State authority (within the meaning of
the [Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act
1961]) is a party."
Already the High Court has considered this Section
in the judgment of Finlay P. in
Mellowhide Products
Ltd.
-v-
Barry Agencies Ltd.
(22 February, 1982
unreported). This case involved the usual summary
summons to recover payment for goods sold and
delivered. The Master of the High Court ordered
that the Plaintiff be at liberty to enter final judgment
for the debt in question together with interest at 11%
from the date of issue of the summons. The Registrar
of the High Court refused to enter judgment for the
interest being of the opinion that she did not have
power under Section 22 of the 1981 Act. The matter
went back to the Master who transferred the
summons to the High Court judge's list, having
discharged his earlier order.
Finlay P. had to consider, firstly, whether it was
within the jurisdiction of the Master to grant interest
under Section 22 (1) of the 1981 Act and secondly,
whether his discretion to do so should be exercised in
this particular case.
The learned President reluctantly concluded that
the phrase in the Section, "the judge concerned . . . ",
could not be construed as giving the Master any
jurisdiction. The Courts (Supplemental Provisions)
Act 1961 made it clear that a judge of the High Court
could only be one appointed under the Constitution
and could not include the Master or a Registrar. It
followed therefore that the new statutory discretion
to award interest was not available in the Master's
Court. Finlay P. pointed out that this was not only
different from the U.K. section in their 1934 Act but
also caused an anomaly that the legislation might
consider remedying. He stated:
"If in order to recover interest before judgment
a creditor suing in default of appearance or in
default of defence has to seek to have the matter
put in the judge's list then such creditor will be
put to additional cost and expense and if the
amount is recoverable in full the debtor will be
put to additional cost and expense even if he
does not appear or defend".
In the President's view there did not appear to be
any logical reason why the Master should not have
the statutory discretion.
Finlay P. decided to allow the claim of the Plaintiff
for interest from the date of issue of the summons,
stating:—
"Where a debt is due as the result of an ordinary
trading or commercial transaction it would
appear to me that the debtor delaying the due
payment of his liabilities is clearly and in a sense
intentionally depriving his creditor of the use
and value of the money concerned".
He was also influenced by "the fact as a matter of
common knowledge" that prevailing interest rates
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