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GAZETTE
JULY/AUGUS
T 1982
Correspondence
The Editor,
Incorporated Law Society Gazette,
Blackhall Place,
Dublin 7.
Dear Sir,
Further to Professor Wolfe's Article in the January/
February, 1982 Gazette regarding the enlargement of
the Malicious Injuries Code under the Malicious
Injuries Act 1981, practitioners may be interested to
note that the Circuit Court has now given Judgment
in favour of two Applicants against a Local Authority
for damage caused to motor vehides stolen from
outside the Applicants private dwelling houses and
subsequently recovered in a crashed and severely
'amaged state.
These Applications which were previously
unsustainable under the old Malicious Injuries Code
are now actionable against the Local Authority in
whose area the car was stolen from.
The Applications are brought under Section 5,
subsection (2), subsection (d) of the Malicious
Injuries Act 1981 and His Honour Judge Martin in a
decision given on the 5th November, 1982 has ruled
that that subsection was specifically drafted and
included by the Legislature to cover cases where the
private property of individuals was stolen or taken
away and subsequently recovered in a damaged state.
Judge Martin stated that the phrase "whether or
not" for the purpose of commiting a crime against the
property damaged were the essential words of the
section. He stated that he had no doubt that
subsection (d) was intended to provide relief to
Applicants for the exceedingly common acts of
malice and wanton destruction of private property
which were so common place nowadays.
Practitioners should note however that this section
will not provide relief where there is evidence
adduced by the Local Authority to prove that the
damage occurred as a result of a direct Act of
negligence by the unknown party in either crashing
into another vehicle or crashing into another person.
Practitioners should also be aware of the scope of
Section 12 (1) which allows the Court to take into
consideration any contributory negligence by the
Applicant in his conduct as respect any precautions
that might reasonably have been taken by him to
avoid the damage and the loss in these particular
applications, in particular the question of whether or
not the car was securely locked or parked in a normal
and careful manner.
Prior to the determination of the above mentioned
matter by Judge Martin, the City Manager and
County Manager had made it a rule of practice that
cases of this type would not be settled in a Consent
list and would all be remitted to a Defendant List. It
must be hoped therefore that in view of the decision
of the Circuit Court more types of this particular case
will be settled without the necessity of bringing the
matter into the Defendant List.
Yours faithfully,
Peter Lennon, Esq.,
Solicitor,
58 Merrion Square,
Dublin 2.
The Editor,
Incorporated Law Society Gazette,
Blackhall Place,
Dublin 7.
Dear Sir,
For over twenty years I have been registered as
Owner of some £9.00. 6% Land Bonds and £4.00.4%
Land Bonds representing small fees allocated to me
in Land Commission Purchases. The interest is
totally insignificant and not worth the trouble of
Banking. The dividend Warrants are sent out in
separate envelopes at ordinary postal charges and the
waste of expensive Civil Service time which this
involves is dreadful to contemplate. The chances of
the Bonds being redeemed seems slight.
There must be many similar holdings in the hands
of solicitors all over the country and it occurs to me to
suggest that to turn the bonds and the interest they
earn to anything like worthwhile account they could
by a process of individual donations be consolidated
to the credit of the Solicitors Benevolent Association.
I therefore proffer a donation of the Bonds to the
Association on the basis of my professional brethren
doing the same. Incidently, this would save the
taxpayer quite an appreciable expense.
Yours sincerely,
Noel Reid, Esq.,
Solicitor,
13 Lr. Ormond Quay,
Dublin 1.
GEORGE GAVAN DUFFY
MEMORIAL LECTURE
A Memorial Lecture on the occasion of the
centenary of the birth of Mr. Justice George Gavan
Duffy was delivered by Mr. Colum Gavan Duffy,
former Librarian of the Society and former Editor of
the Gazette, to the Clogher Historical Society in
Monaghan on 30 November, 1982, and will
subsequently be delivered in Dublin, Cork and
Galway.
A copy of the script of this lecture will be available
for consultation in the Society's Library.
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