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The Gazette of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.
[DECEMBER, 1910
Murphy, Joseph V., 46 Dawson Street,
Dublin.
Shell, John J., 18 Bachelor's Walk,
Dublin.
Turnbull, Martin H., 7 Chichester Street,
Belfast.
Legal Appointments.
THE Lord Lieutenant has been pleased to
appoint Mr. Robert Henderson Todd, of
Londonderry, and 3 Suffolk Street, Dublin,
to be Crown Solicitor for the County of
Londonderry
in
room
of Mr.
Thomas
Fitzgerald, resigned.
The Lord Lieutenant has been pleased to
appoint Mr. Henry Thomas Gallagher, of
Strabane, and 121 Saint Stephen's Green,
West, Dublin, to
be
Crown Solicitor for the
County of Donegal, in room of Mr. Thomas
Fitzgerald, resigned.
New Solicitors.
ADMISSIONS DURING NOVEMBER, 1910.
Name
Served Apprenticeship to
Currie, William
..
John K. Currie, Ballymena.
Hanratty, Simon E. ..
J. H. Russell, Newry, and
John Fisher, Newry.
Lynam, Richard V.
.. D. O'Connell Miley, Dublin.
McGrane, John Joseph M. L. Hearn, Dublin, and
Thomas F. Burke, Dublin
Wallace, John E.
.. T. W. Delany, Longford.
Petty Sessions Court Proceedings.
IN the year 1890 queries were submitted by
the Society to the then Solicitor-General
(now Lord Atkinson) in reference to the
conduct of proceedings in Petty Sessions
Courts in Ireland by persons other than
complainants or their Solicitors.
It is con
sidered desirable to reproduce these queries
for the information of members. The follow
ing are the queries and the replies thereto :—
Query :—I.
What is the legal meaning of
the word " agent " in the Petty Sessions
Act ?
Reply :—
1. I have carefully considered this
case, and upon the construction of the several
sections, from the 9th to the 20th inclusive,
of the Petty Sessions Act, am of opinion that
the word " agent " means legal agent—
i.e.,
either counsel or attorney. The only other
meaning it could have would be, the person
authorised by complainant or defendant to
appear and conduct the case for the person
so authorising him. There is nothing in the
statutes or in the general law to require that
such an agent should be appointed in writing,
nor is there anything to circumscribe the
class from which such an agent should be
chosen. The word " agent," therefore, must
mean either legal agent or any adult in the
community whom
the
complainant
or
defendant may authorise to appear for him.
But the 45 & 46 Vie., cap. 24, clearly shows
that the latter is not the true meaning of the
word " agent," and the persons named in the
statute could have appeared independently
of its provisions, save, possibly, the wife, if
the word were to be taken in its general sense
in the Petty Sessions Act, and that, too,
without the restrictions imposed by the latter
statute.
It is, in my opinion, clear that the
latter statute was passed
to meet
the
difficulties that arose when the principal
party was unable to attend, and it was
desirable from the nature of the case or
position of that party to avoid the expense
of employing a professional man.
It was,
therefore, because agent means legal agent
in the earlier statute that the latter statute
became necessary in the main.
Query :—
2.
Is a land agent authorised in
law to represent and act in court for his
principal in proceedings at the suit of or
against his principal under section 20 of the
Petty Sessions Act, and to conduct such
proceedings and examine witnesses ?
Reply :
—2. See answer to last preceding
query.
Query :
—3. Can an agent, appointed under
power of attorney "to do all acts " for his
principal, conduct proceedings personally in
any court, in which proceedings his principal
is plaintiff or defendant ?
Reply
:—3. No.
NOTE—Section 1 of 45 and 46 Vie., cap.
24, referred to in the above reply to Query
1, provides as follows:—
" In the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act,
"1851, the word ' agent' shall include the
" father, son, husband, wife, or brother of the
" complainant or defendant; provided that
" any such person be thereunto authorised
"in writing by the complainant or defen-
' : dant (as the case may be), and to receive
"no remuneration
therefor, and have the
"leave of the Court to appear and be heard,