The Gazette 1944-46

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APPLICATION FOR SERVICE
OUT OF THE JURISDICTION
IN Bloomfield v. Serenyi (1945, 2 All. E.R. 646), the
English Court of Appeal passed some comments
on the duty of a solicitor as an officer of the Court
in regard to satisfying himself that all material facts
have been disclosed in the affidavit grounding
an application for service out of the jurisdiction.
The action was commenced in England against the
defendant Serenyi, who was the director of a Swiss
Company, claiming commission on the sale of a
patent and other relief. The Swiss company was the
real and substantial defendant against which the
action was intended to be brought, but the facts
of the case were such that in order to institute
proceedings against the company in England
the plaintiff was driven to rely on the English
R.S.C. Order XI r. i (g). This order, which is
identical with our Order XI r. i. (b}, provides that
the Court may allow service of a writ of summons
out of the jurisdiction whenever any party out of
the jurisdiction is a necessary or proper party to an
action properly brought against some other person
duly served within the jurisdiction. The plaintiff's
solicitor, having issued the writ and had it served
on the defendant Serenyi in England, applied to the
Master under Order XI r. i. (g) for leave to serve
it on the company in Switzerland. The application
was based on an affidavit by a clerk of the plaintiff's
solicitor which averred, inter alia, that the plaintiff
had a good cause of action against both defendants
and that both of them were jointly indebted to
the plaintiff in respect of commission and remunera
tion. The Master relying on this affidavit granted
the application without seeing either the writ of
summons or the statement of claim. On an applica
tion by the defendant company to set aside the
order of the Master the Court of Appeal, affirming
the High Court, held that the order for service out
of the jurisdiction should not have been made, on
the ground that if the affidavit grounding the
application had made full disclosure of all material
facts the Master would have seen that no action in
fact lay against the first named defendant Serenyi,
and consequently as there was no necessary or
proper party to the action within the jurisdiction,
Order XI r. i. (g) did not apply. Per Scott, L.J.:
" I cannot help thinking that the deponent must
have been erroneously instructed, perhaps quite
innocently, by the plaintiff as to what the position
was. But I want to say definitely that it is the duty
of a solicitor, asked to obtain leave under R.S.C.
Order n to examine with care the material put
before him for thepurpose of so acting, and to make
sure that he does know the real case that his client
has before he makes or allows a clerk to make an
affidavit upon which the Court must necessarily
rely."
SOLICITORS' GOLFING SOCIETY.
THE Annual General Meeting of the Society was
held in the Solicitors' Building on the zist March,
the Captain (Mr. William C. M. Corrigan) in the
chair. The following officers were elected for the
year :—
President: Mr. Daniel O'Connell, President
I.L.S.
Captain : Mr. James J. Hickey.
Hon. Treasurer: Mr. T. D. McLoughlin.
Hon. Secretary : Mr. A. Marshall.
The President of the I.L.S. was present and was
welcomed by the Chairman.
It was decided to hold the Summer Meeting at
The Grange Golf Club on the 23rd May, when the
following Competitions will be played :—
Society's Challenge Cup—18 holes strokes.
Prize to the winner presented by the
Captain.
The Veterans' Challenge Cup (presented by the
late E. H. Burne), open to all members over
50 years of age—18 holes strokes.
The St. Patrick's Plate (presented by the late
Alfred Lane Joynt), limited to handicaps
of 12 and under.
The Annual Dinner held in the Grange
Club House after the meeting. Now that travelling
facilities have been extended, it is hoped to increase
the membership of the Society, and all solicitors
interested are requested to communicate with the
Hon. Secretary, 119 Stephen's Green, Dublin.
The Officers are anxious to revive the practice
of holding one of the Society's outings at a course
outside Dublin, and are planning to hold the Autumn
Meeting at one of the country Clubs. It is hoped,
however, that country members will support the
Summer Meeting in Dublin.
The annual subscription to the Society is IDS. od.,
which covers the entrance fee to the Competitions
at both the Summer Meeting and the Autumn
Meeting.
LAW TERMS.
THE Easter Law Sittings will end on the i8th May.
The Trinity Law Sittings will begin on the 3rd.
June and end on the 3151 July.