92 / 144
Neither could there be criticism of applications
for costs in letters demanding the discontinuance
of unlawful interference with proprietory rights,
such as patent or copyright, and
intimating
that proceedings will be stayed on an under
taking by the trespasser to discontinue the inter
ference and to indemnify the aggrieved party
against costs. The judicial dicta in Alien
v.
O'Callaghan were
limited to cases of simple
applications for immediate payment of liquidated
debts and have no application to cases where a
stay of proceedings is the consideration for a
fresh contract between the parties.
Finally, it is of interest to note that the trend
of professional opinion elsewhere is in accordance
with the opinions expressed by Chief Baron
Palles and Baron Dowse in 1873. In 1898 the
Council of the English Law Society expressed
the opinion that the practice of applying for a
small sum for the costs of a debt collecting letter
was common and not unprofessional. In. 1930,
after reconsidering the matter, the Council of the
Law Society withdrew the opinion of 1898 and
published a notice deprecating the practice of
demanding such costs and urging solicitors to
abandon it. The Council of the Incorporated Law
Society of Northern Ireland recently published
an opinion to the same effect. \ •
LAND REGISTRATION FEE ORDER
1944.
As members were informed in previous issues of
the GAZETTE, the Minister for Justice, following
upon the representations which were made by
the Council as to the injurious effect of the above
Fee Order, appointed a Committee under the
Chairmanship of Mr. H. B. O'Hanlon, Taxing
Master of the High Court to investigate and,
report to him upon the effects of the Order and as
to whether any changes in the new scales are
called for. The representatives of the Council
on the Committee were the President and Mr.
John B. Hamill: the other representatives being
Civil Servants.
The Committee met on a number of occasions
and eventually submitted a majority and a
minority report to the Minister. The minority
report was signed by. the representatives of the
Council. The Council has received notification
that the Minister has decided to adopt the views
expressed in the majority report and that no
change in the scale of fees imposed by the Land
Registration Fees Order. 1944, will be made.
The matter will be placed on the Agenda for the
next meeting of the Council which will be held
on October 5th.
LAND REGISTRY.
THE following statement is published at the
request of the Registrar of Titles :—
(1) Missing Documents :—It has been brought
to the notice of the Registrar that in a number of
applications for first registration and for can
cellation of notice of equities, a document of
title, which is stated by the applicant to have been
lost, is subsequently traced in reply to a requisition
by the Registry requiring evidence of the efforts
made to locate the missing document and sug
gesting possible lines of inquiry.
This suggests that some solicitors do not make
adequate inquiries for missing documents before
lodging applications. Such an omission results in
unnecessary correspondence and consequential
delay in completion of registration.
It is not the function of the Examiner in the
Registry to detail the steps to be taken by solici
tors to trace missing documents.
Exhaustive inquiries, such as inquiries at Banks
and at Offices of former Solicitors who acted for
the owners should be made before applications
are lodged ; and the inquiries made to trace the
missing documents and
the
results
thereof,
should be stated in the application or in a separate
affidavit filed with the application.
Inspection of the purchase agreement in the
Land Commission or of the Memorial in the
Registry of Deeds (where the lost Deed was
registered therein) will often show the name of the
solicitor who acted for the parties at the time and
who may have knowledge of the probable where
abouts of the missing document.
If the solicitor who acted for the owner when
the purchase agreement was signed or the deed
registered is dead or has retired from business,
enquiries should be made from the solicitor who
subsequently acquired his practice and documents.
By observing the procedure indicated above,
solicitors will obviate the issuing of Rulings which
should not be necessary and which cause delay
in the completion of the transaction.
(2) Rejection of Dealings:—The Registrar
desires to call the attention of Practitioners to the
fact that notwithstanding the "Memorandum on
Practice" issued by the Registry in May, 1944, a
number of Dealings have still to be rejected on the
preliminary examination through some defect
in the documents presented for registration. A
close attention to the instructions in the Memor
andum and reference to the appropriate provisions
of Land Registration Rules 1937 and 1944 would
obviate most of the defects disclosed and prevent
the delay and inconvenience of rejection.
34