87 / 122
FEBRUARY, 1912]
The Gazette of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.
93
hearing are settled before entering them,
£150,619 must be added, we, therefore, find
that the enormous sum of £602,453, in round
numbers,
is
recovered, or sought to be
recovered, annually by means of the Civil
Bill Courts in Ireland. More than half-a-
million of money and nearly £100,000 more
than is actually dealt with by writs at the
Common Law side of the High Court.
Is not
that an important matter and a suitable one
for the Government to deal with by a Com
mission after 16 years of agitation ? (hear,
hear).
If something is not done, what is to
happen ?
Are we going to muddle along
just as we have been doing for the last
sixteen years, trying to get a Bill passed
which everybody says ought to be passed ?
Is there to be no finality to it ?
If not, how
is business to be carried on at all ?
So much
for the means of obtaining decrees or judg
ment in the Civil Bill Court for small debts.
Now, take the Sheriff's office, and we find
that things are in even a much worse con
dition than they are in the Civil Bill Courts.
The Sheriff has absolutely no fixity of tenure.
The 'Under Sheriff does the work, and the
High Sheriff appoints him.
The High
Sheriff must change annually, and the new
High Sheriff may appoint a new Under
Sheriff every year. How can any man be
expected to do his work as Sub-Sheriff in a
business-like way and take an interest in his
work when he knows his position is such an
insecure one. Since this matter came forward
I have received a very large number of com
munications from Sheriffs in Ireland. The
two matters that seem to press upon the
Sheriffs are, first, the difficulty of getting
reliable bailiffs
to do the work at
the
remuneration allowed, and, secondly,
the
difficulty
of
determining
and
quickly
adjudicating upon third-party claims. These
are matters we have dealt with over and over
again by the Bills introduced, and yet we
cannot
get
anything
practical
done.
Personally, I have every sympathy with the
Sheriffs. Take one instance which illustrates
the position of matters completely: The
Plaintiff lodges his decree, and says, " I want
this money realized." The Sheriff may never
have seen the Defendant, and may not know
anything about him. What is he to do ?
The defendant may live twenty miles away,
and the Sheriff must employ and send out
bailiffs and pay them for their time, and also
pay their car hire.
The Sheriff has no
permanent staff. He must employ such men
as bailiffs as he can get from time to time.
The bailiffs go out and attempt to make a
seizure. The defendant may have moved his
goods to some friend's place. How are the
bailiffs from a distance to find out about this ?
The defendant may have goods capable of
being seized, but there is rent due to the land
lord amounting to more than the goods are
worth. Again, there may be goods in the
defendant's premises, but they are claimed
by the defendant's wife or his mother-in-law
or some other member of his family, and
there is no means of cheaply and quickly
trying and determining the validity of such
claim ;
the Sheriff is compelled to make a
return to the plaintiff of " No goods," and.
in consequence, is out of pocket to the extent
of at least 10s., which the plaintiff is not
liable to him for.
Is it reasonable that the
law should be in that state ?
Surely the
Sheriff should be a permanent official; surely
means of supplying and paying reliable
bailiffs should be provided for him ;
surely
third-party claims should be determined
cheaply and quickly. But I have said enough
to start the discussion.
I know there are
representatives here
from
the Solicitors'
Associations in the country, and I am sure
they will have a great deal more to say on
the subject than I have, and be able to say
and to put the arguments in much a better
way ;
I will, therefore, leave the matter to
them to deal with, and beg formally to move
the resolution which has been read by the
Secretary to-day (applause).
MR. JAMES BRADY :—I have very much
pleasure in seconding the motion.
I agree
with Mr. Craig that this is a matter of public
interest, a matter in which the public are
mostly concerned now.
That there are
difficulties
in
the existing County Court
procedure in Ireland I don't think anyone
can deny. We have been endeavouring for
the past sixteen years to remedy the evils,
but, so far, without success. Every time we
have made a move in the right direction we
were blocked in one quarter or another. You
have heard from Mr. Craig of a number of
Bills promoted in the House from time to
time, and the result. That the system at
present under which County Court
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