737 / 822
of Title Acts,
1891
and
1942
by
the
Solicitors' Remuneration General Orders,
1884 to 1947, with the exception of Clause
6 and Rule 11 in Part I of the Schedule to
the Solicitors' Remuneration General Order,
1884.
*NOTE.
This section replaces Section 48 of the
Housing
(Miscellaneous Provisions) Act,
1931-
It is understood that the Parliamentary Draftsman
has advised that the reference to the Land Registra
tion Rules 1937 in Section 32
(a)
above includes
all the subsequent amending rules including the
Land Registration (Solicitors' Costs) Rules, 1947.
DISTRICT COURT RULES 1948
THE above rules (S. R. & O., 1947, No. 431) have
now been printed and may be obtained from the
Government Publications Office, 3 College Street,
Dublin, or from any book-seller, Price 3/6.
The following Rules are revoked:—
District Court Rules 1926.
District Court Rules (No. i) 1941.
District Court Rules 1942. Rules 32,33,34 and 35.
District Court Rules (No. i) 1945.
The new Rules will come into operation on 3151
March, 1948. New scales of solicitors' costs and
counsel's fees are prescribed in the schedules to the
Rules.
POLICE REPORTS
FOLLOWING representations made by the Council,
the Commissioner of Police has agreed to permit the
names and addresses of witnesses to traffic accidents
in which criminal proceedings are pending, to be
supplied to members of the legal profession. Here
tofore, this information has been withheld until the
termination of the criminal proceedings.
LIABILITY FOR COSTS ON THE
GRANTING OF LEASES
THE Council recently referred to a Committee, for
consideration and report, the existing law relating
to the liability for costs on the granting of a lease
and the extent, if any, to which it requires amend
ment. The report of the Committee was considered
at the last meeting of the Council. As a matter of
law, in the absence of a stipulation to the contrary,
the lessor's solicitor is entitled to prepare the lease
and the lessee must pay the lessor's solicitor's costs
whether the lease is granted in consideration of a
rent only or in consideration of a rent plus a fine.
The recommendations of the Committee were con
fined to the latter case where the lease is really a sale,
being granted in consideration of a rent plus a fine.
It was not recommended that any change should be
made in the existing law and practice whereby the
lessor's solicitor is entitled to prepare the lease.
In the opinion of the Committee, with which the
Council agreed, the existing practice whereby the
lessee is liable to pay the costs both of the lessor's
solicitor and of his own solicitor is in the interest
neither of the public nor of the profession. It is an
unduly onerous burden on the lessee, and, so far as
the profession is concerned, the Committee was of
opinion that the liability for two sets of costs has
often prevented purchasers from being separately
represented. Acting on the recommendation of the
Committee,
the Council passed
the
following
resolution :—" (i) That the Secretary be directed
to write to the Department of Justice suggesting
that, at the first available opportunity, legislation
should be
introduced to abrogate,
in any case
in which a lease is granted in consideration of a fine
and of a rent, the existing common law rule that
a lessee must pay the lessor's solicitor's costs on the
granting of a lease; (2) That, in the opinion of the
Council, in any case in which a lease is granted
in consideration of a fine and a rent the contract
for sale or conditions of sale should contain a clause
stipulating that the lessor will pay his own solicitor's
costs of showing title and of preparing, settling, and
completing the lease and counterpart, and that the
lessee will pay his own solicitor's costs of investi
gating title and perusing the draft lease and com
pleting, and that the lessee will, in addition, pay the
stamp duty on the lease and the Registry of Deeds
fees ;
(3) That the Council disapproves of the prac
tice, in so far as it may exist, of including in contracts
for sale, a clause making a purchaser liable for
the vendor's costs, whether the sale be carried out
by way of conveyance or lease, inasmuch as it tends
to induce the purchaser to retain the vendor's
solicitor and not to consult his own solicitor. A
vendor who wishes to provide for his costs can do
so by adjusting the minimum price but, in the
opinion of the Council, the contract should contain
no reference to the costs."
The above recommendations are made in the
interests of the public and of the profession and
the Council request every member of the Society
to give effect to them forthwith.
APPOINTMENT
MR. PATRICK F. O'REILLY of 8 Sth. Gt. George's
Street, Dublin, has been appointed Solicitor to the
Attorney-General..