The Gazette 1974

EDITORIAL

The Proposed Planning Board

Members are doubtless aware that, under the pro-

posed Local Government (Planning and Development)

Bill, 1973, it is proposed to establish a new Appeal

Planning Board in substitution for appeals to the

Minister for Local Government directly, as provided by

the Act of 1963. The former procedure undoubtedly led

to a great many abuses, and one had assumed that the

new Planning Board would be an improvement. But

when one reads that the Minister may appoint the full-

time Chairman for a three-year period, and no specified

and detailed qualifications are laid down for the

appointment, one begins to wonder. Furthermore the

Government may remove him at any time, if his re-

moval appears to be necessary, and the Dail and the

Seanad are merely informed by a statement in writing

of the reasons for the removal; no parliamentary

motion need be passed. There are also two other mem-

bers of the Board, who may be civil servants; they are

Proceedings of the

7 MARCH 1974

The President in the chair, also present : Messrs

William B. Allen, Walter Beatty, John F. Buckley, John

Carrigan, Anthony Collins, Gerard M. Doyle, Mrs.

Felicity Foley, James R. C. Green, Gerald Hickey,

Christopher Hogan, Michael P. Houlihan, Nicholas S.

Hughes, Thomas Jackson, jnr., Francis J. Lanigan, John

Maher, Ernest J. Margetson, Patrick Moore, Patrick

McEntee, Job n J. Nash, Peter E. O'Connell, Patrick F.

O'Donnell, James W. O'Donovan, Rory O'Connor,

John A. O'Meara, William A. Osborne, David R. Pigot,

M rs. Moya Quinlan, Brian W. Russell, Robert McD.

Taylor, and Ralph J. Walker.

Public Relations Leaflets

The Council decided that leaflets should be prepared

and issued by the Society on the following topics :

1. Buying a house.

2. Making a will.

3. The Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.

Abortive Mortgage Transaction

Members wrote to the Society concerning an opinion

published in the June 1972

Gazette

which was to the

effect that a mortgagor's solicitor is not entitled to

claim costs from a mortgagee in an abortive mortgage

transaction. Members pointed out that an agreement

made between the two parties prior to loan would be

binding upon the parties and would supersede the

ruling of the Council.

The Council considered this matter and agreed that

such an agreement would supersede the Council's

ruling.

appointed and removable by the Minister at will. Need-

less to say, no member of the Board can be a member

of the Oireachtas or of a Local Authority.

It would be hard to devise a less independent tri-

bunal, who must keep in the good graces of the Minister

in order to remain members of the Board. The only

puny restriction appears to be that a member may not

act in relation to any matter in which he has a financial

or beneficial interest. The Board must keep itself in-

formed of the policies and objectives of the Minister,

as well as of the planning and local authorities, and is

subject to any general ministerial policy directives. It is

difficult to see how such a Board, hedged in with so

many restrictions, could act independently. In one sec-

tion, the High Court may prohibit unauthorised devel-

opment or use of land, but otherwise apparently Consti-

tutional arguments will have to be found in order to

sustain a High Court declaration of unconstitutionality.

Council

T he 18th Interim Report of the Committee on Court

Practice and Procedure

This report deals with the execution of money judg-

ments. The Committee recommended that money judg'

merits in the District and Circuit Courts should be of

the same status as High Court judgments and that the

lower Courts should have similar jurisdiction as the

High Court has in making the various forms of execu-

tion orders, stop orders, etc. The Council on consid-

eration of this aspect of the report saw no reason why

the lower Courts should not have such similar juris-

diction.

A more radical proposal in the report was that judg-

ment mortgage system should be replaced and in i^

place a central judgments registry should be attached to

the High Court wherein all judgments for £100 or more

should be registered. The registration would operate as

a legal charge and all interests of the judgment debtor

in immovable property vested in him at the date of

registration or vesting in him thereafter during the life-

time of the judgment. Mr. Justice Kenny, a member of

the Committee, strongly dissented from this recommen-

dation which he believed would cause considerable

delay in the conclusion of all sales of land, e.g. a regis*

tration of a mortgage against one Sean Murphy would

mean that all purchasers from any person bearing the

name Sean Murphy would have to be conclusively

satisfied that the person from whom they are buying

not the person against whom the judgment has been

registered. The Council on consideration of this matter

felt that the Society should write to the Department of

Justice supporting the dissenting view of Mr. Justice

Kenny.

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THE SOCIETY