74 / 266
(b)
For the same reasons the District Court
should be given jurisdiction in detinue
where the value o f the article detained does
not exceed
£10.
(c)
Jurisdiction in ejectment for overholding
should be increased to include cases where
the rent reserved does not exceed £55 a
year, to cover tenancies at a rent o f
£1
weekly. The present limit of
£zj
in effect
restricts the jurisdiction o f the District
Court to tenement lettings. Furthermore,
in many cases where premises were orig
inally let at 10/- a week or less plus rates
the increase of the rates alone added to the
rent has already taken the lettings out of
the jurisdiction of the District Court. In
the experience o f solicitors a landlord of
premises let as a single dwelling house may
find it impossible to collect arrears of
rent owing to the delay attendant upon
ejectment proceedings in the Circuit Court.
Several months elapse between the service
o f notice to quit and the order for possession
during which the tenant, who is often not
a mark for the recovery of arrears o f rent-
lives rent free. This is particularly notice,
able where the notice to quit is served
shortly before the long vacation and it is
impossible to obtain judgment before
October or November if a defence is
entered.
ADDENDUM .
The present position of the Society in regard to
the Superior Court Rules Committee is unsatis
factory. The President is ex-officio the Society’s
representative and is only o f limited service to the
Committee due to the fact that he holds office for
one year only. The Council suggest that a section
should be included in the Bill enabling the Council
to appoint two permanent representatives on the
Committee to hold office for at least five years.
This is the present position on the Circuit Court
Rules Committee.
Signed on behalf of the Council.
J
ames
R.
Q
u irke
,
President.
J
ames
J . O ’C
onnor
,
Vice-President.
E
ric
A P
lunkett
, Secietai-y.
7
th February
, 1953.
DUBLIN SOLICITORS’ BAR
ASSOCIATION
T
he
monthly meeting of the Dublin Solicitors’
Bar Association was held at the Dolphin Hotel,
Dublin, on the 16th day o f February, 1953, when
Dr. G. A. Little, President of the Old Dublin
Society read a very interesting Paper on the Dublin
Law Courts. Dr. Little traced the history o f the
Courts from Scandiaavian times, the erection
of the Public Record Office and the Four Courts
on their present sites, the establishment o f the
Kings’ Inns, the solicitors’ struggle for autonomy
and the foundation o f the Incorporated Law Society
in the Buildings now occupied by it.
Mr. T. J. Kirwan presided and Messrs. Ernest
Proud and James J. O’Connor also spoke.
The next meeting o f the Association was held
at the Dolphin Hotel on the 25th day of March,
1953, when Mr. Vincent Grogan delivered a
lecture entitled, “ Justice in Med fe ral Dublin.”
All solicitors, whether members of the Association
or not, are invited to attend these meetings.
As a result of a request made by the Dublin
Solicitors’ Bar Association to the County Registrar
o f the Dublin Circuit regarding the collection o f
draft payments at Green Street Courthouse, the
County Registrar is kindly arranging that in future
all such payments out may be collected at the Circuit
Court Office, Four Courts, which should prove
much more convenient to practitioners and clients
alike.
As a result of representations made by the Associa
tion to the Chief Justice concerning the door
adjoining the District Courts .jn the Four Courts
Building which had formerly been closed the
Chief Justice has kindly consented to change the
arrangements and the position now is that the
door has been opened for the use o f members o f the
legal profession.
ACTION UNDER
LORD CAMPBELL’S ACT
Payment o f Costs.
T
he
question of the liability o f the estate of a
deceased person for the costs of an action brought
under Lord Cmpbell’s Act does! not frequently
arise in practice. Probably in the majority of cases
either the action is compromised or a successful
verdict is obtained in which event the costs would
7 2