The Gazette 1978

GAZETTE

JULY-AUGUST

Law Society Notes

The Provision of agreed Medical Reports

Meetings were held recently between representatives of

the Council of the Law Society and of the Federation of

Insurers of Ireland, with a view to reaching agreement on

procedures which would have the effect of minimising

the cost incurred in obtaining medical reports and the

costs and difficulty in procuring the attendance of medical

witnesses at the trial of personal injury actions. Arising

out of these meetings, the Society recommends to its

members the adoption of the following procedures which

have the approval of the Federation of Insurers of

Ireland, viz.:

1. The Plaintiffs solicitor will furnish to the Defendant's

solicitors or Insurers, on a strictly Without Prejudice

basis, copies of all his client's medical reports for

consideration. These may be adopted on behalf of the

Defendant and render independent examinations

unnecessary.

2. If no reports are available or made available,

independent examination will proceed, by agreement

without the Plaintiffs doctor or surgeon in attendance,

otherwise in the ordinary way, copies of the ensuing

report or reports being made available to the Plaintiffs

solicitor, again on a Without Prejudice basis.

3. Each party should endeavour, where possible, to agree

to the admission of the other party's medical reports in

evidence at the trial of the action.

4. Where no agreement is reached, each party may call

medical evidence on its own behalf in die usual way.

While the Society hopes that whenever possible the

foregoing procedure will be adopted, whether or not it is

adopted is at the discretion of the solicitor for the parties

and subject to the consent of their clients in any particular

case.

[Note that the title which appeared at the head of this note in the

April, 1978, issue of the GAZETTE was incorrect.]

Standard Forms of Undertaking

The attention of members is drawn to the recent pub-

lication of the Society's standard forms of undertaking.

They are available in pad form and may be obtained from

the Society at either Blackhall Place or the Four Courts at

a charge of £5.00 (per 50) inclusive of postage.

Employment Register

In recent weeks the Society has proved very successful

in placing newly-qualified solictors who have placed their

names on the Employment Register. Most of the positions

which have been filled have been outside the Dublin area

but there still remain a number of vacancies. Solicitors in

search of employment are encouraged to enter their

names on the Employment Register at Blackhall Place,

Dublin 7.

Stamp Duty on New Houses

It was pointed out in the memorandum published in the

g a z e t t e of the Society dated November 1976 (Vol. 70,

No. 9), that, even if the contract for sale or lease of a site and

a building contract are

not

linked in any way, ad valorem

stamp duty would be chargeable, if, at the time the contracts

were entered into, the house was "substantially completed".

It has been found in practice that the ascertainment of the

facts necessary to determine whether that stage had been

reached and, finally, to get agreement to that effect has

proved difficult and contentious, involving queries and

delays, frustrating to practitioners and the Revenue Com-

missioners alike.

With a view to limiting the area ofdispute and minimising

such delays, the Commissioners are prepared to accept that,

prior to substantial roof-tiling, no question of ad valorem

duty being payable would arise subject, of course, to

evidence satisfactory to them to that effect being produced.

In other words, where a house has been completed up to

and including felting only, ad valorem duty would not be

payable; if, on the other hand, the house had been fully tiled,

ad valorem duty would be payable. To anticipate the

situation where, in between those two stages, the roof is left

partly untiled so that it could be claimed that the roof had not

been tiled (to enable further works to continue), the test will

be whether or not the roof is substantially tiled.

This test is mainly a question offact and one which, while

not guaranteed to eliminate all problems, is designed to

narrow the areas of dispute and to reduce delays.

In any such cases where exemption from the payment of

ad valorem stamp duty on the purchase of a house is sought,

the processing of the case would be expedited if, at the time of

lodgment of the instruments for stamping, a certificate from

an architect or engineer were furnished setting out in detail

the work done on and the then stage of construction of the

house. The^contract for sale or lease of the site and the

building contract which are normally referred to in the

certificate should, or course, be lodged at the same time.

Ifsuch certificates were forthcoming from a solicitor who

was personally aware of the facts, it would go a long way

towards reducing, if not eliminating, the necessity for any

further enquiries, thus leading to the speedly finalisation of

the case.

As pointed out in the previous memo, the Revenue Com-

missioners may require certificates to be verified by

Statutory Declarations or other evidence in any particular

case.

In cases which are clearcut (for example, if the house is

completed up to and including felting only) and acceptable

evidence is furnished to the Revenue Commissioners to that

effect, it will no longer be necessary to furnish a valuation of

the portion of the house then completed at the date the

contract was signed. Such evidence might be a helpful factor

in a borderline case.

These observations do not purport to have legal effect and

they are solely for the purpose of facilitating practitioners.

The Revenue Commissioners reserve theright to investigate

any particular transaction and, if necessary, to have spot

checks carried out to ensure that the arrangement does not

provide a means of avoidance of duty.