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1st April 1966 Mr. Patrick J. Hennigan, Solicitor,
Ballina, Co. Mayo, has been suspended until
further Order and his bank accounts frozen.
LAND REGISTRY DELAYS
The
following question was asked by Mr.
Gerard Sweetman in the Bail:
"To ask the Minister for Justice when he expects
the necessary buildings and staff
to be made
available to the Land Registry so that dealings can
be completed within a reasonable time of lodg
ment."
The Minister for Justice replied as follows:
"As indicated in reply to a question on 1st
December last, delays in the Land Registry are
mainly due to the inability to recruit and retain
the necessary technical and clerical staff.
"The over-all position continues to be difficult.
A recent competition for posts as legal assistant
failed to attract a sufficient number of qualified
candidates, and I am at present considering what
can be done to secure adequate legal staff.
"I expect that a sufficient number of clerical
officers will be assigned to the Land Registry within
the next month or so. Because of complications
arising from a review of salary scales, it is unlikely
that vacancies for draughtsmen will be filled for
some months.
"All possible steps, including the working of
overtime by legal, clerical and technical staffs,
are being taken to reduce delays to a minimum.
"While the existing accommodation is not re
garded as ideal for present requirements, it does
not contribute in any significant degree to delays
in the discharge of current business of the Land
Registry. Arrangements to erect a two-storey exten
sion over the Public Record Office building to
provide additional accommodation for the Land
Registry have been brought to an advanced stage
and I am informed that the Office of Public Works
hope to place the contract within the next month
or two."
SOCIETY OF YOUNG SOLICITORS
An ordinary meeting of the Society of Young
Solicitors took place on the 31st March 1966 in
Buswells' Hotel, when Mr. Patrick Kilroy repeated
his very absorbing lecture on Companies and
Finance Legislation. There was a large attendance
present and a very lively and penetrating discus
sion followed the lecture.
A
lecture was
given
by District
Justice
Cathal O Floinn, President of the District Court,
in Buswells' Hotel, Molesworth Street, on Thurs
day, 28th April.
THE LAND ACT AND THE LAND
REGISTRY
The attention of members is drawn to the omis
sion of appropriate certificates in the following
applications by solicitors which compel the legal
staff of the Land Registry to issue Requisitions
which would otherwise be unnecessary. The cases
are as follows
Responsibility Attaching to Undertaking
(a) Transmissions both on testacy and intestacy.
(b) Transfers which include charges. In this in
stance a certificate will be included in respect
of the transferee but invariably no certificate
in relation to the chargee is included.
(c) Settlements: where
settlements create
life
estates, e.g. in favour of the settlor and/or his
wife. Certificates in relation to such estates
are very often omitted.
CASES OF THE MONTH
An action was taken by the National Union
Bank of Cavendish Square, London, to commit
Mr. Ellis Lincoln, a solicitor of the Supreme Court
of Judicature and sole partner in the firm of
Messrs Lincoln & Lincoln of Knight's House,
Hatton Wall, E.C.I., to prison for the alleged
breach of certain undertakings given to the Bank,
or for leave to issue a writ of attachment.
Counsel for the Bank in addressing the Court
stated
(inter alia):
"the jurisdiction of the Court
is not limited to a solicitor's undertaking to hold
money. The purpose of the jurisdiction is to en
force honourable conduct on the part of officers of
the Court. It was not limited merely to ordering
the fulfilment of the undertakings, but was un
limited. He submitted that one method of en
forcing an undertaking by a solicitor, although
not given to the Court but to a third party, was to
make an order in a contempt of Court proceed
ings. The proper procedure was the issue of a
writ of attachment, or a motion to commit. The
Court could enforce its disciplinary powers by
either proceedings. The fact that it was a manag
ing clerk and not the solicitor who had given the
undertaking was irrelevant." (In re Ellis Lincoln,
a solicitor,
Times
newspaper, England, 9th March
1966).
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