The Gazette 1949-1952

An application from an intending apprentice to the Chief Justice for exemption from the Preliminary Examination was considered. It was decided not to oppose the application. POLICE REPORTS I n the Society’s Gazette for March 1948, the follow­ ing notice was published :— “ Following representations made by the Council, the Commissioner o f 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 o f the legal profession. Heretofore, this information has been withheld until the termination of the criminal proceedings.” In the Society’s Gazette for April, 1949, following a communication received from the Department o f Justice, the following statement was published “ Notification has been received from the Department o f Justice that the procedure in the case of road accidents, whereby an abstract from the report of the Garda Siochana on the accident may be supplied to interested parties, has recently been revised. In future, interested parties will, on request, be supplied with copies of written statements made by witnesses, including members of the Garda. These docu­ ments may be made available even where criminal proceedings are pending, provided that the Gardai are satisfied that this will not affect the course o f justice.” The Council has recently been informed by the Attorney General’ s Department that the facilities mentioned in the notice o f April, 1949, are being withdrawn, and that abstracts o f witnesses state­ ments will not be furnished in any case where criminal proceedings are pending. The letter makes no reference to the notice from the Commissioner, Garda Siochana, dated March, 1948, and the Council understand that the position whereby a solicitor acting for a party to civil proceedings w

facts submitted the application was a liquidated demand, and that accordingly the application for the costs of the letter should not be made. Police reports T he Council considered correspondence between the Society and the Attorney General’s Department on the subject o f the refusal by the Garda authorities to furnish abstracts of the statements of witnesses whose names appear on police reports in cases where criminal proceedings are pending. A note on the subject is printed below. Leases and mortgages—Covenants to insure against fire T he Council considered a report from a committee on the position which arises from the practice of lessors of requiring lessees to insure against fire with a named company, and the similar practice of mortgagees advancing money on the security o f the property, of requiring the mortgager to insure with a company nominated in the mortgage deed. It was pointed out that in many cases lessees borrow money for the purpose o f purchasing residential property, and where different insurance companies are named in the lease and in the mortgage the lessee may find himself in the position of having to insure twice over. The committee reported that it frequently happens that neither the mortgagee nor the lessor will agree to any alteration in the covenant. The Com­ mittee reported that the attention o f the Minister for Justice should be drawn to the position, and that he should be asked to consider whether it would be advisable to deal with the matter by legislation on the lines o f Section 56 o f the Landlord & Tenant Act, 1931. The report of the Committee was adopted Library acquisitions O n a report from the Library Committee it was decided to purchase a number o f legal text books costing approximately £85. Solicitors’ Indemnity insurance T he following resolution was proposed, seconded and adopted :— “ That the Council should consider the advisability of setting up a defence union for the purpose of insuring solicitors against claims for negligence on the lines of the scheme operated by the Medical Defence Union.” The matter was referred to a committee for consideration and report. Applications under Section 16 and 18 An application by a law clerk for liberty to be bound for three years only pursuant to Section 16, con­ sidered and granted.