The Gazette 1977

JULY

GAZETTE

prosecution was brought in the name of the investigating Garda, the Garda, though performing what was his duty, was in legal quality a common informer. Mr. Justice Griffin said that if, in transferring the functions of the Attorney-General to the DPP in criminal matters and in substituting the DPP for the Attorney-General in all statutes or statutory instruments, the Legislature intended that a change or reservation would be made in respect of prosecutions formerly taken in the name of the Attorney-General, he would have expected such a drastic change to have been clearly and expressly stated by the Legislature. The authority purported to be conferred by the letter of January 9th, 1975, was therefore in his view unnecessary. Statutory Power If the practice of bringing proceedings in the name of a Garda was to be continued it would be far more desirable that he should be given a statutory power to do so rather than having to prosecute as a common informer. It would, however, be more desirable still if all prosecutions were brought in the name of and prosecuted by the DPP, if whatever administrative difficulties which now existed could be overcome. Mr. Justice Parke said that he would agree with the judgment of Mr. Justice Griffin and would therefore answer the District Justice's question in the affirmative and allow the appeal. The People at the suit of the Director of Public Prosecutions v. William Roddy, John J. Duffy and Edmund Ro d d y . — Supr eme Court (O'Higgins, C.J., Griffin and Parke J.J.) — unreported — 25 February, 1977. PRACTICE Plaintiff entitled to be paid in foreign currency if judgment is given against foreign defendant. Application by plaintiff for judgment in default of appearance to a Summary Summons claiming 14,740 Dutch guilders being the amount due for goods sold and delivered. The Cent- ral Office ofthe High Court refused the application on the ground that the practice has always been to give judgment in Irish currency only. However there is no reported decision of an Irish Court that a judgment cannot be given in a foreign 14

currency. The question whether a judgment can be given in foreign currency has recently been considered by the House of Lords in Mileangos v. George Frank (Textiles) Ltd. - (1975) 3 A.E.R. 801 - which laid down that judgments founded on moneys due on foreign currency could henceforth be paid in that foreign currency. The requirements of International Commerce are best met by a rule which enables the Court to give judgment in whatever currency the plaintiff is entitled to under the terms of the contract. In Barclays Bank Ltd. v. Levin Brothers Ltd. (1976) 3 A.E.R. 900, Mocatta J. held that to obtain judgment expressed in a foreign currency, it is not necessary to establish that the proper law of the contract is a Foreign Law. Accordingly the plaintiff is entitled to an order that the defendant does pay to him the sum due in Dutch guilders or the Irish currency equivalent thereof at the date when the judgment in default is entered in the office. Damen & Zonen v. O'Shea. — McMahon J. — unreported — 25 May, 1977. RIGHT TO LIGHT Exjunction granted to plaintiff to demolish defendant's extension, as it obstructed the light of plaintifTs diningroom. Plaintiff is owner of premises in Palmerston Gardens, Dublin, and defendant is owner of adjoining premises. These houses form part of a row of two storey non-basement houses with returns, built in pairs. The return of plaintiff's house is on north side, while that of the defendant is on the south side. The defendant built an extension from the rere of his house to the garden wall, which was 12 feet high for a distance of 21 feet, and had a flat roof. The plaintiff complains that there has been an actionable interference with his right to light to the ground floor of his premises, which he uses as a dining room. The plaintiff contends that in any event the dining room was not a well-lit room, and that the erection of the defendant's extension has caused a further substantial diminution of light in that room.

The plaintiff's wife was first approached in April 1974 and asked by the builder whether she had any objection to the defendant building the extension. The plaintiffs wife told the builder that he would have to get in touch with the plaintiff, who emphasised that he would protect his rights if the building was too high; this was confirmed by a letter of 21 April 1974. The erection of the extension commenced after 15 May 1974 to a height of 12 feet 10 inches. The plaintiff's solicitors wrote to the defendant on 21 May 1974 to the effect that, as a result of a search in the Planning Department, they could not discover any evidence of an application for permission to erect the extension. The solicitors for the plaintiffs then stated that, if the work continued, an application would be made to the Court for an Injunction. No notice was taken of this letter and the extension was completed. The various witnesses for the plaintiff now proved that the diningroom was much darker than formerly. There is no doubt that the erection of the defendant's extension has caused a substantial deprivation of light to the plaintiff's dining room. The plaintiff is accordingly entitled to compel the defendant to remove the extension which he has built. This is all the more the case, as the defendant persisted in the building of the extension with notice of the plaintiff's objection, and that apparently the extension was built without planning permission. CERTIORARI Conditional Order of Certiorari discharged as Tribunal had observed rules of Natural Justice in deducting Social Welfare benefits from prosecutrix. Conditional Order of Certiorari granted to the prosecutrix, Monica Hayes, on 2 March, 1977, to quash the award made by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal in respect of the death of John Hayes, on the following grounds:— (1) The Tribunal did not have jurisdiction to reduce the gross value of the loss suffered by the dependants of John Hayes by a sum which was the value of the Loughney v. Byrne — Murnaghan J. — unreported — 7 October 1974.