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48 1936

COURTS OF JUSTICE ACT, 1936

PART VI

Rules of Court.

Power of Minister for Justice to prescribe court fees.

65. —(1) It shall be lawful for the Minister for Justice, by order made with the consent of the Minister for Finance, to prescribe and from time to time as occasion requires vary or otherwise revise the fees to be charged in the several offices established by the Court Officers Act, 1926 (No. 27 of 1926), as amended by subsequent enactments (including this Act), and the persons by whom and the occasions on which such fees are to be paid and the officers by whom and the manner in which such fees are to be collected.

(2) An order made by the Minister for Justice under this section may provide that in every financial year commencing after the making of such order there shall be payable, by way of court fees, a percentage on the annual income arising in such year from the property of every person of unsound mind and every minor under the jurisdiction transferred by sub-section (1) of section 19 of the Principal Act to the Chief Justice, and such order may prescribe and from time to time vary the amount, method of calculation, collection, and disposal of such percentage, and, if thought fit, general or special exemptions therefrom, and such order may, in relation to the property of persons of unsound mind, be made by way of variation or extension of or in substitution for all or any of the provisions of sections 109 to 114 of the Lunacy Regulation (Ireland) Act, 1871.

(3) Unless and until the fees to be charged in any office established by the Court Officers Act, 1926 , as amended by subsequent enactments (including this Act) are prescribed by an order made under this section, there shall be charged in such office the fees which were chargeable therein immediately before the passing of this Act, and all such fees shall be paid by the persons and on the occasions and be collected by the officers and in the manner by whom and on and in which such fees were payable and collectable immediately before such passing.

(4) All fees collected under this section or under an order made under this section shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall direct.

(5) The Public Offices Fees Act, 1879, shall not apply to any fees chargeable under this section or an order made under this section.

Fees under the Local Registration of Title (Ireland) Act, 1891.

66. —(1) From and after the passing of this Act, the power of fixing fees conferred by section 8 of the Local Registration of Title (Ireland) Act, 1891, on the Land Judge with the approval of the Lord Chancellor and the consent of the Treasury shall be exercisable only by the Minister for Justice with the consent of the Minister for Finance, and the power of altering such fees conferred by the said section shall be similarly exercisable.

(2) The reference in sub-section (1) of the said section 8 to the Land Judge (where that expression secondly occurs in the said sub-section) shall be construed and have effect as a reference to the Minister for Justice.

Superior Court Rules Committee.

67. —(1) There shall be and is hereby constituted a committee to be styled and in this Part of this Act referred to as the Superior Courts Rules Committee to fulfil the functions assigned to it by this Part of this Act.

(2) The Superior Courts Rules Committee shall consist of four ex-officio members and six nominated members.

(3) The ex-officio members of the said committee shall be—

(a) the Chief Justice, who shall be the chairman of the said committee;

(b) the President of the High Court, who shall be the vice-chairman of the said committee;

(c) the President of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland;

(d) the Master of the High Court.

(4) Two of the nominated members of the said committee shall be ordinary judges of the Supreme Court and shall (when the number of such ordinary judges exceeds two) be nominated by the Chief Justice, and two of the said nominated members shall be ordinary judges of the High Court nominated by the President of the High Court.

(5) Two of the nominated members of the said committee shall be practising barristers nominated by the Council of the Bar of Saorstát Eireann, of whom one shall be a member of the Senior Bar and the other shall be a member of the Junior Bar.

(6) Every nominated member of the said committee shall, unless he sooner dies, resigns, or ceases to be (as the case may be) an ordinary judge of the Supreme Court, an ordinary judge of the High Court, a practising barrister, or (in the case of the member of the Junior Bar) a member of the Junior Bar, hold office as such member for five years from the date of his nomination.

(7) A nominated member of the said committee whose membership thereof expires by effluxion of time shall be eligible for renomination.

(8) The Registrar of the Supreme Court shall be the secretary of the said committee.

(9) The quorum of the said committee shall be six members.

(10) The said committee may act notwithstanding one or more vacancies in its membership.

Rule making authorities under section 36 of the Principal Act.

68. —(1) From and after the passing of this Act the power of making, annulling, or altering rules of court and making new rules conferred by section 36 of the Principal Act shall cease to be exercisable by the Minister for Justice, and in lieu thereof it is hereby enacted that, subject and without prejudice to the provisions of this Act in regard to the fees chargeable in court offices, the said power shall be exercisable by the Superior Courts Rules Committee with the concurrence of the Minister for Justice.

(2) The reference in sub-section (1) of section 12 of the Approved Investments Act, 1933 (No. 34 of 1933), to the Committee mentioned in section 36 of the Principal Act shall be construed and have effect as a reference to the Superior Courts Rules Committee.

Circuit Court Rules Committee.

69. —(1) There shall be and is hereby constituted a committee to be styled and in this Part of this Act referred to as the Circuit Court Rules Committee to fulfil the functions assigned to it by this Part of this Act.

(2) The Circuit Court Rules Committee shall consist of two ex-officio members and six nominated members.

(3) The ex-officio members of the said committee shall be—

(a) the judge or (if more than one) the senior of the judges of the Circuit Court for the time being assigned to the Circuit which includes the county borough of Dublin, who shall be the chairman of the said committee;

(b) the county registrar for the county and city of Dublin, who shall be the secretary of the said committee.

(4) Two of the nominated members of the said committee shall be judges of the Circuit Court nominated by the judges of the Circuit Court, and two others of the said nominated members shall be practising barristers nominated by the Council of the Bar of Saorstát Eireann, and two others of the said nominated members shall be practising solicitors nominated by the Council of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.

(5) Every nominated member of the said committee shall, unless he sooner dies, resigns or ceases to be (as the case may be) a judge of the Circuit Court, a practising barrister, or a practising solicitor, hold office as such member for five years from the date of his nomination.

(6) A nominated member of the said committee whose membership thereof expires by effluxion of time shall be eligible for renomination.

(7) The quorum of the said committee shall be four members.

(8) The said committee may act notwithstanding one or more vacancies in its membership.

Rule-making authority for the Circuit Court.

70. —Subject and without prejudice to the provisions of this Act in regard to the fees chargeable in court offices, the rule-making authority for the Circuit Court for the purposes of section 66 of the Principal Act shall be the Circuit Court Rules Committee with the concurrence of the Minister for Justice.

District Court Rules Committee.

71. —(1) There shall be and is hereby constituted a committee to be styled and in this Part of this Act referred to as the District Court Rules Committee to fulfil the functions assigned to it by this Part of this Act.

(2) The District Court Rules Committee shall consist of two ex-officio members and seven nominated members.

(3) The ex-officio members of the said Committee shall be—

(a) that one of the justices of the District Court for the time being assigned to the district which comprises or includes the county borough of Dublin who is, for the purposes of section 74 of the Principal Act as amended by this Act, the senior of such justices, who shall be the chairman of the said committee;

(b) the District Court clerk for the district which comprises or includes the county borough of Dublin, who shall be the secretary of the said committee.

(4) Four of the nominated members of the said committee shall be justices of the District Court nominated by the Minister for Justice, and one other of the said nominated members shall be a practising barrister nominated by the Council of the Bar of Saorstát Eireann, and two others of the said nominated members shall be practising solicitors nominated by the Council of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.

(5) Every nominated member of the said committee shall, unless he sooner dies, resigns, or ceases to be (as the case may be) a justice of the District Court, a practising barrister, or a practising solicitor, hold office as such member for five years from the date of his nomination.

(6) A nominated member of the said committee whose membership thereof expires by effluxion of time shall be eligible for renomination.

(7) The quorum of the said committee shall be four members.

(8) The said committee may act notwithstanding one or more vacancies in its membership.

Rule-making authority for the District Court.

72. —Subject and without prejudice to the provisions of this Act in regard to the fees chargeable in court offices, the rule-making authority for the purposes of section 91 of the Principal Act shall be the District Court Rules Committee with the concurrence of the Minister for Justice.

Local Registration of Title Rules Committee.

73. —(1) There shall be and is hereby constituted a committee to be styled and in this Part of this Act referred to as the Local Registration of Title Rules Committee to fulfil the functions assigned to it by this Part of this Act.

(2) The Local Registration of Title Rules Committee shall consist of two ex-officio members and two nominated members.

(3) The ex-officio members of the said committee shall be—

(a) the Judge of the High Court for the time being assigned to discharge the office of Judicial Commissioner of the Irish Land Commission, who shall be the chairman of the said committee;

(b) the Registrar of Titles, who shall be the secretary of the said committee.

(4) One of the nominated members of the said committee shall be a practising barrister nominated by the Council of the Bar of Saorstát Eireann, and the other of the said nominated members shall be a practising solicitor nominated by the Council of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.

(5) Every nominated member of the said committee shall, unless he sooner dies, resigns, or ceases to be (as the case may be) a practising barrister or a practising solicitor, hold office as such member for five years from the date of his nomination.

(6) A nominated member of the said committee whose membership thereof expires by effluxion of time shall be eligible for renomination.

(7) The quorum of the said committee shall be three members.

(8) The said committee may act notwithstanding one vacancy in its membership.

Rules under the Local Registration of Title (Ireland) Act, 1891.

74. —From and after the passing of this Act, the power of making general rules conferred by section 94 of the Local Registration of Title (Ireland) Act, 1891, on the Land Judge with the approval of the Lord Chancellor shall be exercisable only by the Local Registration of Title Rules Committee with the concurrence of the Minister for Justice.

Reports by rule-making committees.

75. —(1) The secretary of each of the several committees established by this Part of this Act shall summon a meeting of such committee once at least in every year on such day as may be fixed by the chairman of such committee, for the purpose of the general consideration by such committee of the practice, procedure, and administration of the court in relation to which such committee is constituted and the law affecting or administered by such court or, in the case of the Local Registration of Title Rules Committee, the practice, procedure, and administration under the Local Registration of Title (Ireland) Act, 1891, and the operation and effect of that Act.

(2) As soon as conveniently may be after every meeting of any such committee in pursuance of this section, such committee shall report to the Minister whether any and if so what amendments or alterations should, in the opinion of such committee, be made in the practice, procedure, or administration of the court in relation to which such committee is constituted or in the law affecting or administered by such court with a view to the improvement of the administration of justice or, in the case of the Local Registration of Title Rules Committee, in the practice, procedure, and administration under the Local Registration of Title (Ireland) Act, 1891, with a view to the improvement of the operation of that Act.