Vol. 212 No. 1
asked the Minister for Justice the number of will suits heard or still pending in the High Court and Circuit Court during each of the four years ended 30th July, 1964; and the total number of all other actions or causes of any description heard or pending in the said Courts during the same period.
28.
asked the Minister for Justice the number of cases in every year from 1923 to 1964 inclusive (a) in a Circuit Court, and (b) in the High Court in which wills have been challenged, and the number of cases for every year in which such wills were condemned by the Court.
I propose, with your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, to take Questions Nos. 27 and 28 together.
Particulars in relation to will suits for the four years ended 31st July, 1964, have been compiled and, as they are in the form of a tabular statement, I propose, again with your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, to have it circulated with the Official Report. The compilation of this information in respect of the four most recent years has involved considerable examination of court records, and the work involved in extending the examination to include each year since 1923 would not be justified.
Following is the statement:—
PARTICULARS OF WILL SUITS AND ALL OTHER ACTIONS OR CAUSES OF ANY DESCRIPTION HEARD OR PENDING IN THE HIGH COURT AND CIRCUIT COURT DURING EACH OF THE FOUR YEARS ENDED 31st JULY, 1964.
Pending cases have been taken to mean "live" cases set down which were either adjourned or not reached.
|
Number of will suits |
Number of all other actions or causes of any description |
|||||||||||||||
|
Heard in legal year ended |
Cases set down for hearing but pending at close of legal year ended |
Heard in legal year ended |
Cases set down for hearing but pending at close of legal year ended |
|||||||||||||
|
31/7/61 |
31/7/62 |
31/7/63 |
31/7/64 |
31/7/61 |
31/7/62 |
31/7/63 |
31/7/64 |
31/7/61 |
31/7/62 |
31/7/63 |
31/7/64 |
31/7/61 |
31/7/62 |
31/7/63 |
31/7/64 |
|
|
High Court |
8 |
13 |
7 |
12 |
Nil |
Nil |
Nil |
Nil |
1,066 |
1,055 |
1,094 |
1,074 |
62 |
142 |
132 |
131 |
|
Circuit Court |
30 |
16 |
19 |
25 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
8 |
8,400 |
8,957 |
9,287 |
9,472 |
(a) |
(a) |
(a) |
2,322 |
NOTE:
(a) Not available. Figures of cases set down, reached but adjourned are as follows:—
|
Year |
ended |
31/7/61 |
1,001 |
|
,, |
,, |
31/7/62 |
1,058 |
|
,, |
,, |
31/7/63 |
1,211 |
No statistics are available as to the number of wills condemned in each year since 1923. The compilation of this information would involve an examination of each individual case and an interpretation of the judgment on record. The value of the results would not be commensurate with the work involved and I do not propose to have it undertaken.
Is the position then that this information was not secured by the Minister for Justice when he formulated his proposals in regard to the Succession Bill?
The information was available.
Apparently it was not procured.
That is a separate question.
You asked me to do something about it.
Every possible aspect of this matter was under consideration.
You asked me to do something about it.
You have changed your mind now.
You even had to change the Minister.
