PART IV.

Appeals From The Circuit Court.

28. —This Part of this Act shall come into operation on such date as shall be fixed in that behalf by the Minister for Justice by order made after consultation with the President of the High Court.

29. —In this Part of this Act the expression “the Dublin Circuit” means the circuit which consists of the county of Dublin and the county borough of Dublin.

30. —Nothing in this Part of this Act shall apply to appeals from decisions of the Circuit Court under the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1934 (No. 9 of 1934), nor prejudice or affect the provisions of that Act in respect of such appeals.

31. —(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Part of this Act, no appeal shall lie from any judgment or order of the Circuit Court in any civil action or matter which is final and conclusive by virtue of an Act of the Oireachtas whether passed before or after this Act, nor from any judgment or order of the Circuit Court made on a petition to the Circuit Court under section 6 of the Labourers (Ireland) Act, 1906, or under the Sixth Schedule to the Local Government Act, 1925 (No. 5 of 1925).

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Part of this Act, no appeal shall lie from any decision of the Circuit Court on an appeal to that Court under an enactment relating to a tax or duty under the care and management of the Revenue Commissioners, save only such (if any) appeal (including an appeal by way of case stated) as may lie under any such enactment as aforesaid in force immediately before the commencement of this Part of this Act.

(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Part of this Act, no appeal shall lie from any decision of the Circuit Court on an appeal to that Court under the Valuation Acts, but in lieu of such appeal the right to a case stated conferred by sections 10 and 11 of the Annual Revision of Rateable Property (Ireland) Amendment Act, 1860, shall, on the commencement of this Part of this Act, become and be exerciseable and the said sections 10 and 11 and also section 12 (to the words “case under this Act”) of the same Act, as adapted or modified by or under any Act passed before this Act, shall, as on and from such commencement, have full force and effect with and subject to the following modifications, that is to say:—

(a) references to a court of general or quarter sessions shall be construed as references to the Circuit Court, and

(b) references to the chairman of a court of general or quarter sessions shall be construed as references to the judge of the Circuit Court, and

(c) references to a superior court of law shall be construed as references to the High Court, and

(d) the decision of the High Court shall be subject to appeal to the Supreme Court.

32. —(1) Each city and town specified in the first column of the Second Schedule to this Act shall be an appeal town for the purposes of this Part of this Act.

(2) In this Part of this Act the expression “the appeal town” means, in relation to any county or county borough specified in the second column of the Second Schedule to this Act, the city or town specified in the first column of the said Schedule opposite the mention of such county or county borough.

33. —(1) At or before the commencement of this Part of this Act, the Minister for Justice shall by order, made after consultation with the President of the High Court, group the several counties and county boroughs (other than the county of Dublin and the county borough of Dublin) in Saorstát Eireann into such and so many High Court Circuits as he thinks proper.

(2) At any time after the commencement of this Part of this Act, the Minister for Justice may by order, made after consultation with the President of the High Court, either—

(a) alter the number of High Court Circuits and make such redistribution of the several counties and county boroughs (other than the county of Dublin and the county borough of Dublin) amongst the several High Court Circuits as he shall think proper having regard to such alteration of the number of such circuits, or

(b) without altering the number of the High Court Circuits, make such variation as he thinks proper of the distribution of the several counties and county boroughs (other than the county of Dublin and the county borough of Dublin) amongst such circuits.

(3) Every order made under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and if either such House shall, within the next twenty-one days on which such House sits after such order is laid before it, pass a resolution annulling such order, such order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

34. —(1) Twice in every year the High Court shall sit in every county and county borough (other than the county of Dublin and the county borough of Dublin) in Saorstát Eireann to hear appeals from the Circuit Court and to transact such other business as shall lawfully be brought before it, and for that purpose one or more judges of the High Court shall, at the times appointed under this section, travel each High Court Circuit and hold a sitting of the High Court in every appeal town in such circuit.

(2) The High Court when sitting in an appeal town in pursuance of this section shall be known and is in this Act referred to as the High Court on Circuit, and the sittings of the High Court in any such appeal town in pursuance of this section shall be known and are in this Act referred to as sittings of the High Court on Circuit.

(3) The half-yearly sittings of the High Court on Circuit in the respective High Court Circuits shall, so far as is practicable, take place simultaneously in all the High Court Circuits, and shall be held at intervals of time as nearly equal as is convenient having regard to all the circumstances, but in the calculation of such intervals the months of August and September shall not be counted.

(4) The Chief Justice and the President of the High Court shall jointly determine, in respect of each half-yearly sittings of the High Court on Circuit, the number of judges who shall travel and sit on each High Court Circuit for the purposes of such sittings and the day and hour at which such sittings shall commence in each appeal town on each such Circuit.

(5) Save so far as may be rendered necessary by unforeseen events occurring during the half-yearly sittings of the High Court on Circuit, the High Court shall not at any one time sit for the purposes of such sittings in more than one appeal town on any one High Court Circuit.

35. —(1) The President of the High Court shall, if and when he thinks proper, travel and sit as a judge of the High Court on Circuit, and every other judge of the High Court shall travel and sit as a judge of the High Court on Circuit when requested by the President of the High Court so to do.

(2) Every ordinary judge of the Supreme Court shall travel and sit as a judge of the High Court on Circuit whenever requested by the Chief Justice so to do, and every such judge when so travelling and sitting shall be an additional judge of the High Court.

(3) The Chief Justice and the President of the High Court, after such consultation as they think proper with the judges concerned, shall determine, in respect of every half-yearly sittings of the High Court on Circuit, the several judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Court who shall be requested to travel and sit for the purposes of such sittings and the particular judge or judges who shall so travel and sit on each High Court Circuit.

(4) At any time during a half-yearly sittings of the High Court on Circuit, the Chief Justice and the President of the High Court, after consultation with the judges concerned, may make such rearrangement of the judges travelling and sitting for the purposes of such sittings and their allocation to particular High Court Circuits as may have become necessary or desirable owing to unforeseen circumstances.

36. —(1) Whenever before or during a half-yearly sittings of the High Court on Circuit the Executive Council is satisfied, on representations made by the Chief Justice and the President of the High Court, that for any reason the number of judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Court available for travelling and sitting for the purposes of such half-yearly sittings is or has become insufficient for those purposes, a practising barrister of not less than twelve years' standing may be appointed to be a Commissioner of the High Court on Circuit for the purposes of those half-yearly sittings.

(2) Every Commissioner of the High Court on Circuit shall, during the half-yearly sittings or the remainder of the half-yearly sittings (as the case may be) of the High Court on Circuit for the purposes of which he is appointed, be an additional judge of the High Court and be entitled to the privileges and immunities of a judge of the High Court, but shall not sit or act as such judge elsewhere than in the High Court on Circuit.

(3) Every Commissioner of the High Court on Circuit shall travel and sit on such High Court Circuit as shall be determined by the Chief Justice and the President of the High Court.

(4) Every Commissioner of the High Court on Circuit shall receive out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas such remuneration as the Minister for Justice, with the sanction of the Minister for Finance, shall determine.

37. —(1) An appeal shall lie to the High Court sitting in Dublin from every judgment given or order made (other than judgments and orders in respect of which it is declared by this Part of this Act that no appeal shall lie therefrom) by the Circuit Court in any civil action or matter at the hearing or for the determination of which no oral evidence was given.

(2) Every appeal under this section to the High Court shall be heard and determined by one judge of the High Court sitting in Dublin and shall be so heard by way of rehearing of the action or matter in which the judgment or order the subject of such appeal was given or made, but no evidence which was not given and received in the Circuit Court shall be given or received on the hearing of such appeal without the special leave of the judge hearing such appeal.

38. —(1) An appeal shall lie from every judgment or order (other than judgments and orders in respect of which it is declared by this Part of this Act that no appeal shall lie therefrom and judgments and orders in respect of which other provision in relation to appeals is made by this Part of this Act) of the Circuit Court in a civil action or matter—

(a) where such judgment or order is given or made by a judge of the Circuit Court for the time being assigned to and sitting in the Dublin Circuit, to the High Court sitting in Dublin, and

(b) in every other case, to the High Court on Circuit sitting in the appeal town for the county or county borough in which the action or matter resulting in such judgment or order was heard and determined.

(2) Every appeal under the section shall be heard and determined by one judge of the High Court and shall be so heard by way of a rehearing of the action or matter in which the judgment or order the subject of such appeal was given or made.

(3) The judge hearing an appeal under this section may, if he so thinks proper on the application of any party to such appeal, refer any question of law arising in such appeal to the Supreme Court by way of case stated for the determination of the Supreme Court and may adjourn the pronouncement of his judgment or order on such appeal pending the determination of such case stated and, in particular, may so adjourn such pronouncement to Dublin and there pronounce his said judgment or order at any time after such determination.

(4) In the case of an appeal under this section to the High Court on Circuit, the judge hearing such appeal may if he so thinks fit, at any stage of the hearing of such appeal, adjourn the hearing or any part of the hearing of such appeal or the pronouncement of his judgment or order on such appeal to any other appeal town on the same Circuit or to Dublin and there hear and determine such appeal or part thereof or pronounce such judgment or order, as the case may be.

39. —The decision of the High Court or of the High Court on Circuit on an appeal under this Part of this Act shall be final and conclusive and not appealable.

40. —The following provisions shall apply and have effect in relation to all appeals under this Part of this Act to the High Court sitting in Dublin or to the High Court on Circuit, that is to say:—

(a) any such appeal may be limited to a specified part of the judgment or order which is the subject of such appeal;

(b) where there are several plaintiffs or several defendants, any one or more of such plaintiffs or such defendants (as the case may be) may appeal although the other or others of such plaintiffs or defendants refuse to join in such appeal;

(c) where there are several appellants or several respondents, and one or more but not all of such appellants or of such respondents dies or die before such appeal is determined, such appeal shall not abate by reason of such death or deaths;

(d) every notice in writing given by any party to the suit or matter to another such party for the purposes of the trial or hearing in the Circuit Court shall be good for the hearing of the appeal without renewal;

(e) the judge hearing the appeal shall have full powers of amendment in respect of summonses, civil bills, pleadings, notices, and other documents.

41. —(1) Whenever suitable courthouse accommodation is, for some temporary reason, not available in an appeal town for the purposes of a particular sitting of the High Court on circuit in that appeal town, the judge or judges assigned to sit in such appeal town for the purposes of such sitting may adjourn such sitting to any other convenient place (in the same or another county) at which suitable courthouse accommodation is available, and may so adjourn such sitting at any time after it comes to his or their knowledge that such courthouse accommodation is not or will not be available in such appeal town, and whether such judge has or has not, or such judges have or have not, entered such appeal town for the purposes of such sitting.

(2) Whenever, during a sitting of the High Court on circuit in an appeal town, suitable courthouse accommodation ceases to be available in such appeal town for the purposes of such sitting or the courthouse accommodation available in such appeal town becomes or is found to be unsuitable for the purposes of such sitting, the judge or judges sitting in such appeal town for the purposes of such sitting may adjourn the remainder of such sitting to any other convenient place (whether in the same or another county) at which suitable courthouse accommodation is available.

(3) Whenever a sitting or any part of a sitting of the High Court on circuit is adjourned under this section from an appeal town, the place to which such sitting or part of a sitting is so adjourned shall become and be the appeal town within the meaning of this Act for the holding of such sitting or part of a sitting, and such sitting or part of a sitting shall be held at such place accordingly.

42. —(1) In every county and county borough (other than the county of Dublin and the county borough of Dublin) the county registrar for such county or county borough shall act as registrar to the High Court on Circuit when sitting in such county or county borough, and shall perform and fulfil such other duties and functions in relation to that Court as shall be assigned to him by Rules of Court.

(2) It shall be lawful for the Minister for Justice, whenever he shall think proper so to do after consultation with the President of the High Court, to direct one or more of the officers for the time being serving in the Central Office of the High Court to travel to a particular appeal town for a particular sitting of the High Court on circuit in that appeal town and there perform such duties as are mentioned in that behalf in this section.

(3) It shall be lawful for the Minister for Justice, whenever he shall think proper so to do after consultation with the Chief Justice, to direct one or more of the officers for the time being serving in the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court to travel to a particular appeal town for a particular sitting of the High Court on circuit in that appeal town and there perform such duties as are mentioned in that behalf in this section.

(4) Every officer who is directed under this section to travel to an appeal town for a sitting of the High Court on circuit shall travel to such appeal town in accordance with such directions and shall there act as registrar (in addition to the county registrar) to the High Court on circuit during the said sitting of that Court, and shall be and stay in such appeal town for such time before, during, and after such sitting as shall be necessary for the proper discharge of his duties as such registrar.

(5) Every officer travelling to and staying in an appeal town in pursuance of this section shall receive, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, such travelling expenses and subsistence allowance in respect of such travelling and staying as the Minister for Justice shall, with the sanction of the Minister for Finance, from time to time direct.

43. —There shall be attached to every judge travelling and sitting as a judge of the High Court on Circuit and to every Commissioner of the High Court on Circuit one servant to perform such duties in relation to such judge or commissioner while travelling and sitting as such judge or commissioner as the Minister for Justice may appoint, and every such servant shall be appointed by the said Minister and shall hold office on such terms and conditions and receive out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas such remuneration and travelling expenses as the said Minister, with the sanction of the Minister for Finance, shall determine.

44. —(1) On the occasion of every sitting of the High Court on circuit in an appeal town, it shall be the duty of the county registrar within whose functional area such appeal town is situate to arrange for the provision of suitable lodgings, meals, and other accommodation for the judges (including commissioners of the High Court on circuit) constituting the said Court at such sitting and for the servants attached to each such judge or commissioner in pursuance of this Part of this Act while they respectively are in such appeal town for the purposes of their duties as such judges, commissioners, or servants.

(2) All expenses incurred in the provision of accommodation for judges (including commissioners) of the High Court on circuit and their servants in pursuance of this section shall, to such extent as the Minister for Justice, with the sanction of the Minister for Finance, shall determine, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

45. —The following provisions shall have effect in relation to appeals from judgments and orders of the Circuit Court in civil cases given or made before the commencement of this Part of this Act, that is to say:—

(a) if notice of appeal from such judgment or order was lawfully served before such commencement, the appeal from such judgment or order shall, if all parties so consent, be heard and determined under and in accordance with this Part of this Act, but if any party does not so consent such appeal shall be heard and determined as if this Part of this Act had not come into operation;

(b) if notice of appeal from such judgment or order is lawfully served after such commencement, the appeal from such judgment or order shall be heard and determined under and in accordance with this Part of this Act.