Attorney General v Manorhamilton Co-operative Livestock Mart. Ltd

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judgment Date: 21 January 1966
• Date: 21 January 1966
• Court: High Court

Attorney General v. Manorhamilton Co-operative Livestock Mart Ltd.

The ATTORNEY GENERAL, Complainant and Appellant

and

The MANORHAMILTON CO-OPERATIVE LIVESTOCK MART LIMITED,Defendants and Respondents

Auctioneer - Licence - Cattle mart - Facilities for mart provided by defendants - Licensed auctioneer employed and paid by defendants - "Carrying on the business of auctioneer" - Necessity for licence - Auctioneers and House Agents Act, 1947 (No. 10 of 1947), s. 6.

The defendants were the owners of premises which were fitted out as a cattle mart, with a covered sale ring, pens and a weighbridge and in which auctions of livestock were held twice in each month. The auctions were extensively advertised by the defendants and were conducted on their behalf by a licensed auctioneer who was paid a fixed sum by the defendants irrespective of the number of livestock offered for sale or sold. The purchase money on each sale, plus a commission of 2d. in each pound, was paid by the purchaser to the defendants, and the defendants when paying the vendor made a deduction of 2d. in the pound. The defendants were not the holders of a licence which would have entitled them to carry on the business of auctioneer.

The defendants were charged in the District Court that on the 16th November, 1964, at the said premises they "did carry on the business of auctioneer without being the holder of a proper licence contrary to section 6, sub-section 3, of the Auctioneers and House Agents Act, 1947." The District Justice dismissed the summons, and on an appeal by the Attorney General to the High Court by way of Case Stated it was

Held by Davitt P. that the defendants were carrying on the business of auctioneer without being the holders of the appropriate licence and accordingly the District Justice was wrong in dismissing the complaint.

Case Stated by District Justice J. Barry, the District Justice assigned to the District Court Area of Manorhamilton, District No. 2, pursuant to the provisions of the Summary Jurisdiction Act, 1857, and the Rules of the District Court.

The defendants, the Manorhamilton Co-operative Livestock Mart Ltd., were charged in the District Court that on the 16th November, 1964, at Enniskillen Road, Manorhamilton, they carried on the business of auctioneer without being the holders of a proper licence contrary to the provisions of s. 6, sub-s. 3, of the Auctioneers and House Agents Act, 1947.

The evidence given in the District Court on the hearing of...