Gilmore v Windle

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judgment Date: 29 July 1967
• Date: 29 July 1967
• Docket Number: [1962. No. 1395 P.]
• Court: Supreme Court

(S.C.)

Gilmore

and

Windle

Defendant motorist claiming indemnity or contribution from seller of car for alleged breach of warranty - Application to issue and serve third-party notice - Whether application should be granted - Rules of the Superior Courts'1962, O. 16. rr. 1, 7, 8, 9 - Civil Liability Act, 1961, s. 27 - Civil Liability (Amendment) Act, 1964, s. 3.

The plaintiff was struck by the defendant's motor car and injured. The plaintiff claimed damages from the defendant in the High Court and alleged that his injuries had been caused by the negligent driving of the defendant. The defendant claimed that the accident had been caused by the sudden and total failure of the brakes of her motor car and that when the car had been sold to her two days before the accident, the seller had represented to her that the car was in a sound mechanical condition. The defendant applied in the High Court for leave to issue and serve on the seller a third-party notice pursuant to s. 27 of the Civil Liability Act, 1961, claiming an indemnity or contribution from the seller. The defendant's application was refused on the grounds that she had not conceded that she was a "wrongdoer" within the meaning of that section and that the terms of Order 16 of the Rules of the Superior Court did not enable the Court to grant the application. The defendant appealed to the Supreme Court and, before the hearing of the appeal, s. 27 of the Act of 1961 was amended by the Civil Liability (Amendment) Act, 1964, so as to allow expressly a person...