Lonsdale and Others v Attorney General

JurisdictionIreland
CourtHigh Court (Irish Free State)
Judgment Date30 July 1928
Date30 July 1928
Lonsdale and Others v. Attorney-General.
ROBERT LONSDALE and Others
Plaintiffs
and
THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Defendant.

Compensation - Clerks of the Crown and Peace - Discharge from office - Change of Government in Irish Free State - Principles of assessment of compensation - Superannuation Act, 1859 (22 Vict. c. 26), sect. 2 -County Officers and Courts (Ir.) Act, 1877 (40 & 41 Vict. c. 56),sects. 11 and 26 - Superannuation Act, 1909 (9 Ed. 7, c. 10), sect. 1 -Government of Ireland Act, 1920 (10 & 11 Geo. 5, c. 67), sects. 54and 55, Sch. VIII - Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann éireann) Act, 1922 (No. 1 of 1922), Sch. I, Art. 78, Sch. II, Art. 10 -Irish Free State (Agreement) Act, 1922 (12 Geo. 5, c. 4), Sch. Art. 10 - Irish Free State Constitution Act, 1922, Session 2 (13 Geo. 5, c. 2).

Trial of Action.

The material portions of the Statement of Claim were as follows (the facts as therein stated being admitted):—

Prior to and on the 31st day of March, 1922, each of the plaintiffs held, and thereafter, until the 1st day of September, 1926, continued uninterruptedly to hold, and performed and discharged in person the duties of the office of Clerk of the Crown and Peace for the county respectively set forth opposite his name in the Schedule to the Statement of Claim.

The said office was constituted by the County Officers and Courts (Ir.) Act, 1877 (40 & 41 Vict. c. 56), and the plaintiffs were appointed thereto and held the same under the provisions of the said Act which provided (inter alia,) as follows (sect. 11):"Every Clerk of the Crown and Peace appointed under the provisions of this Act shall hold such office and perform all the duties of Clerk of the Crown and of Clerk of the Peace for the county or borough for which he shall be appointed, and such other duties as he may be directed to perform under the provisions of this Act until he shall die or resign, or be removed for misconduct or incapacity by the Lord Chancellor. . . ." Sect. 12: "No person shall be appointed to be Clerk of the Crown and Peace unless he shall be a practising attorney or solicitor of six years' standing . . ." Sect. 13: "Every person appointed to any office under this part of this Act shall discharge the duties of his office in person, and not by deputy, except in case of illness or other temporary and exceptional circumstances; no person holding the office of Clerk of the Crown and Peace shall practise as an attorney or solicitor, nor shall he act in the commission of the peace; every Clerk of the Crown and Peace shall be deemed to be an officer serving in the permanent Civil Service of the State, and shall be bound to devote his whole time to the duties of his office." Sect. 26:"The Lord Lieutenant may, with the approval of the Treasury, grant to any Clerk of the Crown and Peace, or Registrar or additional Clerk, or other permanent officer appointed under this Act, upon his retirement from office, a pension, the amount whereof shall be ascertained and determined in respect of his service in such office according to the principles of the Superannuation Act, 1859, and which shall be subject to the conditions and provisions of that Act."

By virtue of holding the office of Clerk of the Crown and Peace, each of the plaintiffs, except Robert T. Fitzgerald and William A. Dobbyn, prior to and on the 31st day of March, 1922, became and was Local Registering Authority under the Local Registration of Title (Ir.) Act, 1891 (54 & 55 Vict. c. 66), for the county as specified in the Statement of Claim, and thereafter until the 1st day of September, 1926, continued uninterruptedly to act as, and performed the duties of, the Local Registering Authority, and the plaintiffs, Robert T. Fitzgerald and William A. Dobbyn, were entitled to get the appointment as such Registrars with the emoluments attached on the decease or retirement of the Registrars then holding office.

By virtue of holding the office of Clerk of the Crown and Peace, each of the plaintiffs, prior to and on the 31st day of March, 1922, became and was Registration Officer under the Representation of the People Act, 1918 (7 & 8 Geo. 5, c. 64), for the administrative county as specified in the Statement of Claim, and thereafter until the 1st day of September, 1926, continued uninterruptedly to act as and performed the duties of Registration Officer under the said Act and the Electoral Act, 1923 (No. 12 of 1923).

Prior to and on the 1st day of September, 1926, each of the plaintiffs had received and on the said date was entitled under the said Acts and the Orders made thereunder to receive the salary specified in the Statement of Claim for the performance of the duties aforesaid, together with the bonus thereto attached either as salary, remuneration, allowances, or emoluments.

Up to and including the quarter ending the 31st day of July, 1926 (being the financial quarter immediately preceding the 1st day of September, 1926), each of the plaintiffs was entitled to receive as an annual bonus the sum set out in the Statement of Claim.

By the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty between Great Britain and Ireland, dated the 6th day of December, 1921 (hereinafter referred to as "the Treaty"), it was provided (inter alia) as follows (Art. 10):—"The Government of the Irish Free State agrees to pay fair compensation on terms not less favourable than those accorded by the Act of 1920 [i.e., the Government of Ireland Act, 1920], to Judges, officials, members of police forces, and other public servants, who are discharged by it or who retire in consequence of the change of Government effected in pursuance hereof." Art. 17: "By way of provisional arrangement for the administration of Southern Ireland during the interval which must elapse between the date hereof and the constitution of a Parliament and Government of the Irish Free State in accordance therewith, steps shall be taken forthwith for summoning a meeting of members of Parliament elected for Constituencies in Southern Ireland since the passing of the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, and for constituting a Provisional Government, and the British Government shall take the steps necessary to transfer to such Provisional Government the powers and machinery requisite for the discharge of its duties, provided that every member of such Provisional Government shall have signified in writing his or her acceptance of this instrument. But this arrangement shall not continue in force beyond the expiration of twelve months from the date hereof." Art. 18: "This instrument shall be submitted forthwith by His Majesty's Government for the approval of Parliament and by the Irish signatories to a meeting summoned for the purpose of the members elected to sit in the House of Commons of Southern Ireland, and if approved shall be ratified by the necessary legislation."

The Statement of Claim next set out sect. 54 of the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, and then sect. 1 of the Irish Free State (Agreement) Act, 1922 (12 Geo. 5, c. 4), passed on the 31st day of March, 1922, by which it was enacted (inter alia)that the Treaty should have the force of law as from...

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