Mellowhide Products Ltd v Barry Agencies Ltd

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Court: High Court
• Judge: Finlay P.
• Judgment Date: 01 January 1983
• Neutral Citation: 1982 WJSC-HC 1242
• Docket Number: No. 5615/1981
• Date: 01 January 1983

1982 WJSC-HC 1242

THE HIGH COURT

No. 5615/1981

MELLOWHIDE PRODUCTS LTD. V.BARRY AGENCIES

MELLOWHIDE PRODUCTS LIMITED

Plaintiff

and

BARRY AGENCIES LIMITED

Defendants

1 Judgment delivered on the 22nd day of February 1982 by Finlay P.

2 This is a summary summons brought by the Plaintiffs to recover a sum of £7,747.77 Sterling from the Defendants being monies due and owing for goods sold and delivered by the Plaintiffs to the Defendants between the 20th of November 1980 and the 30th of April 1981. The summons was issued on the 15th of July 1981.

3 The matter came before the Master of the High Court on the 6th of November 1981. He then ordered that the Plaintiff should be at liberty to enter final judgment for the sum of £7,747.77 Sterling, the amount claimed in the Indorsement of Claim, together with further interest thereon at the rate of 11% on arrears from the 15th day of July 1981. This order was made in default of any appearance by or on behalf of the Defendant.

4 Upon the Solicitor for the Plaintiff seeking to enter judgment with the Registrar of the High Court pursuant to the leave contained in the Master's Order, the Registrar ruled that she was not satisfied that she had power pursuant to the provisions of Section 22 of the Courts Act, 1981to comply with so much of the Order of the Master as gave leave to enter judgment for interest from the 15th of July 1981.

5 The Solicitors for the Plaintiff on the 29th of January 1982 applied to the Master of the High Court as a result of that ruling and it was then ordered by the Master that the Order made by him on the 6th of November 1981 be discharged and that the summons should be transferred to the Judge's list for hearing on the 8th of February 1982.

6 The matter came before me and I then directed that notice of the application to the court to enter judgment for the amount claimed and for interest should be given to the Solicitors who had entered an appearance on behalf of the Defendants. This was done and they appeared as a matter of courtesy before the court and informed me that they were unable to obtain any further instructions on behalf of the Defendants. I heard therefore only submission made on behalf of the Plaintiffs. Having heard those submissions, I reserved judgment on the issues arising.

7 The material provisions of Section 22 of the Courts Act, 1981reads as follows

"(1) Where in any proceedings a court orders the payment by any person of a sum of money (which expression includes in this section damages), the judge concerned may, if he thinks fit, also order the payment by the person of interest at the rate per annum standing specified for the time being in Section 26 of the Debtors (Ireland) Act, 1840, on the whole or any part of the sum in respect of the whole or any part of the period between the date when the cause of action accrued and the date of judgment."

8 Sub-Section(2) of the Section then provides for a number of exceptions to this power to order the payment of interest, the only material one of which is contained at sub-clause (d) which prohibits the giving of interest in respect of a period before the passing of the Act. The date of the passing of the Courts Act was the 12th of May 1981. By virtue of the provisions of Section 19 (1) of the Act, the rate per annum standing specified for the time being in Section 26 of the Debtors (Ireland) Act, 1840 is 11%.

9 Two issues would appear to arise before me on this application. The first one being as to whether it is within the jurisdiction of the Master of the High Court to make an order pursuant to the provisions of Section 22 (1) of the Act of 1981 in an appropriate case. The second issue is as to whether if it is not within his...