P. J. Smyth and Company Ltd, v Corporation of Dublin

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judgment Date: 01 January 1955
• Date: 01 January 1955
• Court: High Court

P. J. Smyth and Company

Limited

and

Corporation of Dublin

Order confirmed 25th March, 1943 - Notice of entry not served until February, 1953 - Whether such Order inoperative by reason of lapse of time - Arbitration fixing compensation held within three years of confirmation of Compulsory Purchase Order -Whether such arbitration a sufficient exercise of the powers of purchase - What amounts to notice to treat - Validity of arbitration - Whether lands required for the purposes specified in the Compulsory Purchase Order - Whether Emergency Powers (No. 277) Order of 1943 suspended or modified the operation of Part II of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1931 - Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1931 (No. 50 of 1931), ss. 5, 7, 10, 15, 41 - Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845 (8 9 Vict., c. 18), s. 123 - Emergency Powers (No. 277) Order, 1943 (S. R. O. No. 184 of 1943).

In October, 1941, by resolution passed pursuant to section 5 of the Housing (MiscellaneousProvisions) Act, 1931, the defendants, the Dublin Corporation, declared an area to be a clearance area. In December, 1941, in pursuance of their powers under sections 5 and 7 of the Act the Corporation made a Compulsory Purchase Order authorising them to purchase compulsorily the lands comprised in and surrounded by or adjoining that clearance area. Although part of the plaintiffs' lands was situated in the clearance area, the greater part of these lands was situated in an area which surrounded or adjoined the clearance area. The Compulsory Purchase Order was duly confirmed with modifications by the appropriate Minister in March, 1943, and became operative in April or May, 1943. In December, 1943, the defendants published by advertisement and gave to the plaintiffs notice of the appointment of an arbitrator for the purpose of determining the amount of compensation payable to the plaintiffs. In May, 1945, the arbitrator made his final award. The plaintiffs contended that there had been no valid notice of arbitration and no valid award. In March, 1944, owing to the prevailing war conditions the defendants excluded the plaintiffs' premises which were not comprised in the clearance area from the operation of the Compulsory Purchase Order, but reserved the right to proceed for acquisition at a later date. An Emergency Powers Order made in 1943 permitted the local authority to maintain and recondition dwellinghouses situated in a clearance area instead of demolishing them, as...