Common Law Procedure Amendment (Ireland) Act 1853
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1853 c. 113 |
| Year | 1853 |
(16 & 17 Vict.) C A P. CXIII.
[20th August 1853]
'WHEREAS it is expedient to simplify and amend the Course of Procedure as to the Process, Practice, Pleadings, and Evidence in the Superior Courts of Common Law inIreland , so as to make the same less dilatory and expensive, and to prevent substantial Justice from being defeated by reason of the Variety of Forms of Action, and the Technicalities and Prolixity of Pleadings, and the unnecessary Length of Records, and to consolidate, the Provisions of several Statutes and Rules of Court relating to such Proceedings:' Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, as follows:
I Commencement of Act.
I. The Provisions of this Act shall come into operation on the First Day ofJanuary One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
II Short Title of Act.
II. In citing this Act in any Instrument, Document, Pleading, Proceeding, or Act of Parliament, it shall be sufficient Designation to use the Expression ‘TheCommon Law Procedure Amendment Act (Ireland), 1853.’
III Repeal of former Acts.
III. From and after the Commencement of this Act, the several Acts and Parts of Acts set forth in the Schedule A. to this Act annexed, so far as the said Acts or Parts of any Act relate to Personal Actions or Actions of Ejectment in the Superior Courts of Law inIreland , and no further or otherwise, and to the Extent to which such Acts or Parts of Acts are by such Schedule expressed to be repealed, are hereby repealed, except as to anything done before the Commencement of this Act, and except so far as may be necessary for the Purpose of supporting and continuing any Proceeding heretofore taken upon any Action brought before the Commencement of this Act, and except as to the Recovery or Application of any Penalty for any Offence which shall have been committed before the Commencement of this Act.
With respect to the Interpretation of Words in this Act:
IV Interpretation of Terms.
IV. In the Construction of this Act the Word ‘Court’ shall be understood to mean any One of the Superior Courts of Common Law atDublin in which any Action is brought; and the Word ‘Judge’ shall be understood to mean a Judge or Baron of any of the said Courts; and the Word ‘Master’ shall be understood to mean a Master of any of the said Courts; and the Word ‘Action’ shall be understood to mean any Personal Action brought in any of the said Courts; and no Part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , nor the Islands of Man, Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney , or Sark , nor any Islands adjacent to any of them, being Part of the Dominions of Her Majesty, shall be deemed to be ‘beyond the Seas’ within the Meaning of this Act; and the Word ‘County’ shall be taken to extend to and include, where necessary and consistent, any City, County of a City, or County of a Town or City, and County of any Place, as the Case may be; and the Word ‘Party’ or ‘Person’ shall extend to and include any Corporation or other public Body; and the Word ‘Affidavit’ shall include an Affirmation or Declaration made by any Person who is empowered to give Evidence by Affirmation or Declaration in lieu of Oath; and no Provision requiring the Affidavit of or any Act to be done by the Attorney, or the Signature of Attorney or Counsel, or Service on the Attorney, shall apply to Cases where the Plaintiff or Defendant shall sue or defend in Person, but all such Acts shall be done by and Notices given to the Party so suing or defending in Person; and wherever in this Act, in describing or referring to any Person or Party, Matter or Thing, any Word importing the Singular Number or Masculine Gender is used, the same shall be understood to include and shall be applicable to several Persons and Parties as well as One Person or Party, and Females as well as Males, and Bodies Corporate as well as Individuals, and several Matters and Things as well as One Matter or Thing, unless it otherwise be provided, or there be something in the Subject or Context repugnant to such Construction.
With respect to the Forms of Action, and the Manner of commencing them:
V Special Forms of Personal Actions abolished.
V. The special Forms of Personal Actions heretofore used shall not be necessary, and it shall be sufficient in the Summons and Plaint hereinafter mentioned to state a Cause or Ground of Action good in Substance, according to the Provisions of this Act, without framing the Statement in any particular Form, as formerly used or known, such as of Assumpsit, Account, Debt, Covenant, Detinue, Trespass, Trespass on the Case, Trover, or Replevin.
VI One Form of Personal Action and Action of Ejectment.
VI. The Right to recover any Debt or Damages or Personal Chattel, in respect of any Matter of Contract or of Tort, or Taking or Detention, which might have been heretofore the Subject of any Action of Debt, Covenant, Assumpsit, Account, Trespass, Trespass on the Case, Trover, Replevin, or Detinue, shall and may be enforced in an Action to be called a ‘Personal Action;’ and all Actions of ‘Ejectment’ shall henceforth be commenced and prosecuted in the Manner herein-after provided.
VII Court to have like Jurisdiction as heretofore.
VII. The Court, or any Judge thereof, shall have and exercise, in and about any Matter brought before such Court or Judge, in any such Personal Action or Action of Ejectment, under the Provisions of this Act, the same Jurisdiction, Power, Authority, and Discretion, to all Intents and Purposes, as such Court or Judge could have exercised in an Action for the same Purpose instituted in the Manner heretofore used; and all Orders and Judgments of the said Court or Judge may be enforced by the same Process, and shall be subject to Review by a Court of Error, in the same Manner in all respects, except as herein provided, as if the same had been made in an Action instituted as heretofore used.
VIII Actions to be commenced by Writ of Summons and Plaint.
VIII. All such Personal Actions, whether brought by or against any Person entitled to the Privilege of Peerage or of Parliament, or of the Court in which the Action shall be brought, or of any other Court, or to any other Privilege, or by or against any Corporation or incorporated Body or Company, or by or against any other Persons, shall be commenced by a Writ of Summons and Plaint, according to the Form marked No. 1. in the Schedule B. to this Act annexed, and which shall be called a ‘Writ of Summons and Plaint,’ and shall be authenticated by the Common Seal of the said Superior Courts, to be thereunto set by the Clerk of the Writs, who shall not be required to sign such Writ, but shall enter the Particulars thereof in the Book to be kept for that Purpose, at the Time of sealing thereof, and such Writ shall bear Date of the Day on which it shall be sealed, and may be sued out at any Time, notwithstanding any Privilege.
IX Residence and Description of Parties to be mentioned in Writ.
IX. In every such Writ of Summons and Plaint, and Copy thereof, the Names of the Plaintiff and Defendant, the Place of Residence of the Plaintiff, and the Place of Residence or supposed Residence or last known Residence of the Defendant, and such Designation or Description of the Parties respectively as the Plaintiff or his Attorney may be able to give, shall be mentioned, and such Writ shall contain the Names of all the Defendants, and shall not contain the Name or Names of any Defendant or Defendants in more Actions than One.
X Form of Plaint.
X. Such Summons and Plaint shall contain a true and succinct Statement of the Plaintiff's Cause or Causes of Action, and if the Plaintiff shall sue, or the Defendant be sued, otherwise than in his own Right, shall also state the Character in which and the Title by which he sues, or in respect of which the Defendant is sued, and shall also state the Relief which the Plaintiff requires, and the Venue or County in which he proposes to have any Issues in Fact tried.
XI Particulars of Demand and Credits to be endorsed.
XI. The Particulars of the Plaintiff's Demand, where the same shall be a liquidated or Money Demand, and of all Credits to which the Defendant may be entitled, and of the Balance, if any, claimed by the Plaintiff, shall be endorsed on the Summons and Plaint, and on the Copies thereof for Service, unless a detailed Statement of the said Particulars shall have been furnished to the Defendant previously, in which Case it shall be sufficient to make reference to the Statement so furnished, and to mention the Balance claimed to be due on Foot thereof, or unless the said Demand shall consist of so many Items or Particulars that they cannot be conveniently endorsed thereon, in which Case the Plaintiff shall cause Particulars engrossed on Parchment to be annexed to said Summons and Plaint, and Copies thereof, on Parchment or Paper, to be annexed to the Copies of such Summons and Plaint intended for Service, to be incorporated therewith by proper Reference, and shall cause the same to be served on the Defendant, together with the Summons and Plaint, and such Endorsement or Paper annexed shall be considered as Particulars of Demand, and no further or other Particulars need be delivered, unless ordered by the...
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