In the Irish Courts
| Date | 01 January 1949 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002201834901300105 |
| Published date | 01 January 1949 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
In the Irish Courts
mGR
COURT
IN
EIRE
SURETY'S
RIGHTS
WHERE
BAIL
IS
ESTREATED
Rand v. Flynn
THE defendant in Rand 7'.
Flynn
(1948, Ir.
fur.
Rep., 30)
was a resident of
Eire
who
had
entered
into
a
recognizance
to
appear
before aCourt of
Petty
Sessions in
Northern
Ireland
to
answer acharge of exporting pro-
hibited goods
contrary
to
the
Customs
Acts;
and
the
plaintiff (in
the
present action)
had
become his
surety
in
the
sum
of £200. After
the
defendant
had
failed to appear
and
had
been convicted
and
his recognizance forfeited in
Northern
Ireland, he entered into a
contract
in
Eire
with
his
surety
to
repay
him
the
full
amount
together
with
expenses. Before
payment
under
the
contract
became due,
however, he repudiated liability, whereupon
the
plaintiff
sued for
the
sum of £50 (to which
the
bail
had
been reduced
on estreatment), together with
further
sums representing
his expenses in
the
estreatment proceedings
and
in his
endeavour to produce
the
defendant in
court
in Belfast.
The
defendant urged
that,
since customs proceedings are
criminal,
it
would be
contrary
to
public policy to place
upon
aperson bailed an obligation to indemnify
the
bails-
man, even where
there
was
an
express
contract
of indemnity
(and particularly as
the
instant
plaintiff
had
been fined for
complicity in
the
offence). This argument was accepted
in
the
Circuit Court,
but
on appeal O'Byrne J. held
that
quite
apart
from
any
contract
the
bailsman could recover
the
expenses he
had
reasonably incurred in endeavouring
to
secure
the
attendance in court of
the
person
bailed-even
where these endeavours were
out
of
the
jurisdiction.
The
analogy of Fisher v. Fallows (1804, 5Esp. 171), where
the
creditor
had
secured
the
attendance of
the
debtor
under
78
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