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Nauru Sessional Legislation |
REPUBLIC OF NAURU
CIVIL PROCEDURE ACT 1972
(No. 4 of 1972)
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
PART
I
PRELIMINARY
Section
1.
Short title and commencement
2.
Interpretation
PART
II
PREVENTION OF
REPETITIVE LITIGATION
3. Stay of
suit
4. Res
judicata
5. Bar to further
suit
6. Prevention of vexatious
suits
7. When foreign judgment not
conclusive
8. Presumption as to
foreign judgments
PART
III
COMMENCEMENT
9. Suits within the
jurisdiction of the District Court to be commenced
therein
10. Institution of
suits
PART
IV
PROCEDURE IN
SUITS AND DISCOVERY
11. Service on
defendant
12. Power to order discovery
and the like
13. Claim may be
dismissed if no step taken in proceedings for one
year
14. Procedure in certain petty
cases
PART
V
TRIAL
15. Power to call
assessors
16. Power to promote
reconciliation
PART
VI
JUDGMENT
17. Judgment and
decree
18. Reasoned judgment to be
given on disputed issues
19.
Interest
PART
VII
COSTS
20. Costs
PART
VIII
ENFORCEMENT OF
JUDGMENTS
21. No enforcement within
forty-eight hours of judgment
22. Stay
of enforcement
23. Enforcement of
judgments more than six years old
24.
Enforcement of order for payment by
instalments
25. Proceedings on
cross-judgments
26. Power to stay
proceedings for enforcement
PART
XI
ENFORCEMENT:
GENERAL POWERS OF THE COURTS
27. Application to
orders
28. Powers to enforce
judgments
29.
Transferees
30. Personal
representative
31. Enforcement of
judgment against personal representative
PART
X
ARREST AND
DETENTION
32. Arrest and
detention
33. Subsistence
allowances
34. Detention and
release
35. Release on ground of
illness
PART
XI
ATTACHMENT,
SEIZURE AND SALE OF PROPERTY
36. Property liable to
attachment or seizure and sale
37.
Seizure of property in a
dwelling-house
38. Property attached
or seized in execution of judgments of two
Courts
39. Private alienation of
property after attachment or seizure to be
void
40. Purchaser's title to
land
PART
XII
DISTRIBUTION OF
ASSETS
41. Proceeds of execution
to be paid into court
42. Distribution
of assets
43. Distribution where
judgments of two Courts are executed
PART
XIII
COMMISSIONS
44. Power of Courts to
issue commissions
45. Commission to a
magistrate
46. Letter of
request
47. Commissions issued by
foreign courts
PART
XIV
SUITS BY ALIENS
AND BY OR AGAINST STATES
48. When aliens may
sue
49. When a foreign state may
sue
PART
XV
INTERPLEADER
50. When interpleader suit
may be instituted
PART
XVI
ARBITRATION AND
REFERENCE TO REFEREE
51. Arbitration and
reference to referee
PART
XVII
SPECIAL
CASE
52. Power to state case
for opinion of Court
PART
XVIII
SUITS
RELATING TO PUBLIC
MATTERS
53. Public
nuisances
54. Public
charities
PART
XIX
SUPPLEMENTAL
PROCEEDINGS
55. Interlocutory orders
to prevent defeat of justice
56.
Compensation for arrest, attachment, seizure or injunction on insufficient
grounds
PART
XX
MISCELLANEOUS
AND GENERAL
57. Issue of
process
58.
Fees
59. By whom fees
payable
60. Proof of service by
officer of Court or police officer
61.
Actions on lost instruments
62. Arrest
otherwise than in execution of
decree
63. Exemption from arrest under
civil process
64. Miscellaneous
proceedings
65. Orders and notices to
be in writing
66. Application for
restitution
67. Enforcement of
liability of surety
68. Consent or
agreement by person under
disability
69. Execution of decree
before costs are ascertained
70.
Extension of time
71. Power to make up
deficiency of court fees
72. Saving of
inherent powers of the Courts
73.
Execution of instruments by order of
Court
74. Amendment of judgments,
decrees and orders
75. General power
to amend
PART
XXI
RULES
76. Rules
---------------------------------------------
AN ACT
To make provision for the practice and procedure to be followed in the Courts in civil causes and matters.
(Certified: 17th February 1972)
Enacted by the Parliament of Nauru as follows:
PART I - PRELIMINARY
SHORT
TITLE AND
COMMENCEMENT
1.
This Act may be cited as the Civil Procedure Act 1972 and shall come into force
on a date to be notified by the Minister in the
Gazette.
INTERPRETATION
2.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise
requires -
"Clerk" means the Clerk of the District Court appointed under section 15 of the Courts Act 1972;
"Court" does not include the Family Court;
"decree" means the formal expression of a judgment under the seal of the Court by which the judgment was pronounced or entered;
"decree-holder" means any person for whom judgment has been pronounced or entered or an order capable of execution has been made, whether or not a decree has been sealed, and includes the assignee of a decree;
"foreign court" means a court outside Nauru;
"foreign judgment" means the judgment of a foreign court;
"garnishee" means a person whose debt due to a judgment-debtor is attached by a Court;
"judgment-debtor" means any person against whom judgment has been pronounced or entered or an order capable of execution has been made;
"legal representative" includes a barrister and solicitor and a pleader;
"Registrar" means the Registrar of the Supreme Court appointed under section 6 of the Courts Act 1972;
"share in a corporation" includes stock, debenture stock, debentures and bonds;
"suit" means an original civil proceeding commenced in any manner prescribed and includes both a cause and a matter.
PART II - PREVENTION OF REPETITIVE LITIGATION
STAY OF
SUIT
3.
(1) No Court shall proceed with the trial of any suit in which the matter in
issue is also directly and substantially in issue in
a previously instituted
suit between the same parties, or between parties under whom they or any of them
claim, litigating under
the same title, where such suit is pending in the same
or any other Court having jurisdiction in Nauru to grant the relief claimed,
or
before a court of another country on appeal from the decision of a Court in
Nauru:
Provided that, where all
the parties consent thereto, a Court may proceed with the trial of such a suit
and the proceedings in the
previously instituted suit shall be
stayed.
(2) The pendency of a suit
in a foreign court, other than on appeal from the decision of a Court in Nauru,
shall not preclude a Court
from trying a suit in which the same matters or any
of them are in issue in such suit in such foreign
court.
RES
JUDICATA
4.
(1) No Court shall try any suit or issue in which the matter directly and
substantially in issue has been directly and substantially
in issue in a former
suit between the same parties, or between parties under whom they or any of them
claim, litigating under the
same title, in a Court competent to try that
subsequent suit or the suit in which that issue has been subsequently raised,
and has
been heard and finally decided by such
Court:
Provided that the matter in
issue must in the former suit have been alleged by one party and either denied
or admitted, expressly
or impliedly, by the
other.
(2) In this section the
expression "former suit" shall denote a suit which has been decided prior to the
suit in question whether
or not it was instituted prior
thereto.
(3) For the purposes of
this section, the competence of a Court shall be determined irrespective of any
provision as to right of appeal
from the decision of that
Court.
(4) Any matter which could
properly have been made a ground of support for, or of defence against, any
claim, counter-claim or set-off
pleaded in any former suit shall for the
purposes of this section be deemed to have been a matter directly and
substantially in issue
in that
suit.
(5) Any relief which has
been claimed in a suit and is not expressly granted by the decree, shall for the
purposes of this section,
be deemed to have been
refused.
(6) Where persons
litigate bona fide in respect of a public right or of a private right claimed in
common for themselves and others,
all persons, interested in that right shall,
for the purposes of this section, be deemed to claim under the persons so
litigating.
BAR
TO FURTHER
SUIT
5.
Where a plaintiff is precluded by rules of court from instituting a further suit
in respect of any particular cause of action, he
shall be barred from
instituting a suit in respect of that cause of
action.
PREVENTION
OF VEXATIOUS
SUITS
6.
(1) Where any person has frequently and
without any reasonable ground commenced suits in any Court, a judge may, upon
the application
of the Secretary for Justice or the Registrar, order that no
suit shall, during such period as may be specified in the order, be
commenced by
that person without the leave of a
judge.
(2) No order shall be made
under this section unless the person to whom the order relates has been given an
opportunity to be heard
in the
matter.
WHEN
FOREIGN JUDGMENT NOT
CONCLUSIVE
7.
A foreign judgment shall be conclusive as to any matter thereby directly
adjudicated upon between the same parties or between parties
under whom they or
any of them claim, litigating under the same title, except -
(a) where it has been pronounced by, or entered in, a court without competent jurisdiction;
(b) where it has not been given on the merits of the case;
(c) where it appears on the face of the proceedings to be founded on an incorrect view of international law or a refusal to recognise the law of the Republic in cases in which that law is applicable;
(d) where the proceedings in which the judgment was obtained are opposed to natural justice;
(e) where it has been obtained by fraud; or
(f) where it sustains a claim founded on a breach of any law in force in Nauru.
PRESUMPTION
AS TO FOREIGN
JUDGMENTS
8.
The production of any document purporting
to be a certified copy of a foreign judgment shall be received by any Court as
evidence
of the truth of all matters therein, unless there is reason to believe
that it is not a true copy of such judgment.
PART III - COMMENCEMENT OF SUIT
SUITS
WITHIN THE JURISDICTION OF THE DISTRICT COURT TO BE COMMENCED
THEREIN
9.
Every suit which the District Court has
jurisdiction to try shall be commenced in the District
Court:
Provided that a Judge may
upon application by an originating summons, for any special reason, give leave
for a suit to be commenced
in the Supreme Court notwithstanding that the
District Court has jurisdiction to try
it:
And provided further that no
appeal shall lie against the decision of a judge upon an application made under
this
section.
INSTITUTION
OF
SUITS
10.
Every suit shall be commenced in such manner as may be prescribed by rules of
court.
PART IV - PROCEDURE IN SUITS AND DISCOVERY
SERVICE
ON
DEFENDANT
11.
Where a suit has been duly instituted the defendant shall, subject to the
provisions of section 14 of this Act, be served in the
manner prescribed with a
writ of summons requiring him to enter an appearance and answer the
claim.
POWER TO
ORDER DISCOVERY AND THE
LIKE
12.
Subject to such conditions and
limitations as may be prescribed, any Court may, at any time, either of its own
motion or on the application
of any party to proceedings therein-
(a) make such orders as may be necessary or reasonable in all matters relating to the delivery and answering of interrogatories, the admission of documents and facts, and the discovery, inspection, production, impounding and return of documents or other material objects producible as evidence; and
(b) order any fact to be proved by affidavit.
CLAIM
MAY BE DISMISSED IF NO STEP TAKEN IN PROCEEDINGS FOR ONE
YEAR
13.
(1) Where no step has been taken in any suit in any Court for a period of one
year or more no party thereto may take any further
step therein without the
leave of that Court and, upon the application of any party, the claim, and the
counterclaim if any, may
be dismissed by that
Court:
Provided that the dismissal
of a claim or a counterclaim under the provisions of this subsection shall not,
of itself, be a bar to
the institution of new proceedings in respect of that
claim or counterclaim.
(2) Where
no step has been taken in any suit in any Court for six years or more the Court
may on application by any party or of its
own motion and without giving notice
to any party, dismiss the claim, and the counterclaim if any, therein, and
thereafter no further
suit may be commenced in any Court in respect of either
that claim or that
counterclaim.
PROCEDURE
IN CERTAIN PETTY
CASES
14.
(1) Where the claim is for liquidated damages not exceeding $100 and the
defendant is a natural person normally resident in Nauru,
the plaintiff may
commence his suit by obtaining the issue of a summons requiring the defendant to
attend the District Court at the
time and place specified therein and, where
such summons is issued, the provisions of sections 10 and 11 of this Act shall
not apply.
(2) Where in a suit
which could have been commenced under the provisions of the last preceding
subsection the plaintiff causes the
defendant to be served with a summons to
enter an appearance, he shall, if he succeeds in the suit, not be entitled to
recover costs
greater than the costs which he would have recovered if he had
commenced the suit by a summons to attend and, if he is unsuccessful,
the
defendant shall be entitled to recover from him the amount by which his costs
exceed the costs which he would have had to incur
if he had been served with a
summons to attend:
Provided that
the Court may, if it is satisfied that the plaintiff had good reason for causing
the defendant to be served with the
summons to enter an appearance, order that
the provisions of this subsection shall not apply.
PART V - TRIAL
POWER
TO CALL IN
ASSESSORS
15.
(1) Civil suits in the Supreme Court
shall be tried by a judge
alone.
(2) Any Court may, in any
cause or matter pending before it in which questions may arise as to the customs
of the Nauruans or of any
other people, summon to its assistance one or more
competent assessors and such assessors shall attend and assist
accordingly.
(3) In any Admiralty
cause of salvage, towage or collision, the Supreme Court may summon to its
assistance, in such manner as it may
direct or as may be prescribed, one or more
competent assessors and such assessors shall attend and assist
accordingly.
(4) Every assessor
shall be summoned in such manner as the Court issued the summons may direct and
shall receive such fees for his
attendance as may be
prescribed.
POWER
TO PROMOTE
RECONCILIATION
16.
Where a civil suit is pending in any Court-
(a) a judge or the Registrar, if it is pending in the Supreme Court; and
(b) a magistrate, if it is pending in the District Court,
may
promote reconciliation among the parties thereto and encourage and facilitate
the amicable settlement thereof.
PART VI - JUDGMENT
JUDGMENT
AND
DECREE
17.
(1) A Court, after hearing a suit, shall pronounce judgment
therein.
(2) It shall not be
necessary for a Court to hear the suit before judgment is pronounced or entered
-
(a) where the plaint is drawn claiming a liquidated demand, and there is filed in support thereof an affidavit by the plaintiff, or, where the plaintiff is a corporation or does not personally know the facts, by a person who states therein that he knows the facts, that the plaintiff is entitled to recover from the defendant the amount claimed in the suit, and either-
(i) the defendant has not entered such appearance therein as may be prescribed and has not attended before an officer of the Court in accordance with the rules of court and verbally stated his defence or, where the proceedings have been commenced by a summons issued under section 14 of this Act, has not attended the District Court, in person or by a legal representative, at the time and place stated in the summons;
(ii) the defendant, having entered an appearance, has failed to file his defence within the time prescribed; or
(iii) in respect of a counterclaim in a suit commenced by a summons to enter an appearance, the plaintiff has not filed a defence within the time prescribed or attended before an officer of the Court in accordance with rules of court and verbally stated his defence; or
(b) where all the parties thereto or their legal representatives give their consent, either orally in court or in writing, to judgment being entered therein.
(3)
A decree may issue upon any judgment of any Court but it shall not be necessary
for a formal decree to be drawn up and sealed;
in any suit where no formal
decree has been drawn up and sealed, for the purposes of appeals and execution
the judgment shall have
the force and effect of a decree and in every such case
every person in whose favour judgment has been pronounced or entered shall
be
deemed to be a
decree-holder.
REASONED
JUDGMENT TO BE GIVEN ON DISPUTED
ISSUES
18.
(1) Where upon the hearing of any suit any issue is in dispute, the Court shall
give a reasoned judgment determining that
issue.
(2) Every judgment given
under the provisions of this section shall-
(a) be pronounced, or the substance of it explained, in open court;
(b) be in writing in the language of the Court;
(c) contain the point, or points, for determination, the decision thereon and the reasons for the decision;
(d) be signed by the judge, magistrate or magistrates, as the case may be; and
(e) be dated with the date on which it is pronounced:
Provided
that, where any suit, or proceedings therein, has, in accordance with the
provisions of any law or of rules of court, been
heard in chambers, the judgment
may be pronounced, or the substance of it explained, in
chambers.
(3) Every judgment shall
be pronounced immediately after the termination of the hearing or at some
subsequent time of which reasonable
notice shall be given to the parties and
their legal representatives, if
any.
(4) Notwithstanding the other
provisions of this section, it shall be lawful for any judgment of any Court or
of any judge or magistrate
to be delivered by the effect thereof being
pronounced, provided that the full terms of that judgment have been reduced to
writing
and that a copy thereof is made available free of charge to the parties
or their legal
representatives.
(5) A judgment of
the Supreme Court or of a judge may, if the Court or judge so directs in
writing, be delivered by the Registrar
in the absence of the
judge.
INTEREST
19.
(1) Where, and in so far as, the judgment
of any Court is for the payment of money, the Court may, in the judgment, order
interest
at such rate as the Court thinks reasonable to be paid on the principal
sum adjudged from the date of the suit to the date of the
judgment, in addition,
if the Court thinks fit, to any interest adjudged on that principal sum or any
period prior to the institution
of the suit, with further interest at such rate
as the Court thinks reasonable on the aggregate sum so adjudged from the date of
the judgment to the date of payment or to such earlier date as the Court thinks
fit.
(2) Where a judgment is
silent with respect to the payment of further interest on the aggregate sum
referred to in the last preceding
subsection from the date of the judgment to
the date of payment or other earlier date, the Court shall be deemed to have
ordered
interest at the rate of 8 per cent per annum.
PART VII - COSTS
COSTS
20.
(1) Subject to such conditions and limitations as may be prescribed and to the
provisions of any law for the time being in force,
the costs of and incidental
to any suit instituted in any Court-shall be in the discretion of that Court and
the Court, or a judge
or magistrate thereof, shall have full power to determine
by whom and out of what property and what extent such costs are to be paid,
and
to give all necessary directions for the purposes aforesaid, and the fact that
the Court has no jurisdiction to try the suit
shall be no bar to the exercise of
its powers under this
section:
Provided that the costs
of any action, cause or other matter or issue shall follow the event unless the
Court or judge shall for good
reason otherwise
order.
(2) The Court, judge or
magistrate ordering the payment of costs may order in addition the payment of
interest on those costs at such
rate as it, or he, thinks reasonable and that
interest shall be added to the costs and shall be recoverable as
such.
PART VIII - ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGMENTS
NO
ENFORCEMENT WITHIN FORTY-EIGHT HOURS OF
JUDGMENT
21.
(1) Except by leave of -
(a) in an action in the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court, a judge or, if no judge is present in Nauru, the Registrar; or
(b) in an action in the District Court, the District Court or the resident magistrate,
no
proceedings for the enforcement of a judgment or order shall be commenced in any
Court until after the expiry of forty-eight hours
from the time of the entering
or pronouncing of the judgment or the making of the
order.
(2) Two or more proceedings
for the enforcement of a judgment or order may be taken concurrently but the
judgment-creditor shall not
be entitled to recover a greater sum in total than
the amount owing under the judgment or order and the costs and fees of any
proceedings
for
enforcement.
STAY
OF
ENFORCEMENT
22.
Where a judgment or order is one which
can be appealed against, a stay of any proceedings for the execution of that
judgment or order
until after the time allowed for filing a petition of appeal
has expired may be ordered -
(a) where the judgment or order is that of the Supreme Court, by the Supreme Court a judge or, if no judge is present in Nauru, the Registrar; or
(b) where the judgment or order is that of the District Court, by the District Court or a magistrate.
ENFORCEMENT
OF JUDGMENTS MORE THAN SIX YEARS
OLD
23.
(1) No judgment or order of any Court more than six years old shall be enforced
without the leave of that Court, or of a judge or
magistrate thereof, unless
some payment has been made into court by or on behalf of the party liable
therefor within the twelve months
immediately before the issue of the
proceedings for enforcement.
(2)
The Court may, if it thinks fit, grant such leave on an ex party
application.
ENFORCEMENT
OF ORDER FOR PAYMENT BY
INSTALMENTS
24.
Where the Court has made an order for the payment of any sum of money by
instalments, proceedings for the enforcement of the order
shall not be taken or
issued until after default in the payment of some instalment according to the
order; but, on any default proceedings,
or successive proceedings, may be taken
or process issued for the whole of that sum of money and costs then remaining
unpaid unless
the Court on the application of the party liable otherwise
orders.
PROCEEDINGS ON CROSS-JUDGMENTS
25.
(1) Where there are cross-Judgments between the parties only for the payment of
money proceedings for enforcement of such payment
may be taken out only by the
party who has obtained judgment for the larger sum, and then only for so much as
remains titter deducting
the smaller sum. Satisfaction for the remainder shall
be entered, as well as satisfaction on the judgment for the smaller sum. If
both
sums are equal, satisfaction shall be entered upon
both.
(2) Where there are
cross-judgments between the parties otherwise than solely for the payment of
money, proceedings for the enforcement
of any judgment may be taken only
-
(a) Where the judgment is of the Supreme Court, with the leave of the Supreme Court or a judge, or, if there is no judge present in Nauru, of the Registrar; and
(b) where the judgment is of the District Court, with the leave of the District Court or a magistrate.
POWER
TO STAY PROCEEDINGS FOR
ENFORCEMENT
26.
If at any time it appears to the satisfaction of a judge or a magistrate
exercising jurisdiction in the Court in which proceedings
have been taken or
process issued for the enforcement of any judgment or order that any party to
the proceedings is unable from any
cause to pay any sum recoverable against him,
whether by way of satisfaction of the claim or counterclaim in the proceedings
or by
way of costs or otherwise, or any instalment thereof, the judge or
magistrate may, in his discretion, stay the proceedings for such
time and on
such terms as he may think fit, and so from time to time until it appears that
the cause or inability has ceased.
PART IX - ENFORCEMENT: GENERAL POWERS OF THE COURTS
APPLICATION
TO
ORDERS
27.
The provisions of this Act relating to the enforcement of judgments shall, so
far as they are applicable, be deemed to apply to
the enforcement of
orders.
POWERS
OF COURTS TO ENFORCE
JUDGMENTS
28.
Subject to such conditions and limitations as may be prescribed, any Court may
on the application of the decree-holder, order enforcement
of any of its
judgments-
(a) by delivery of any property specifically decreed;
(b) by attachment or seizure and sale, or by sale without seizure or attachment, of any property;
(c) by attachment of debts;
(d) by arrest and detention in prison of any person;
(e) by appointing a receiver; or
(f) in such other manner as the nature of the relief granted may require.
TRANSFEREES
29.
Every transferee of a decree shall hold it subject to the equities, if any,
which the judgment-debtor might have enforced against
the original
decree-holder.
PERSONAL
REPRESENTATIVE
30.
(1) Where a judgment-debtor dies before
the judgment has been fully satisfied, the decree-holder may apply to the Court
which passed
it to enforce it against the personal representative of the
deceased or against any person who has intermeddled with his
estate.
(2) Where a Court orders
under the provisions of this section that the judgment be enforced against the
personal representative, or
against any person who has intermeddled with the
estate, of a deceased judgment-debtor he shall be liable only to the extent of
the
property of the deceased which has come into his hands and has not been duly
disposed of; and, for the purpose of ascertaining such
liability, the Court
ordering the enforcement of the judgment may, of its own motion or on the
application of the decree-holder,
compel the personal representative or the
person who has intermeddled to produce such accounts as it thinks
fit.
ENFORCEMENT
OF JUDGMENT AGAINST PERSONAL
REPRESENTATIVE
31.
(1) Where a judgment is given against a
party as the personal representative of a deceased person and the judgment is
for the payment
of money out of the property of the deceased, it may be enforced
by the seizure and sale of any such
property.
(2) Where no such
property remains in the possession of the judgment-debtor and he fails to
satisfy the Court that he has duly applied
such property of the deceased as is
proved to have come into his possession, the judgment may be enforced against
the judgment-debtor
to the extent of the property in respect of which he has
failed so to satisfy the Court in the same manner as if the decree had been
against him personally.
PART X - ARREST AND DETENTION
ARREST
AND
DETENTION
32.
(1) Where any decree-holder applies for an order for his judgment to be enforced
by the arrest and detention of the judgment-debtor,
there shall be issued out of
the Court and served personally on the judgment-debtor a summons requiring him
to attend and be examined
upon oath as to his property and the means which he
has, or has had, of satisfying and discharging the judgment and as to any
intention
which he may have of leaving Nauru before satisfying and discharging
the judgment:
Provided that, where
the decree holder by evidence on oath satisfies -
(a) in respect of a judgment of the Supreme Court, a judge or, if no judge is present in Nauru, the Registrar, and
(b) in respect of a judgment of the District Court, the resident magistrate,
that-the
judgment-debtor is about to leave Nauru and that the enforcement of the judgment
is likely to be frustrated thereby, the
judge, Registrar or resident magistrate,
as the case may be, may, whether or not a summons has been issued, issue a
warrant for the
judgment-debtor to be arrested and brought before the Court to
be examined under this
section.
(2) If any judgment
debtor-
(a) fails to attend as required by a summons issued and served under the provisions of the preceding subsection and does not allege a sufficient excuse for not attending; or
(b) having attended or been brought before the Court,
(i) refuses to be sworn; or
(ii) refuses to answer any question properly asked of him,
the
Court may, if it thinks fit, regard failure or refusal as evidence that he has,
or has had since the judgment was obtained against
him, sufficient means to
satisfy and discharge the judgment or intends to leave Nauru before satisfying
and discharging it.
(3) The Court
shall not make an order for the judgment to be enforced by the arrest and
detention of the judgment-debtor unless, after
giving him an opportunity to be
heard, it is satisfied by evidence that-
(a) he has then, or has had since the judgment was obtained against him, sufficient means to satisfy and discharge the judgment, or any instalment of the judgment-debt where an order for payment by instalments has been made, and refuses or neglects, or has refused or neglected, to satisfy and discharge it;
(b) he is about to leave Nauru without satisfying and discharging the judgment and the enforcement of the judgment is likely to be frustrated if he does so;
(c) he obtained credit or contracted under false pretences, by means of fraud or by breach of trust the liability in respect of which the judgment has been given against him; or
(d) he has, whether before or after the judgment was obtained against him, made, or caused to be made, any gift, delivery or transfer of any property, or has charged, removed or concealed any property, with intent to defraud his creditors or any of them.
(4)
Notwithstanding that the Court is satisfied of any of the matters referred to in
the last preceding subsection, it shall not order
the enforcement of the
judgment by the arrest and detention of the judgment-debtor unless it considers
that the judgment cannot reasonably
be enforced in any other
way.
(5) A judgment-debtor may be
arrested at any hour and on any day in execution of an order made under this
section, and his detention
shall be in the
prison:
Provided that for the
purpose of making an arrest under this section no dwelling-house shall be
entered after sunset and before
sunrise:
And provided further that
no outer door of a dwelling-house shall be broken open unless such
dwelling-house is in the occupancy of
the judgment-debtor and he refuses or in
any way prevents access thereto; but when the officer authorised to make the
arrest has
duly gained access to any dwelling-house he may break open the door
of any room in which he has reason to believe the judgment-debtor
is to be
found:
And provided further that
where the judgment in the enforcement of which a judgment-debtor is arrested is
for the payment of money
and the judgment-debtor pays the amount of the decree
and the costs of the arrest to the officer arresting him, the officer shall
at
once release him.
(6) A
judgment-debtor shall not be discharged from his obligation to satisfy the
judgment by reason only of his having been arrested
and detained in execution of
an order made under this
section.
SUBSISTENCE
ALLOWANCES
33.
(1) The decree-holder shall pay to the Republic for the subsistence of a
judgment-debtor such daily sum as the Minister may fix by
notice in the
Gazette.
(2) Any sum paid by a
decree-holder under this section shall be added to the judgment debt and be
deemed to be part
thereof.
DETENTION
AND RELEASE
34.
(1) Every person detained in prison in
the enforcement of a judgment in a civil suit in any Court shall be so detained
-
(a) where the decree is for the payment of a sum of money exceeding one hundred dollars, for a period not exceeding six months; and
(b) in any other case, for a period not exceeding six weeks:
Provided
that he shall be released from such detention before the expiration of the
period of six months or six weeks, as the case
may be -
(i) on the amount mentioned in the warrant for his detention being paid to the Superintendent of the prison;
(ii) on the judgment against him being otherwise fully satisfied;
(iii) on the written request of the person on whose application he has been so detained or of his legal representative; or
(iv) on the omission of the person on whose application he has been so detained to pay subsistence allowance:
And provided also that he
shall not be released from such detention under paragraph (ii) or paragraph
(iii) of the last preceding
proviso without the order -
(a) where the judgment is that of the Supreme Court, of a judge or the Registrar; and
(b) where the judgment is that of the District Court, of a magistrate.
(2)
A judgment-debtor released from detention under this section shall not by reason
only of his release be discharged from his debt,
but he shall not be liable to
be re-arrested under the judgment in the enforcement of which he was detained in
prison.
RELEASE
ON GROUND OF
ILLNESS
35.
(1) At any time after a warrant for the arrest of a judgment-debtor has been
issued the Court may cancel it on the ground of his
serious
illness.
(2) Where a
judgment-debtor has been arrested, the Court may release him if in its opinion
he is not in a fit state of health to be
detained in
prison.
(3) Where a
judgment-debtor has been committed to prison he may be released therefrom
-
(a) by the Superintendent of the prison on the grounds of the existence of any infectious or contagious disease; or
(b) by the committing Court on the ground of his suffering from any serious illness; and, where he is released under paragraph (a) of this subsection, the Superintendent shall notify the Court in writing forthwith.
(4)
A judgment-debtor released under this section may be re-arrested but the period
of his detention in prison shall not in the aggregate
exceed that prescribed by
section 34.
PART XI - ATTACHMENT, SEIZURE AND SALE OF PROPERTY
PROPERTY
LIABLE TO ATTACHMENT OR SEIZURE AND
SALE
36.
(1) The following property is liable to attachment or seizure and sale in the
enforcement of a judgment, namely land, houses, buildings,
goods, money, bank
notes, currency notes, cheques, bills of exchange, promissory notes, Government
securities, bonds or other securities
for money, debts due or accruing due,
salary and wages accrued or to become due, shares in a company or corporation,
and, save as
hereinafter mentioned, all other saleable property belonging to the
judgment-debtor or over which or the profits of which, he has
a disposing power
which he may exercise for his own benefit, whether the same he held in the name
of the judgment-debtor or by another
person in trust for him or on his
behalf:
Provided that the
following shall not be liable to such attachment, seizure or sale, that is to
say -
(a) the necessary wearing apparel, cooking vessels, beds and bedding of the judgment-debtor and of his wife and children;
(b) the tools of artisans;
(c) books of accounts;
(d) a mere right to sue for damages;
(e) any right of personal service;
(f) Stipends and gratuities allowed to pensioners of the Government;
(g) the salary or wages of any public officer, any employee or servant of the Nauru Phosphate Corporation, or any person privately employed to the extent of-
(i) the whole of his salary, where that salary does not exceed thirty dollars a week;
(ii) thirty dollars a week, where his salary exceeds thirty dollars and does not exceed sixty dollars a week; and
(iii) one half of his salary in any other case;
(h) an expectancy of succession by survivorship or other merely contingent or possible right or interest;
(i) a right of future maintenance;
(j) any fund or allowance declared by law to be exempt from attachment, seizure or sale in execution of a decree;
(k) land held by the judgment-debtor in fee simple or any building thereon.
The
items mentioned in clauses (f), (g) and (j) are exempt from attachment and sale
before and after they are actually
payable.
(2) Section 3 of the
Lands Ordinance 1921-1968 shall apply to sales of land in execution of decrees
of the
Courts.
SEIZURE
OF PROPERTY IN A
DWELLING-HOUSE
37.
(1) No person in executing any process under this Act directing or authorizing
attachment or seizure of property shall enter any
dwelling-house after sunset
and before sunrise.
(2) No outer
door of a dwelling-house shall be broken down unless such dwelling-house is in
the occupancy of the judgment debtor and
he refuses or in any way prevents
access thereto; but when the person executing any such process has duly gained
access to any dwelling-house
he may break open the door of any room in which he
has reason to believe any such property to
be.
PROPERTY
ATTACHED OR SEIZED IN EXECUTION OF JUDGMENTS OF TWO
COURTS
38.
Where property is under attachment or seizure in the enforcement of judgments of
more Courts than one the Court which shall determine
any claim thereto and any
objection to the attachment or seizure thereof shall be the Supreme
Court.
PRIVATE
ALIENATION OF PROPERTY AFTER ATTACHMENT OR SEIZURE TO BE
VOID
39.
Where an attachment or seizure has been made, and private transfer or delivery
of the property attached or seized or of any interest
therein, and any payment
to the judgment-debtor of any debt, dividend or other moneys contrary to such
attachment or seizure, shall
be void as against all claims enforceable under the
attachment or
seizure.
PURCHASER'S
TITLE TO
LAND
40.
Where land, or buildings thereon or an interest therein, is sold in execution of
a decree and the sale has been completed, the property
shall be deemed to have
vested in the purchaser from the time when it was sold and not from the time
when the sale has been completed.
PART XII - DISTRIBUTION OF ASSETS
PROCEEDS
OF EXECUTION TO BE PAID INTO
COURT
41.
(1) Where property attached or seized has been sold by the Director of Police or
any other person executing the process of any Court,
the proceeds of the sale
shall be paid into that Court.
(2)
Where the salary or wages of, or a debt due to, any judgment-debtor has been
attached, the employer or the garnishee, as the case
may be, shall pay the
proceeds of the execution directly into the Court which issued the
process.
DISTRIBUTION
OF ASSETS
42.
(1) Where as the result of the execution
of process of any Court, assets are held by any Court and more persons than one
who have
before the receipt of such assets by that Court lodged applications in
the registry of that Court for enforcement by the attachment
or seizure and sale
of the property of that judgment-debtor in respect of judgments for the payment
of money have not obtained satisfaction
thereof, the assets, after deducting the
costs of realization, shall be distributed amongst such decree-holders in
accordance with
the priorities of the lodging of their several
applications.
(2) Every
application for enforcement of a judgment shall, at the time of lodgement, be
endorsed by the Registrar or the Clerk, as
the case may be, with a note of the
day upon which and the hour at which the lodgement has been
effected.
(3) Nothing in this
section shall affect any right of the
Republic.
DISTRIBUTION
WHERE JUDGMENTS OF TWO COURTS ARE
EXECUTED
43.
Where the Director of Police, having received a writ of attachment or of seizure
and sale of any property from any Court, receives
a similar writ in respect of
the same property from another Court, he shall notify the Registrar of the
Supreme Court and the Clerk
of the District Court of this fact and the one of
them out of whose Court the first writ was not issued shall send to the other of
them details of all applications in his Court for the enforcement of any
judgment by similar process against that property and the
provisions of the last
preceding section shall then apply as though all such applications for execution
had been received in the
Court out of which the first writ was
issued.
PART XIII - COMMISSIONS
POWER
OF COURTS TO ISSUE
COMMISSIONS
44.
Subject to such conditions and limitations as may be prescribed, and Court may
issue a commission -
(a) to examine any person;
(b) to make a local investigation;
(c) to examine or adjust accounts; or
(d) to make a partition.
COMMISSION
TO A
MAGISTRATE
45.
(1) A commission for the examination of any person may be issued to any
magistrate by the Supreme Court or a judge, or, if there
is no judge present in
Nauru, the Registrar.
(2) Every
magistrate receiving a commission for the examination of any person under the
last preceding subsection shall examine him
pursuant thereto and the commission,
when it has been duly executed, shall be returned together with the evidence
taken under it
to the Supreme
Court.
LETTER
OF REQUEST
46.
In lieu of issuing a commission the
Supreme Court, a judge or, if there is no judge present in Nauru, the Registrar
may issue a letter
of request to examine a witness residing at any place not
within
Nauru.
COMMISSIONS
ISSUED BY FOREIGN
COURTS
47.
Commissions and letters of request issued by foreign courts for the examination
of persons in Nauru shall be executed and returned
in such manner as may be from
time to time authorised by the Supreme Court, a judge or, if there is no judge
present in Nauru, the
Registrar.
PART XIV - SUITS BY ALIENS AND BY OR AGAINST STATE
WHEN
ALIENS MAY
SUE
48.
(1) Alien enemies residing in Nauru with the permission of the Cabinet, and
alien friends, may sue in the Courts of the Republic
as if they were citizens of
the Republic.
(2) No alien enemy
residing in Nauru without permission of the Cabinet or residing in a foreign
country shall sue in any of the
Courts.
(3) Every person residing
in a foreign country the government of which is at war with the Republic, and
carrying on business in that
country without a licence in that behalf under the
hand of the President, shall for the purpose of sub-section (2) of this section
be deemed to be an alien enemy residing in a foreign
country.
WHEN A
FOREIGN STATE MAY
SUE
49.
(1) Subject to any provisions of the law limiting its rights to do so, a foreign
state may sue in any Court of Nauru, if that state
has been accorded general
recognition by the Republic and if the object of that suit is to enforce a
private right vested in the
head of that state or in any officer of that state
in his public capacity.
(2) Every
Court shall take judicial notice of a certificate under the hand of the public
officer who is for the time being the public
service head of the Department of
External Affairs that a foreign state has or has not been recognised by the
Republic.
PART XV - INTERPLEADER
WHEN
INTERPLEADER SUIT MAY BE
INSTITUTED
50.
Where two or more persons claim adversely to one another the same debt, sum of
money or other property from another person who claims
no interest therein other
than for charges or costs and who is ready to pay or deliver it to the rightful
claimant, such other person
may institute a suit of interpleader against all the
claimants or, where a suit dealing with the same subject-matter is pending,
may
intervene by motion on notice in such suit for the purpose of obtaining a
decision as to the person to whom the payment or delivery
shall be made and of
obtaining indemnity for
himself:
Provided that where any
suit is pending in which the rights of all parties can be properly decided no
such suit of interpleader shall
be instituted.
PART XVI - ARBITRATION AND REFERENCE TO REFEREE
ARBITRATION
AND REFERENCE TO
REFEREE
51.
All references to arbitration, or to a referee for inquiry and report, by an
order in a suit, and all proceedings thereunder, shall
be governed in such
manner as may be prescribed by rules.
PART XVII - SPECIAL CASE
POWER
TO STATE CASE FOR OPINION OF
COURT
52.
Where, in accordance with rules of court, any persons agree in writing to state
a case for the opinion of any Court, then that Court
shall try and determine the
same in the manner prescribed.
PART XVIII - SUITS RELATING TO PUBLIC MATTERS
PUBLIC
NUISANCES
53.
(1) In the case of a public nuisance the Minister, or two or more persons having
the consent in writing of the Minister, may institute
a suit, though no special
damage has been caused, for a declaration and injunction or for such other
relief as may be appropriate
to the circumstances of the
case.
(2) Nothing in this section
shall be deemed to limit or otherwise affect any right of suit which may exist
independently of its
provisions.
PUBLIC
CHARITIES
54.
In the case of any alleged breach of any express or constructive trust created
for public purposes of a charitable or religious nature,
or where the direction
of the Court is deemed necessary for the administration of any such trust, the
Minister, or two or more persons
having an interest in the trust and having
obtained the consent in writing of the Minister, may institute a suit, whether
contentious
or not, in the Supreme Court to obtain a decree -
(a) removing any trustee;
(b) appointing a new trustee;
(c) vesting any property in trustees;
(d) directing accounts and enquiries;
(e) declaring what proportion of the trust property or of the interest therein shall be allocated to any particular object of the trust;
(f) authorizing the whole or any part of the trust property to be let, sold, mortgaged or exchanged;
(g) settling a scheme; or
(h) granting such further or other relief as the nature of the case may require.
PART XIX - SUPPLEMENTAL PROCEEDINGS
INTERLOCUTORY
ORDERS TO PREVENT DEFEAT OF
JUSTICE
55.
In order to prevent the ends of justice from being defeated any Court in which a
suit has been instituted may, if it is so prescribed,
do any or all of the
following, that is to say -
(a) direct the defendant to furnish security to produce any property belonging to him and to place the same at the disposal of the Court or order the attachment or seizure of any property;
(b) grant a temporary injunction and in case of disobedience commit the person guilty thereof to prison and order that his property be attached or seized and sold;
(c) appoint a receiver of any property and enforce the performance of his duties by attaching or seizing and selling; and
(d) make such other interlocutory orders as may appear to the Court to be just and obedient.
COMPENSATION
FOR ARREST, ATTACHMENT, SEIZURE OR INJUNCTION ON INSUFFICIENT
GROUNDS
56.
(1) Where in any suit in which an arrest, attachment or seizure has been
effected or a temporary injunction granted under the last
preceding section or
under section 33 of the Courts Act 1972 -
(a) it appears to the Court that that arrest, attachment, seizure or injunction was applied for on insufficient grounds; or
(b) the suit of the plaintiff fails and it appears to the Court that there was no reasonable or probable ground for instituting it,
the
Court may, upon application by the defendant, order the plaintiff to pay such
amount as it thinks reasonable in compensation to
the defendant for the expense
or injury caused to him:
Provided
that the District Court shall not award under this section an amount exceeding
the limits of its pecuniary
jurisdiction.
(2) An order
determining any application for compensation under this section shall bar any
suit for compensation in respect of the
arrest, attachment, seizure or
injunction in respect of which it is made.
PART XX - MISCELLANEOUS AND GENERAL
ISSUE
OF
PROCESS
57.
(1) All writs, summonses, warrants, recognizances and other process of the
Supreme Court shall bear the seal of that Court, shall
be substantially in the
form prescribed and, where the rules prescribe that any shall be signed it shall
be issued or made under
the hand of the
Registrar.
(2) All writs,
summonses, warrants, recognizances and other process of the District Court shall
bear the seal of that Court, shall
be substantially in the form prescribed and
shall be issued or made under the hand of a
magistrate:
Provided that, where
expressly authorised by rules of court, writs of summons and other civil process
may be issued or made under
the hand of the
Clerk.
FEES
58.
The Chief Justice may, by rules of court, prescribe the fees to be paid upon the
issue of any writ, summons or other process, upon
the filing of documents in any
Court and, in respect of any other matter done by or in any Court in a civil
suit.
BY WHOM
FEES
PAYABLE
59.
All fees payable under the provisions of this Act shall in the first instance be
paid by the party applying for the writ, summons
or other process or filing the
pleading or other document in respect whereof the fees are
payable:
Provided that no fees
shall be payable in any cause or matter instituted by a public officer when
acting in his official capacity
or in any case where -
(a) in the Supreme Court, a judge or the Registrar, or
(b) in the District Court, a magistrate,
endorses
on the record of the cause or matter that the fees of a party should be remitted
on the ground of his poverty or for other
sufficient reason; and in every such
cause or matter such fees shall, in the discretion of the Court, be recoverable
from the other
party if the decision is given against
him.
PROOF OF
SERVICE BY OFFICER OF COURT OR POLICE
OFFICER
60.
(1) Where any summons or any other document issued under this Act is served by
any office of any Court or by any police officer,
the service may be proved
either by an endorsement of a copy of the document showing the fact and the time
and mode of service or
in any other manner prescribed by the rules. Any such
endorsement shall be signed by the person who served the summons or document
or,
if the service was affected by registered letter in accordance with the rules,
by an officer of the Court who knows of the
service.
(2) Every officer or
police officer who wilfully endorses any false statement on a copy of any
summons or document is guilty of an
offence and is liable to imprisonment for
two years and to a fine of five hundred
dollars.
ACTIONS
ON LOST
INSTRUMENTS
61.
In any suit founded on a promissory note, bill of exchange or other negotiable
instrument declared on the affidavit of the plaintiff
to be lost. If an
indemnity is given by the plaintiff to the satisfaction of the Court against the
claims of any other person upon
the instrument, the Court may give judgment for
him as if the same were
produced.
ARREST
OTHERWISE THAN IN EXECUTION OF
DECREE
62.
The provisions of subsection (5) of section 32, and of section 33 and section 35
shall apply so far as may be to all persons arrested
under this Act or the
Courts Act
1972.
EXEMPTION
FROM ARREST UNDER CIVIL
PROCESS
63.
(1) No judge, magistrate or other judicial officer shall be liable to arrest
under civil process while going to, presiding in or
returning from his Court or
tribunal.
(2) Where any matter is
pending before any Court or tribunal jurisdiction therein, or believing in good
faith that it has such jurisdiction,
the parties thereto, their legal
representatives and their witnesses acting in obedience to a summons shall be
exempt from arrest
under civil process, other than process issued by that Court
or tribunal for contempt of court, while going to or attending that
Court or
tribunal for the purpose of that matter and while returning from that Court or
tribunal.
(3) Nothing in this
section shall enable a judgment-debtor to claim exemption from arrest under an
order for immediate execution or
where such judgment debtor attends to show
cause why he should not be committed to prison in execution of a
decree.
MISCELLANEOUS
PROCEEDINGS
64.
The procedure provided in this Act in regard to suits shall be followed, so far
as it may be applicable and except where other provision
is made in any other
written law, in all proceedings in the Supreme Court or the District Court other
than criminal
proceedings.
ORDERS
AND NOTICES TO BE IN
WRITING
65.
All orders or notices served on or given to any person under the provisions of
this Act shall be in
writing.
APPLICATION
FOR
RESTITUTION
66.
(1) Where, and in so far as, a judgment is varied or reversed, the Court of
first instance shall, on the application of the party
entitled to any benefit by
way of restitution or otherwise, cause such restitution to be made as well, so
far as may be, place the
parties in the position they would have occupied but
for such decree or such part thereof as has been varied or reversed; and for
this purpose the Court may make any orders, including for the refund of costs
and for the payment of interest, damages, compensation
and mesne profits, which
are properly consequential on such variation or
reversal.
(2) No suit shall be
instituted for the purpose of obtaining any restitution or other relief which
could be obtained by application
under this
section.
ENFORCEMENT
OF LIABILITY OF
SURETY
67.
Where any person has become liable as surety-
(a) for the performance of any judgment in a civil suit or any part thereof;
(b) for the restitution of any property taken in execution of a judgment in a civil suit; or
(c) for the payment of any money, or for the fulfilment of any condition imposed on any person, under an order of the Court in any civil suit or in any proceeding consequent thereon,
the
judgment or order may be executed against him to the extent to which he has
rendered himself personally liable in the manner herein
provided for the
execution of judgments, provided that such notice in writing as the Court in
each case thinks sufficient has been
given to the
surety.
CONSENT
OR AGREEMENT BY PERSON UNDER
DISABILITY
68.
In all suits to which any person under disability is a party, any consent or
agreement as to any proceeding shall, if given or made
with the express leave of
the Court by the next friend or guardian for the suit, have the same force and
effect as if that person
were under no disability and had himself given that
consent or made such
agreement.
EXECUTION
OF DECREE BEFORE COSTS ARE
ASCERTAINED
69.
Where any Court considers it necessary that a judgment given in the exercise of
its original civil jurisdiction should be executed
before the amount of the cost
incurred in the suit can be ascertained by taxation, the Court may order that
the judgment shall be
executed forthwith, except as to so much thereof as
relates to the costs, and that, as to so much thereof as related to costs, the
judgment may be executed as soon as the amount of the costs shall be ascertained
by
taxation.
EXTENSION
OF
TIME
70.
Where any period is fixed or granted by any Court or a judge or magistrate
thereof or by rules of court of the doing of any act prescribed
or allowed by
this Act, that Court, or a judge or magistrate thereof, may, in its, or his,
discretion from time to time, extend that
period.
POWER
TO MAKE UP DEFICIENCY OF COURT
FEES
71.
Where the whole or any part of any fee prescribed for any document by the law
for the time being in force relating to court fees
has not been paid, the Court
may, in its discretion, at any stage allow the person by whom such fee is
payable to pay the whole or
part, as the case may be, of that court fee; and
upon that payment the document in respect of which that fee is payable shall
have
the same force and effect as if that fee had been paid in the first
instance.
SAVING
OF INHERENT POWERS OF THE
COURTS
72.
Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to limit or otherwise affect the inherent
power of any Court to make such orders as may be necessary
for the ends of
justice or to prevent abuse of the process of the
Court.
EXECUTION
OF INSTRUMENTS BY ORDER OF
COURT
73.
Where any person neglects or refuses to comply with a decree or order directing
him to execute any contract or other document or
to endorse any negotiable
instrument, the Court may, on such terms and conditions, if any, as it may
determine, order that the contract
or other document shall be executed, or that
the negotiable instrument shall be endorsed, by such person as the Court may
nominate
for that purpose and a contract, document or instrument so executed or
endorsed shall operate and be for all purposes available as
if it had been
executed or endorsed by the person originally directed to execute or endorse
it.
AMENDMENT
OF JUDGMENTS, DECREES AND
ORDERS
74.
Clerical or arithmetical mistakes in any judgment, decree or order, and errors
arising therein from any accidental slip or omission,
may at any time be
corrected by the Court either of its own motion or on the application of any of
the
parties.
GENERAL
POWER TO
AMEND
75.
A Court may at any time, and on such terms as to costs or otherwise as it may
think fit, amend any defect or error in any proceeding
in a civil suit in that
Court; and all necessary amendments shall be made for the purpose of determining
the real question or issue
raised by or depending on that
proceeding.
PART XXI - RULES
RULES
76.
(1) The Chief Justice may make rules of court to regulate the practice and
procedure of the Supreme Court and the District Court
and the forms of
proceedings therein both under this Act in relation to the exercise of any
jurisdiction, other than jurisdiction
in criminal proceedings, conferred by any
other written law on the Supreme Court or a judge or the Registrar thereof or on
the District
Court or a magistrate thereof.
(2) Without prejudice to the
generality of the last preceding subsection, the Chief justice may make rules of
court for all or any
of the following matters:
(a) for regulating the pleading, practice and procedure in the Courts in proceedings other than criminal proceedings;
(b) for regulating the forms to be used in the Courts and for all matters connected therewith;
(c) for regulating the service of summonses, notices and other processes by post or in any other manner and the proof of such service;
(d) for regulating the custody and preservation of any property attached or seized in execution of any decree, the fees payable for such custody and preservation, the sale of such property and the disposal of the proceeds of such sale;
(e) for providing for the taxation of the fees, costs and disbursements of barristers and solicitors and of pleaders; and
(f) generally for regulating any matters relating to the practice and procedure of any Court or to the duties of the officers thereof or the costs of proceedings therein.
(3)
The power to make rules conferred by this section shall include the power to
make rules with respect to all or any of the matters
dealt with by the Rules of
the Supreme Court in England on the thirty-first day of January,
1968.
(4) Where any provisions in
respect of the practice or procedure of any Court in any foreign country are
applied to any Court of the
Republic by any written law, rules of court may be
made by the Chief Justice under this section modifying those provisions to any
extent that he may deem necessary for adapting them to the appropriate Court of
the Republic, and any provision relating to the payment,
transfer or deposit
into or in or out of court of any money or property or to the dealing therewith
shall, for the purpose of this
subsection, be deemed to be provisions relating
to practice and procedure.
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URL: http://www.paclii.org/nr/legis/num_act/cpa1972167