WRONGLY DETAINED

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 35, 5 November 1928, Page 15

WRONGLY DETAINED

IRISH ASSOCIATION’S PROPERTY Reserved Judgment was delivered by Mr. E. Page, S.M., in the Magistrate s Court on Saturday morning in the case in which Cornelius Bray and others, on behalf of themselves and other members of the Irish Republican Association in Wellington, claimed certain money and chattels held by Edward O Connor and G. J. Griffin. Plaintiffs alleged that defendants had wrongly detained thirty hurling sticks, the minute book, account books, books of rules, and other books and papers, and also £4O in money belonging to the association. The Magistrate said that at the annual meeting of the association in 1927, amongst the officers and executive appointed was Griffin, who was elected secretary-treasurer, and . O Connor, who was elected to the. executive. Differences among the executive subsequently arose, and from October 31, 1927, .up to the date of the hearing of the action the two defendants had taken no part in the proceedings of the association. They had attended no meetings, and Griffin had taken no steps to convene any meeting, either of the executive or of the members. The annual meeting was held in May of this year, and a new executive had been elected. Two questions arose, the first being as to the jurisdiction of the Court, and the second as to the right of the plaintiffs to the money and property in question. In his opinion it a secretary or other officer of an unincorporated society retained property after his term of office or his right to retain had expired, such property could be recovered by the persons entitled to the possession thereof in the same way as any other property wrongfully detained by any other person mijht be recovered, namely, by action for detinue. With regard to the second question, the rules of the association provided that the executive were to be appointed at the annual meeting, and were to hold office for twelve months. He considered that the defendants’ term of office ended at the annual meeting held in May, and that, as they had not been reappointed, they were out of office. It had been contended by Griffin in his evidence that as since October he had not called the monthly meetings of members, nor the meetings of the executives, nor the annual meeting in May, all such meetings had been informal and of no effect. He was unable to agree with that view, however. The association was governed by the executive, and not by the secretary. “The defendant Griffin, being no longer secretary,” concluded Mr. Page, “has no legal, right to retain the moneys and books in l*is hands; the plaintiffs are entitled to the possession of them, and I propose to enter judgment against him for £l5 4s. Id., and to enter judgment for the return on or before Sth instant of the association’s books, papers, and effects detailed in the statement of claim. I enter judgment against the defendant O’Con"nor for the return within the like time of the thirty hurling sticks. I reserve meantime the question of the fixing of their value.”

At the hearing Mr. A. J. Mazengarb appeared for plaintiffs, and Mr. P. J. O’Regan for defendants.