Interest & Awards
Debtors (Ireland) Act, 1840
Judgment debts to carry interest.
26. Every judgment debt due upon any judgment not confessed or recovered for any penal sum for securing principal and interest shall carry interest at the rate of four pounds per centum per annum from the time of entering up the judgment, or from the time of the commencement of this Act in cases of judgments then entered up and not carrying interest until the same shall be satisfied; and such interest may be levied under a writ of execution on such judgment.
Decrees and orders of courts of equity, &c. to have effect of judgments.
27. All decrees and orders of the Court of Chancery, and all rules of any of the superior courts of common law, and all orders of the lord chancellor or master of the rolls, or of the Court of Commissioners of Bankruptcy, and all orders of the lord chancellor in matters of lunacy, whereby any sum of money, or any costs, charges, or expences, shall be payable to any person, shall have the effect of judgments in the superior courts of common law, and the persons to whom any such monies or costs, charges, or expences shall be payable shall be deemed judgment creditors within the meaning of this Act; and all powers hereby given to the judges of the superior courts of common law with respect to matters depending in the same courts shall and may be exercised by the courts of Chancery [1 and Exchequer] with respect to matters therein depending, and by the lord chancellor, master of the rolls, and Court of Commissioners of Bankruptcy respectively in matters of bankruptcy, and by the lord chancellor in matters of lunacy; and all remedies hereby given to judgment creditors are in like manner given to persons to whom any monies or costs, charges, or expences are by such orders or rules respectively directed to be paid; . . .
Courts Act, 1981
Variation by order of rate of interest
specified in section 26 of Debtors (Ireland) Act, 1840.
20.—(1) Subject to subsection (2) of this section, the Minister for Justice may, if he is satisfied that the rate of interest per annum for the time being standing specified in section 26 of the Debtors (Ireland) Act, 1840 , ought, having regard to the level of rates of interest generally in the State, to be varied, make an order varying the rate of interest so standing specified and the said section 26 shall have effect in accordance with the terms of any such order.
(2) An order under this section shall not come into operation within 2 years of the commencement either of section 19 (1) of this Act or of a previous order made and not annulled under this section.
(3) Every order under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the order is passed by either such House within the next twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the order is laid before it, the order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.
Extension of section 27 of Debtors (Ireland) Act, 1840.
21.— Section 27 of the Debtors (Ireland) Act, 1840 , shall apply to—
(a) decrees and orders of the Circuit Court providing for the payment of costs, charges and expenses, and
(b) the persons to whom such payments are required to be made,
as it applies—
(c) to decrees and orders of the Court of Chancery referred to in that section providing for such payments, and
(d) to the persons to whom such latter payments are required to be made.
Power of courts to order payment of interest on awards.
22.—(1) Where in any proceedings a court orders the payment by any person of a sum of money (which expression includes in this section damages), the judge concerned may, if he thinks fit, also order the payment by the person of interest at the rate per annum standing specified for the time being in section 26 of the Debtors (Ireland) Act, 1840 , on the whole or any part of the sum in respect of the whole or any part of the period between the date when the cause of action accrued and the date of the judgment.
(2) Nothing in subsection (1) of this section—
(a) shall authorise the giving of interest on interest, or
(b) shall apply in relation to any debt upon which interest is payable as of right whether by virtue of any agreement or otherwise, or
(c) shall affect any damages recoverable for the dishonour of a bill of exchange, or
(d) shall authorise the giving of interest in respect of a period before the passing of this Act, or
(e) shall authorise the giving of interest on damages for personal injuries, or in respect of a person’s death, in so far as the damages are in respect of—
(i) any loss occurring after the date of the judgment for the damages, or
(ii) any loss (not being pecuniary loss) occurring between the date when the cause of action to which the damages relate accrued and the date of the said judgment.
(3) In this section—
“damages for personal injuries” includes damages for personal injuries arising out of a contract;
“pecuniary loss” means loss in money or money’s worth, whether by parting with what one has or by not getting what one might get;
“personal injuries” includes any disease and any impairment of a person’s physical or mental condition;
“proceedings” includes proceedings to which the State or a State authority (within the meaning of the Act of 1961) is a party.
Judgments not exceeding £150 not to carry interest.
23.—(1) Notwithstanding sections 26 and 27 of the Debtors (Ireland) Act, 1840 , judgments, decrees or orders of any court for the payment of—
(a) an amount not exceeding £150, or
(b) the costs of such a judgment, decree or order,
or both shall not carry interest.
(2) The Minister for Justice may make an order varying the amount for the time being standing specified in subsection (1) (a) of this section and the said subsection (1) (a) shall have effect in accordance with the terms of any such order.
(3) Every order under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the order is passed by either such House within the next twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the order is laid before it, the order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.