The Gazette 1973

bers is available for these meetings, resulting in deci- sions being reached which later prove unacceptable to the Council. In saying this, I do not wish to be taken as denigrating the work done by the members of these Committees, all of whom are voluntarily giving up their valuable time for the benefit of the profession generally, but one wonders if the numbers on these committees could not be increased and elected by the general body of members as the Council is at present, leaving to the members of these elected Committees the job of elect- ing a much smaller Council; whether all these Com- mittees should meet on a day other than the same day as the Council itself; whether each Chairman should not have the sole responsibility of putting forward his Committee's decisions for ratification before this smaller Council that would meet perhaps twice a month, and whether there is some method of dealing with mem- bers' questions, other than the present one, which usurps too much of the Council's valuable time at its monthly meeting. What I have suggested would undoubtedly throw a heavy burden on to the shoulders of each of the eleven Chairmen, but it might help to relieve the bottle-neck of paper work with which the Council and its Com- mittees are at present choked. To ensure that our Secretariat is working efficiently must be one of the prime objects of our Society for we cannot afford to have it said that the services which the Society has undertaken to provide its members with are not being operated satisfactorily, or that there is undue delay in dealing with matters about which the public or our own members write to us. These thoughts occurring to me during my year of office, I felt the time was ripe for somebody outside the Society itself to take a good look at the whole structure of the Society, including the Council, its Committees and the Secretariat. For that reason the Policy Committee, with the Council's ap- proval, recently decided to call upon the services of a Business Consultant to advise us on these problems, and with his assistance, we are hoping to give the Society a new look, a look that will be more acceptable to the profession as a whole and that will give to our colleagues and to the Public the sort of service that they are entitled to expect from this Society. E.E.C.—Delays in explaining laws With just over a month to go before we become full members of the European Economic Community, it is alarming to find that despite the pressure brought to bear upon the appropriate Government Departments, we still have only a vague idea of the extent to which our own domestic laws will be affected by Community laws and regulations. In a letter which I received from the Department of Foreign Affairs last August I was told that the probable effects of Community legislation on Irish legislation were being examined by Govern- ment Departments as a continuing study; that the inter- pretation of evolving Community law was a factor in this Study; that lists had been prepared which would serve as appendices to an explanatory memorandum which it was proposed to circulate shortly, and that these lists set out the secondary legislation of the Com- munities which would be in force here on the 1st January next and the more important Irish enactments which would thereby be affected. In my reply I pointed out that if these lists were silent as to the effect this secondary legislation would have on our own National legislation, buth the Public and our Profession would 5

resources to the giving of adequate training in the day- to-day practice of the Law so that, after a period of two years spent on this, the student could enter into one year's apprenticeship with a Master where he would complete his legal training. As a result of recent repre- sentations to the Minister on this subject, I had hoped that by to-day I would have received from him some intimation that after thirteen years of waiting, the end we are hoping for was at last in sight, but disappoint- ment faces me at the end of my year as it did my twelve predecessors in office. The Minister for Justice appears to be anxious to see a joint law school set-up where, after their academic training in the Law had been completed at a Uni- versity, intending barristers and solicitors might receive their practical legal training, thus ensuring that the limited resources which are at our command and that of the Society of Kings Inn were not dissipated, as they are at present, on the provision of two separate and distinct law schools. Our Society has no quarrel with this proposal, but if for any reason outside our control it proves incapable of being implemented, we must con- tinue to urge upon the Minister the urgent necessity of meeting the needs of the students intended for our branch of the Profession without waiting for a solution that to him may seem ideal. In 1962 the number of Indentures of apprenticeship registered was 42. In the current year that number has grown to 137. Difficulties are being experienced by intending apprentices in finding masters willing to accept them, and the Court of Examiners is bending backwards to ease this problem by interpreting very liberally the Society's regulations governing the taking of apprentices. While we have steadfastly refused to place any limitation on the number seeking to enter our Profession, we cannot ignore the cry emanating from our Universities that the number applying to take lectures in the faculty of Law has now reached such frightening proportions that they feel some measure of limitaion is necessary. Limitation by means of a fixed quota has been suggested but if separate quotas have to be fixed for those intending to take a law degree and those who do not, our Society is likely to be faced with the unenviable prospect of being asked to fill by nomination the quota fixed for the latter. We in this Society cannot solve the problem of overcrowding in our Universities, but at least let us make it clear to the public that if a limitation has to be imposed on the number seeking admission to the faculty of Law, the fault is not that of this Society. Trying to take an objective view of the Law Society, particularly when one is a Council member, is rather like trying to take an objective view of oneself, but judging by the lack of compliments we receive from our colleagues in the profession, it is obvious that the image projected by our Society is not a happy one. The Council consists of thirty-one ordinary members, eight extraordinary members and three Provincial delegates, giving a total of forty-two members on our Council, and one is impelled to ask the question : Can such a Body, "meeting once a month, effectively cope with the ever- inreasing and complex work of our Society? There are now no less than eleven committees of the Council —including the E.E.C. Committee set-up during the past twelve months—dealing with the work of our Society. These committees also meet only once a month and their decisions, as handed down to our Secretary, are brought for ratification before the next meeting of the Council. All too frequently, a bare quorum of mem-