The Gazette 1992

MARCH 1992

GAZETTE

Criminal Law in the 1990s (Cont'd from page 55)

Opportunity to Woo U.S. Business Renewed

a worthwhile venture but one which needed to be run for several years before its value could be properly evaluated. It is pleasing to note that four of the firms which participated in Atlanta have already agreed to participate in San Francisco. Those who participated in 1991 were pleasantly surprised not to be continually approached only by those claiming Irish grandmothers but by people who were interested, and perhaps surprised, to find Irish lawyers offering themselves as the gateway to Europe for their American colleagues. A very successful reception for the guests of the Society and the participating firms was held in Atlanta and it is proposed to repeat this reception in San Francisco and to arrange a lunch at which a prominent speaker will be featured. The Society has produced brochures outlining the services which Irish lawyers can provide to their US counterparts and these together with badges and other "give aways" will be distributed at the stand. As in 1991, the Law Society will have two representatives at the Expo to man the stand for periods not booked by firms, and to assist the members participating. Applications are invited from firms who wish to participate on this occasion. The contribution required for each firm is £500 for each hour on the stand. Modules of 2 hours will be the norm and applications will be dealt with on a first come- first served basis. Applications should be addressed to Barbara Cahalane at The Law Society. (See also advertisement on facing page.) •

The Law Society is taking a stand in the Expo at the American Bar Association meeting in San Francisco in August. This will be the Society's second visit to the ABA. In 1991 the Society had a stand at Atlanta. Atlanta was one of the less well- attended ABA meetings - there were only about 9,000 lawyers present. Over 15,000 American lawyers are expected to attend the meeting and Expo in San Francisco. The Expo is a great trade fair with over 200 stands in the registration area of the Conference. The exhibitions included in these are financial, insurance, publishing, office equipment, computers, legal services and other services including accountants. The Law Society and the Council of the Bar of England & Wales had a major stand at Atlanta.

Reform and codification of Criminal Law

The final speaker was Mr. Justice Ronan Keane, President of the Law Reform Commission, who spoke on the issue of law reform. He placed this issue in the European context. He pointed out that any reform of the criminal law should have regard to the twin requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights, namely, that the law be both easily accessible and formulated with precision and clarity. He then detailed the impressive range of criminal law topics which had been He stated that in considering reform we should be open minded and accept into our law elements of the Civil Law system which ensure the more effective attainment of the objectives we consider desirable. However, he could see no reason why this should be a one-way process. If we are going to have a Pan-European legal system in the future, it should so far as possible preserve the best in both systems. He particularly commended one aspect of the Civil Law system in any consideration of the reform of the criminal law, namely, the concept of a code. He thought that we should not surrender such valuable aspects of our criminal law system as the presumption of innocence and the right to silence. We should try to convert the Civil Law countries to some of the virtues of our system rather than flirting with some aspects of their system which in the end may be destructive of values we cherish. In the end, we have to test everything by a fundamental "litmus paper": our criminal law should have two objects and two objects alone, the punishment of the guilty and the vindication of the innocent. the subject of reports by the Commission in recent years.

Our stand was manned both by representatives of the Society and on

a rota basis by members of a number of Irish law firms.

The purpose of the venture is to make American lawyers aware of the services which can be provided by Irish lawyers in general and by the firms manning the stand in particular. Efforts were concentrated on persuading US lawyers that Irish lawyers were capable of handling US business in the EC.

The following firms were represented in 1991:-

Beauchamps Bell Branigan O'Donnell & O'Brien Ivor Fitzpatrick & Co.

Gerrard Scallan & O'Brien Gleeson McGrath Baldwin Gore & Grimes Hanby Wallace V P McMullin & Son Whitney Moore & Keller

The general reaction of the firms who participated was that it was

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John Buckley

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