The Gazette 1971

Our Law System and E.E.C When we join the enlarged community and come into much closer contact with the Continentals, we must look dispassionately at our system of law, retaining that which we think is good but discarding that which we see is bad or illogical, said the Minister for Justice, Mr. D. O'Malley, T.D., speaking at a meeting at the Metropole Hotel, Cork.

into the Common Market will have little immediate impact."

Commerce Field "Entry should not affect practice in the criminal law, nor should it have any material effect on practice in, for example, the law of tort, landlord and tenant or succession. There should, however, be a considerable effect on practice in the field of commercial law." Dealing with the subject of education for the legal profession, Mr. O'Malley said that, whatever we do in regard to legal education must be done in the context of our prospective entry into the Common Market. "It seems to me that now, as we draw closer to Europe and as contact with continental institutions becomes inevitable, comparative law has become a very important subject in the training of a lawyer. Our law schools will have to provide full courses in com- parative law (with special reference to French and German law) and in international private law. French or German should be a compulsory subject for all univesity degrees in law." Idea Adoption "The lawyer of tomorrow will have to be more fully armed then his predecessors and I am sure our univer- sities will play their part in seeing that he is." Having made the statement mentioned at the outset, Mr. O'Malley said if the French or Germans or the Italians order things better, as they often do, nothing should prevent us from adopting their ideas. Dealing with study by solicitors' apprentices, he said he thought there was much to be said for divorcing the university or law school training from the practical training, and he had suggested before that a university degree in law might be made an essential requirement before the prospective solicitor enters a solicitor's office at all. Having said in conclusion that the prospect of change should not, however, be received in any negative spirit, the Minister said he hoped entry into the Common Market would be received by our lawyers as a welcome opportunity to enlarge their professional horizons, both through the reception of new ideas and through the exercise of their professional talents in fields far wider than those open to them at present. Mr. Bryan McMahon, lecturer in law, UGG, received a fine ovation for his complete down-to-earth address on aspects of the law of the EEC and how it will affect the country and the ordinary man in the street. The Cork Examiner (30th October 1971)

At the outset of his address, entitled "The Law and the EEC", Mr. O'Malley said that he was not sure that the legal profession and the public generally are yet fully alive to the repercussions which our entry into the Common Market will have on the profession, on legal concepts and, indeed, on the whole legal system in member states. The Minister went on to say that Community law is primarily concerned with economic and commercial activities and related social matters, and it is princi- pally in these fields that amendments to our domestic legislation will be necessary. In particular, he added, there will be no significant effect so far as our criminal law is concerned. Entry into the Common Market will not affect the structure of our Courts, nor will it have any considerable effect on the quantity and nature of their work at least in the short term. Important However, there will be an important new body of law in the financial, industrial and commercial fields to be dealt with by our Courts; new procedures will have to he established to provide for references to the European Court from our domestic courts in appropriate cases, and also for the enforcement within the State of the European Court's decisions. Reform Need Mr. O'Malley said that the prospect of change in our legal concepts need not, however, deter us in any way. Much of our law is in need of reform in any case, and we need not anticipate any overwhelming difficulty in adopting whatever changes may be necessary to meet the Community requirements. Having dealt with some of the provisions and rules, he said that it is clear that, if Irish lawyers are to participate in the proceedings of the Court of Justice, they will have to become familiar with Community law, and with civil law procedures and rules of inter- pretation. "As to the effect on the practice of lawyers in this country," he said, "it is probably true to say that, for most lawyers, and for most branches of the law, entry

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