The Gazette 1987

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1987

GAZETTE

f \ n n r T T r

incorporated

I I L i LAW SOCIETY M H / r I I r ™ d I M B M • I Vol. 81 No, 1 Jan Feb 1! Viewpoints Legal Aid Board / 1 / L I

Viewpoints Adverse Possession and Encroachments by Tenants

satisfactorily, notwithstanding the difficulties facing it. The Chairman does well in his Report to remind us that those " in need" include mar- ried women and children caught up in Family Law disputes and that services for numbers of them and others cannot be satisfactorily pro- vided by virtue of the non- availability of funds for the expan- Whether the market place proves more effective than legislation in ending the practice of charging bor- rowers the fees of Lending Institu- tions' solicitors for investigating the title to domestic property re- mains to be seen. Two recent developments have shown alter- native approaches to the problem, one, that of A.I.B., in effectively adopting the recommendation of the Law Society Council in 1985 that Lending Institutions should accept Certificates of Title from borrowers' solicitors and, the other, the Building Societies Regulations 1987. The regulation dealing with the investigation of title is very nar- rowly drafted, only limiting the Societies from charging the costs incurred in connection with the in- vestigation of title to any property offered as security, either as a specific fee for that service or as part of "any fee" charged in respect of the loan. This clearly en- titles a Building Society to continue its previous practice of requiring that its own solicitors investigate title on its behalf and to pay its own solicitors their fees for that work as part of its general administration expenses. Any increases in such expenses can only be recouped either by lowering the interest rate to investors or by charging bor- rowers a higher interest rate. Com- petition for funds among financial institutions is so intense that even if the Building Societies were I (Contd. on p.5) sion of the Scheme. The Third Solicitor

The 1985 Annual Report of the Legal Aid Board confirms that the Civil Legal Aid Scheme has become, as far as Court pro- ceedings are concerned, almost ex- clusively a Family Law Legal Aid Scheme. Of the 1331 cases in which certificates were issued for proceedings, a massive 1271 — over 95% — were in Family Law cases. On the Legal Advice side, the position is more satisfactory in that the proportion of Family Law cases is lower being 6,326 out of a total of 7,489. It is clear from these figures that, because of the priority which rightly has had to be given to Family Law cases, the scheme can now cater for only a small number of clients in other areas. The number of cases and the complexity of the legislative procedures, added to the dif- ficulties which have arisen in rela- tion to the administration by the District Court of its new jurisdiction in Family Law matters, all raise again the question of alternative procedures. It is to be hoped that the newly appointed Law Reform Commission may see as a priority the question, of the review of the appropriateness of our Civil Courts as the forum for Family Law disputes. It may be that "Family Courts" will prove to be easier to campaign for than to operate, but there is a strong case for examin- ing the proposal. The Scheme is able to report pro- gress in the opening of the new Law Centres, though not at the speed which had been hoped, and offered very belated assurance that the scheme is at last to be put on a statutory basis. The Scheme should not have been obliged to wait seven years for its political masters to do their homework. There have been improvements in the means test and changes in ad- ministrative practice which have enabled the Scheme to work more

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Practice Notes

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David Pigot — Perennial Sportsman

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Solicitors Accounts Regulations Duties of an Agent to a Principal

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In Brief

25

Correspondence

25

Professional Information

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Executive Editor: Mary Buckley Editorial Board: CharlesR. M. Meredith, Chairman John F. Buckley Gary Byrne Daire Murphy Michael V. O'Mahony Maxwell Sweeney Advertising: Sean O hOisin. Telephone: 305236 307860 Printing: Turner's Printing Co. Ltd., Longford. The views expressed in this publication, save where otherwise indicated, are the views of the contributors and not necessarily the views of the Council of the Society. The appearance of an advertisement in this publication does not necessarily indicate approval by the Society for the product or service advertised. Published at Blackhall Place, Dublin 7. Tel.: 710711. Telex: 31219. Fax: 710704. Cover photo: The Hon. Mr. Justice Ronan Keane, newly appointed President of the Law Reform Commission. (See "In Brief" p25).