The Gazette 1984

JULY/AUGIJST

19

GAZETTE

The Unconstitutionality of the County Rate on Land. (contd. from p. 143)

Other business

Mr. Moloney asked:— what was the position regarding the proceedings against the Minister for Justice et all Since the itemised Schedule II figures were crazy, was it not wrong that the Society's representative on the particular Court Committee should be putting his name to a revision of the fees listed? Was it a case that contingent fees were going to be tolerated, since in his view, it would bring the profession into disrepute? Could a section of the Gazette be devoted to developments relating to costs? The President replied that the particular Court case was at the 'discovery' stage. So far, the Society had spent £10,000 on the issue and the Council would now have to sit down to see if the Society was justified in proceeding further. In the matter of the charging of percentage costs, he had gone over the ground with most Bar Associations and the issue had been discussed within the Council. It was clear that the profession was looking for a lead from the Council. In the near future, he hoped it would be possible to issue a guideline which would be fair both to the public and to the profession. In the matter of the Schedule II costs, the question of accepting or otherwise, the increase allowed, had been fully discussed at the Council meeting before the relevant Order had been made, and the concensus was to accept the adjustment. Cork Circuit Court Mr. A. Comyn commented that while a second Circuit Judge was about to be assigned to Cork to deal with outstanding criminal cases, the official in the County Registrar's office, who would act as Court Registrar, had retired and he understood from the County Registrar that the person concerned would not be replaced. Mr. Frank Daly said the Southern Law Association was aware of the situation and intended making represen- tations in the matter. In reply to a query from Mr. Devine, the President explained that when there was reference to making professional indemnity insurance compulsory, this arrangement, if adopted, would have no effect on the Compensation Fund. The Compensation Fund covered fraud by solicitors holding clients' funds whereas, professional indemnity insurance was in respect of professional negligence on the part of a solicitor. Mr. Doyle drew attention to the difficulty created for the profession by speeches delivered by members of the Council without due regard to the media impact. In this context, he referred to a recent address to members of the Law Students' Society in University College, Galway. Concluding the discussion, Mr. Ken Murphy drew attention to the undesirability of describing the alternative programme as the 'Ladies Programme' bearing in mind that a significant number of the members of the profession were female. The President said that the point had been noted for future years. This concluded the business of the meeting and the President declared the meeting closed. •

rationalises its decision in terms of the constitu- tional pattern as a whole. It articulates the character of the constitutional system and indicates the nature of its unity. Along broad lines, the Court is a rationalising and synthetising agency, and in this sense its work has value far beyond individual settlements. The Supreme Court had at least a greater degree of aloofness and a greater opportunity for achieving objectivity, and is has as part of its equipment the tradition of the unity of the law". Salmond's views conflict with those stated by Friedmann in his "Legal Theory" 20 , "The great American judges of the present century have looked at the issues and at the statutes before them and they have balanced verbal and grammatical texts against legislative measure and social purposes in varying mixture. This can hardly be otherwise, for statutes differ greatly in scope, purpose, drafting and meaning. It is easy to appreciate the social purpose of a social reform statute; it is far more difficult to distil the social purpose of a broad constitutional provision." It may well be that the Supreme Court could have considered the constitutionality of the Valuation Acts in more detail, if they had borne in mind the above sentiments expressed by both Swisher and Friedmann. Footnotes 1. [1982] IR 117. 2. Supreme Court, 2 December, 1967, unreported. 3.(1973), 109 ILTR, 1. 4. [1972] I.R. 330 at p. 334.

5. [1972] I.R. 1. at p. 34. 6. [1976] I.R. 38 at p. 50. 7.(1963) E.C.R. at p. 178. 8. [1972] I.R. 1 at p. 13. 10. [1965] I.R. 294. 11. [1980] I.R. 102 at p. 130. 12. [1982] I.R. 241. 13.(1973), 109 ILTR 68. 14. McGee -v- Attorney-General 15. [1965] I.R. 217 at p. 239. 16.[1965] I.R. 294. 17.(1949) ILTR 113. 18. [1966] I.R. 451. 19. [1934] I.R. 44. 20. 5th edition (1967) at p. 462.

[1974] I.R. 284.

Law Directory 1984 Erratum

The following entry was omitted: LARKIN, Mary Emer, B.A. (N.U.I.) (Summer 1976). John C. Murphy & Co., Solicitors, The Square, Gort, Co. Galway. Tel. (091) 31022. (Pearts).

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