The Gazette 1976

J U NE/J U LY

GAZETTE

1976

to Solicitors' Costs and the Rules which govern them. Trustees, Local Authorities and all other Bodies respon- sible for Solicitors' Charges have the same facility as individual Clients to seek Rulings of a Taxing Master on the propriety of costs or charges for services ren- dered. Compensation Fund On the financial side we have had no major problems involving the Compensation Fund, but it is the policy of the Council to build a fund of such dimension that it will reasonably cover all contingencies and eliminate heavy impositions on members, in the event of unfore- seen claims of an unpredictable nature being imposed jpon us. It is well to point out that our Profession and apparently the Stockbrokers are the only Professions who provide exclusively from their own resources a Compensation Fund giving one hundred per cent in- demnity to d e n t s in respect of money entrusted to the Profession in the course of their professional duties. All proven claims have been paid or admitted for payment up to date. One of the onerous responsibilities of our Profession is the unavoidable obligation of handling and accounting for Clients' moneys. In these days of •heavy interest rates it is becoming a heavier obligation where there arc overlapping or triangular transactions which cannot conveniently or otherwise be suitably arranged, so as to avoid the responsibility and obliga- tions which the Clients must necessarily impose on the Solicitors or Firm concerned. All these problems bring us into the vast area of Solicitors' Undertakings involving bridging finance, trusteeship of Title Deeds, the execution, stamping and perfection of registrations of Purchase Deeds and other Title Documents and a multitude of difficulties that can arise in carrying out these duties with reasonable efficiency to the satisfaction of the Clients, their Bankers a n d / or other lending Institutions. The system of Solicitors' Undertakings is presently being looked into by the Council and the results of the Council's deliberations will be circulated for the benefit of our members as soon as possible. Law Reform The Law Reform Commission under the Chairman- ship of Mr. Justice Brian Walsh is an innovation in our legal system and we look forward with great expec- tation to the activities of this Commission and its im- pact on our jurisprudence in the fields of Family Law, Property Law, Litigation and Court procedures. It is hoped that our Society will have an important role to play in this area of Law Reform. The Commission is presently considering such problems as the age of majority and the vexed question of domicile of married persons and our Parliamentary committee will in due course be making its views known to the Commission on these fundamental problems. Legal Aid Up to recent years all legal aid has been carried entirely by the Legal Profession and the Profession also carries all legal a d on the civil side and will continue to do so until such time as legislation is introduced when the Report of the present Commission is available and also when sufficient funds are available for its implementa- tion. On the Criminal side legal aid has operated since the 1 st April, 1965, and this particular Legislation is also the subject of a special enquiry in respect of which comprehensive reports have been submitted by the Ceneral Council of the Bar. There is still considerable controversy in this area, and it is hoped that in the

interests of the administration of justice these problems mav be resolved at an early date. Solicitors' Benevolent Fund I have had the privilege of seconding the adoption of the Annual Report and Accounts of the Benevolent Society at its recent Annual Meeting and I am pleased to report that the Association through its Officers and with the assistance and co-operation of our Director General has improved very considerably the income to the Fund. The Association is well worthy and deserv- ing of the support of all the members of the Society. The Independence of the Legal Profession Finally I wish to say that the Council of the Societv is motivated by the concept that the independence of the Legal Profession and the independence of our Judiciary are fundamental to the preservation of our free democratic Society and its Institutions. It is also equally true that we have a duty and an obligation to uphold and preserve the highest ethical standards in our Profession so that our service to the people may be worthy of the trust and confidence reposed in us since the foundation of our State. The separation of powers (although some say it is a Political illusion) namelv Executive, Legislative and Judicial is in my view an integral part of our Constitutional Democratic system. The Constitution provides that all Judges shall be in- dependent in the exercise of their Judicial functions and subject only to the Constitution and the Law (Article 35(11). Th is judicial independence from ad- ministrative direction can only exist and be upheld by an independent legal Profession. The price of free- dom is therefore eternal vigilance. The President then asked Mr. John F. Bucklev, Chairman of the Education Committee, to make a pro- gress report about the Education arrangements. Mr. Buckley said that, subject to special transitional arrangements which would operate until 1978, the new system of legal education had come into force since October, 1975, and henceforth, apart from special pro- vision for law clerks, all apprentices entering the pro- fession would have to be Arts or Law graduates. He gratefully acknowledged the invaluable assistance he had received from the Advisory Committee, which was composed of ordinary members and some lecturers, and who were making suggestions for the effective adminis- tration of the new system. Mr. Buckley felt it was necessary to obtain pro- fessional assistance in order to set up a professional course. Arrangements had accordingly been made that Mr. Kevin O'Leary, who was in charge of Law courses in the National University of Australia in Canberra, would come to Dublin about next October to give us expert advice on this problem, and he hoped there would henceforth be a closer liaison between appren- tices and lecturers. On behalf of the Societv, he had had a long meeting with the Higher Education Autho- rity, primarily to deal with difficulties in connection with the part-time Law Faculty in Galway, and he had been sympathetically received. The President then called on Mrs. Moya Quinlan Chairman of the Blackhall Place Premises Committee to make a statement. Mrs. Quinlan reminded the mem- bers that no work of external construction was required on the premises. The main problem was to modernise the interior of this 18th century building. The con- tractors, Messrs. Crampton, had carried out this work efficiently, and it was hoped that the central adminis- tration block would be available for occupation in August or September. The original estimate for the 73