The Gazette 1973

resources to the giving of adequate training in the day-

to-day practice of the Law so that, after a period of

two years spent on this, the student could enter into

one year's apprenticeship with a Master where he would

complete his legal training. As a result of recent repre-

sentations to the Minister on this subject, I had hoped

that by to-day I would have received from him some

intimation that after thirteen years of waiting, the end

we are hoping for was at last in sight, but disappoint-

ment faces me at the end of my year as it did my

twelve predecessors in office.

The Minister for Justice appears to be anxious to

see a joint law school set-up where, after their academic

training in the Law had been completed at a Uni-

versity, intending barristers and solicitors might receive

their practical legal training, thus ensuring that the

limited resources which are at our command and that

of the Society of Kings Inn were not dissipated, as they

are at present, on the provision of two separate and

distinct law schools. Our Society has no quarrel with

this proposal, but if for any reason outside our control

it proves incapable of being implemented, we must con-

tinue to urge upon the Minister the urgent necessity

of meeting the needs of the students intended for our

branch of the Profession without waiting for a solution

that to him may seem ideal.

In 1962 the number of Indentures of apprenticeship

registered was 42. In the current year that number has

grown to 137. Difficulties are being experienced by

intending apprentices in finding masters willing to

accept them, and the Court of Examiners is bending

backwards to ease this problem by interpreting very

liberally the Society's regulations governing the taking

of apprentices. While we have steadfastly refused to

place any limitation on the number seeking to enter

our Profession, we cannot ignore the cry emanating

from our Universities that the number applying to take

lectures in the faculty of Law has now reached such

frightening proportions that they feel some measure of

limitaion is necessary. Limitation by means of a fixed

quota has been suggested but if separate quotas have to

be fixed for those intending to take a law degree and

those who do not, our Society is likely to be faced with

the unenviable prospect of being asked to fill by

nomination the quota fixed for the latter. We in this

Society cannot solve the problem of overcrowding in

our Universities, but at least let us make it clear to the

public that if a limitation has to be imposed on the

number seeking admission to the faculty of Law, the

fault is not that of this Society.

Trying to take an objective view of the Law Society,

particularly when one is a Council member, is rather

like trying to take an objective view of oneself, but

judging by the lack of compliments we receive from

our colleagues in the profession, it is obvious that the

image projected by our Society is not a happy one. The

Council consists of thirty-one ordinary members, eight

extraordinary members and three Provincial delegates,

giving a total of forty-two members on our Council, and

one is impelled to ask the question : Can such a Body,

"meeting once a month, effectively cope with the ever-

inreasing and complex work of our Society? There

are now no less than eleven committees of the Council

—including the E.E.C. Committee set-up during the

past twelve months—dealing with the work of our

Society. These committees also meet only once a month

and their decisions, as handed down to our Secretary,

are brought for ratification before the next meeting of

the Council. All too frequently, a bare quorum of mem-

bers is available for these meetings, resulting in deci-

sions being reached which later prove unacceptable to

the Council. In saying this, I do not wish to be taken

as denigrating the work done by the members of these

Committees, all of whom are voluntarily giving up their

valuable time for the benefit of the profession generally,

but one wonders if the numbers on these committees

could not be increased and elected by the general body

of members as the Council is at present, leaving to the

members of these elected Committees the job of elect-

ing a much smaller Council; whether all these Com-

mittees should meet on a day other than the same day

as the Council itself; whether each Chairman should

not have the sole responsibility of putting forward his

Committee's decisions for ratification before this smaller

Council that would meet perhaps twice a month, and

whether there is some method of dealing with mem-

bers' questions, other than the present one, which

usurps too much of the Council's valuable time at its

monthly meeting.

What I have suggested would undoubtedly throw a

heavy burden on to the shoulders of each of the eleven

Chairmen, but it might help to relieve the bottle-neck

of paper work with which the Council and its Com-

mittees are at present choked. To ensure that our

Secretariat is working efficiently must be one of the

prime objects of our Society for we cannot afford to

have it said that the services which the Society has

undertaken to provide its members with are not being

operated satisfactorily, or that there is undue delay in

dealing with matters about which the public or our

own members write to us. These thoughts occurring to

me during my year of office, I felt the time was ripe for

somebody outside the Society itself to take a good look

at the whole structure of the Society, including the

Council, its Committees and the Secretariat. For that

reason the Policy Committee, with the Council's ap-

proval, recently decided to call upon the services of a

Business Consultant to advise us on these problems,

and with his assistance, we are hoping to give the

Society a new look, a look that will be more acceptable

to the profession as a whole and that will give to our

colleagues and to the Public the sort of service that they

are entitled to expect from this Society.

E.E.C.—Delays in explaining laws

With just over a month to go before we become full

members of the European Economic Community, it is

alarming to find that despite the pressure brought to

bear upon the appropriate Government Departments,

we still have only a vague idea of the extent to which

our own domestic laws will be affected by Community

laws and regulations. In a letter which I received from

the Department of Foreign Affairs last August I was

told that the probable effects of Community legislation

on Irish legislation were being examined by Govern-

ment Departments as a continuing study; that the inter-

pretation of evolving Community law was a factor

in this Study; that lists had been prepared which would

serve as appendices to an explanatory memorandum

which it was proposed to circulate shortly, and that

these lists set out the secondary legislation of the Com-

munities which would be in force here on the 1st

January next and the more important Irish enactments

which would thereby be affected. In my reply I pointed

out that if these lists were silent as to the effect this

secondary legislation would have on our own National

legislation, buth the Public and our Profession would