58 / 294
goods and capital, the right of establishment, an d the
freedom to supply services.
The Community Institutions ar e subject only to Com -
munity Law , and no t to national Constitutions. No other
view would be consistent with the character of Com -
munity law as an independent, specific an d original
mgal system. Th e Court declared in 1964 that "th e
rights created by the (Rome) Treaty, by virtue of their
specific original nature, cannot be judicially contra-
dicted by (any national) law without losing their Com -
munity character an d without undermining the legal
basis of the Community" (Case 6/67). Th e Court of
Justice ha s on several occasions pointed ou t that it was
not part of its duties to judge whether acts of the Com -
munity authorities were compatible with the provisions
of
national constitutions.
Values
Nevertheless, the protection of fundamental human
r
|ghts in the EEC does no t depend on elements of such
n
ghts as have been included in the EEC Treaty. Fo r it
can be assumed that th e guarantees written into the
treaty ar e extended by unwritten general legal prin-
Cl
ples in the member States and that it is fo r the Court
to determine and , where appropriate, apply those prin-
ciples. To quote former Commission member Hans von
der Groeben : "While th e Community is no t bound by
me fundamental rights as part of national law , it must
accept the values which those who drewu up the consti-
tutions of the member States embodied in the funda-
mental rights."
In a ruling of 12t h November 1969 (Case 29/69), the
Court dismissed the plea that a Commission decision
had violated th e basic rights to human dignity an d
equality of treatment.
It held that "th e decision in question does no t con -
tain any element that might jeopardise the fundamental
rights of the individual contained in the general prin-
ciples of the law of the Community, of which the Court
must ensure the observance."
In December. 1970 , the Court confirmed (Case 11/70)
its earlier judgments and emphasised that "i t is neces-
sary, however, to consider whether there ha s been a
failure to provide under Community law a guarantee
that corresponds (to fundamental rights under national
constitutions), fo r
respect of fundamental rights belongs
to the general legal principles whose observance the
Court of Justice must ensure."
Community law does no t constitute a code which
merely needs to be applied. New fields ar e being incor-
porated into the Community sphere, new law is being
made daily, an d this is constantly leading to fresh
developments. Despite these developments, th e struc-
tural principles of the Community ar e still firmly bedded
in the Rome Treaty. Bu t there, too , things ar e moving,
as shown by th e tendency to accept that decisions an d
directives can have immediate legal effects.
Memorandum to the Minister for Justice Pending Appli cation for Increases based on the Cost of Living Figure
Solicitors' Remuneration
Solicitors' remuneration is regulated by five different
committees. Unlike the public service an d other sec-
tions of the community, fees are no t raised concurrently
^ith the national wage rounds. Applications must be
considered by th e various judicial committees an d in
certain cases then submitted to the Minister fo r Justice.
l n
the case of non-contentious work (by fa r the largest
area of remuneration) the Minister has no direct func-
tion bu t orders of the judicial body ar e laid directly by
mem before the Oireachtas. Th e result ha s been that
oe level of fees fo r some frequent services which ar e
charged on an item basis lags fa r behind th e national
Price index by the time increases become effective. In
contrast to this solicitors' office expenses rise automati-
cally yvith the level of wages and prices. There have
oeen six wage rounds since 1961 which operated directly
°
n
solicitors' office expenses. By contrast there has been
°
nl
Y one increase (12 per cent) in solicitors' item charges
and this applied only to three ou t of the five classes of
jy°rk (Superior Courts, District Court an d non-conten-
i°us business). Orders authorising increases of 12 pe r
cent fo r Circuit Court an d Land Registry business were
submitted by the judicial committees to the Minister for
Justice bu t he refused to concur. Th e Council ar e
iinaware why an exception should have been made fo r
w
o ou t of the five committees as no reason wa s given.
, Where the Minister ha s a concurring function there
Pas been an average time lag of three and a half years
?
e
tween date of application an d date of operation of
^creases. I n th e case of th e Circuit Court an appli-
cation submitted to the Committee on the 1st August
19
6l was sanctioned by the Department on 2nd October
1967 while in the District Court an application sub -
mitted on 14t h September 1961 was sanctioned by th e
Department on 1st January 1965 . By contrast an appli-
cation in relation to non-contentious costs which wa s
laid directly before the Oireachtas by the statutory body
under th e Solicitors' Remuneration Ac t in Ma y 1964
became effective on 1st August 1964 .
The applications a t present under consideration ar e
for an increase of 42 pe r cent on the level of fees fixed
1971
(Nov. )
Effectiv e
increase s
to date.
Cost of living
100
174
74%
Judicial salaries (average)
100
200
100%
Higher civil service (average)
(base November 1961 ) .. . 100
185
85%
Oireachtas
Dáil
100
250
150%
Seanad
100
200
100%
Solicitors' item charges
Superior Courts (base 1962 ) .. . 100
112
12%
Circuit Court
100
100
District Court
100
112
12%
Non-contentious (Schedule 2) 100
112
12%
Land Registry (Schedule 2)
(fixed on RV x 50)
100
100
—
Criminal legal ai d (base 1965 ) 100
125
25%
55