The Gazette 1992

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GAZETTE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1992
Competition Ac t, 1991 -
FLAC Appeals for Funds 12
Prosecuting Fraud -
A Reply 13
Solicitors Financial Services 20
Law Society Conference
Berlin - Brochure 21 - 24
Stamp Duty - No Amnesty 32
Technology on Trial and
Trial by Technology 35
Editor:
Barbara Cahalane
Committee:
Eamonn G. Hall, Chairman
Maeve Hayes, Vice-Chairman
John F. Buckley
Gerard Griffin
Elma Lynch
Justin McKenna
Michael V. O'Mahony
Noel C. Ryan
Eva Tobin
Advertising:
Seán Ó hOisín. Telephone: 305236
Fax: 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
A A ^ p X ^ p INCORPORATED
I f l / L I L LAW SOCIETY
MH/r I I L0F™
I h k H I I Vol. 86 No. 1 Jan/Feb 199:
Viewpoint
An End to Compulsory Irish for
Solicitors?
As every lawyer knows, the legal
profession is the only profession in
Ireland that still requires a knowledge
of Irish on the part of those seeking
admission. Solicitors and barristers
must, as a matter of law, pass
examinations in the Irish language
before they can be admitted. In the
case of solicitors, there are in fact
two Irish examinations prescribed
under the Solicitors Act, 1954 and
these examinations take the form of
both a written and an oral test.
There can be little doubt that it is
essential that there should be
available in this country lawyers -
both solicitors and barristers - who
are competent in the use of Irish and
who are capable of conducting legal
business and representing their
clients through the medium of Irish.
As officers of the court, lawyers
have a duty to the court and,
because the first official language of
this country is Irish, clients have a
right to have their business
conducted in Irish if they wish.
However, most solicitors take the
view that the present position under
which Irish is legally compulsory is
unfair on the profession as a whole
and, because of the manner in which
the system operates, does not meet
the objective which it purports to
* serve. A policy of seeking the revival
of the Irish language through
coercion and compulsion has not so
far succeeded and has been largely
abandoned now in virtually every
other sphere of our national life. Can
anybody seriously suggest that a
requirement imposed on a person at
the commenceme: of his
professional legal studies to pass
examinations in Irish reasonably
ensures the availability in this
country of practitioners with com-
petence in the language? The
profession feel that they are dis-
criminated against (other professions
do not have compulsory Irish) and
they cannot see how such a policy
is grounded in practical reality.
Many members of the profession are
extremely disappointed that the
recently published Solicitors
(Amendment) Bill, 1991 does not
contain a provision abolishing the
Irish language requirement for
solicitors. This is all the more
surprising when it is borne in mind
that, some time ago, the Law
Society made it clear that it had
urged on the Government the
replacement of the present
compulsory Irish for all solicitors
with a commitment that the Society
would establish and maintain panels
of solicitors who were willing and
able to provide legal services through
the medium of Irish. The Law
Society was offering to accept this
as a legal obligation. For reasons
best known to themselves, the
Government appear unwilling at
present to accept this very
reasonable proposition.
(Continued on page 5)