The Gazette 1990

GAZETTE

JULY/AUGUST 1990

this

Issue

Viewpoint

199

Entitlement to damages

for breach of Community

legislation under

English law

Minutes of Half Yearly

Meeting

Law Society Survey of

Computerisation of

Solicitors Offices

Lawbrief

People & Places

Land Registry

Younger Members News

Solicitors Financial

Services

UNIX and Networking

Explained

Book Review

Professional Information

Executive Editor:

Mary Gaynor

Committee:

Eamonn G. Hall, Chairman

Michael V. O'Mahony, Vice-Chairman

John F. Buckley

Gary Byrne

Patrick McMahon

Charles R. M. Meredith

Daire Murphy

John Schutte

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.

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Vol.84No.6Julv/August

Viewpoint

Detailed comment on the Report of

the Fair Trade Commi s s i on into

Restrictive Practices in the Legal

Profession must await the delibera-

tions of the Committee wh i ch the

Council of the Society has appoint-

ed to collate the responses of

members to the recommendations.

Some general thoughts on the

Report may however be expressed

at this stage. It is disappointing to

observe the failure of the members

of the Commi s s i on to agree on

some fundamental points and its

efforts to resolve the conflict bet-

ween the theory of pure competi-

tion and the need to protect the

public.

Perhaps the most curious aspect

of the Report is that in wh i ch the

Chairman argued against Profes-

sional Indemnity Insurance being

made compulsory for members of

the legal professions. The need to

ensure that there is adequate

insurance based compen s a t i on

available to members of the public

for acts of negligence was seen

almost 60 years ago in relation to

traffic and transport on our road-

ways. A client who has suffered

loss as a result of a solicitor's

negligence should not have to rely

solely on that solicitor's assets. If

this were the ca se a wise client

would not instruct any young

member of the professon wh i ch is

hardly what the Commission would

wi sh to encourage.

It is however, in the area of con-

veyancing that the Chairman is

impossibly optimistic. He envisages

that appropriate action to reform

the law to reduce its unnecessary

complexity and to bring the pro-

cedures and methods of the Land

Registry up to date " ma y take five

to seven years". It is difficult to

avoid the conclusion that the

Chairman has not grasped the size

of the problem wh i ch exists here.

Even where resources have been

devoted on a significant scale, as in

the UK or to a more limited extent

in Northern Ireland, it necessarily

takes a number of years to bring

about statutory reform in the area

of land law and conveyancing.

Equally even if any significant re-

s ou r c es were devoted to the

improvement of the Land Registry

or if it were to be converted into a

public corporation as the Law

S o c i e ty has r e commended, it

would certainly be a great deal

longer than five to seven years

before the combined effects of

statutory reform and improvement

of the registration s y s t em could

bring about any lessening of the

present complexity in the law re-

lating to conveyancing and the

registration systems. In passing it

may

be r ema r k ed

t hat

t he

complexity of the law will not be

improved if there is to be a

continuance of ill-drafted, though

s o c i a l ly desirable,

l eg i s l a t i on.

C omme n c i ng wi th the Family

Home Protection Act and con-

t i nu i ng

t he

J u d i c i al

Separation and Family Law Reform

Act, it has unfortunately been the

ca se that the effects of this legi-

slation on conveyancing practice

have been to make matters more

difficult for the solicitor and the

client and to slow down the

process of transfer.

It is to be hoped that the Report

will have some impact in govern-

ment circles on the need to do

something about our outdated legal

and administrative structures in the

areas of land transfer. Improving

infra-structure in a country does

not only mean building more and

bigger roads it means providing a

modern legal infra-structure if a

country is to be seen to be a

modern efficient democracy.

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