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GAZETTE
JULY 1996
A Place in Legal History
and prosecute any person wh o
contravene any of the a b o ve
requirements set out in the
Regulations. On summary c o n v i c t i on
a person is liable to a penalty of up to
£ 1 , 0 0 0 together with an additional
£ 1 0 0 penalty for every day of a
continuing o f f e n c e. Proceedings for
an o f f e n ce may be initiated at any
time within t wo years after the date of
the o f f e n c e.
Termination of Tenancy
A notice terminating a tenancy must
be in writing and be served on the
tenant or landlord not less than four
w e e ks before the date on wh i ch the
notice is to take effect. ( S e c t i on 16 of
the
Housing
(Miscellaneous
Provisions)
Act, 1992).
Th e se
requirements apply to all lettings for
residential a c c ommo d a t i on whether by
private landlords, local authorities,
voluntary housing b o d i es or otherwise
with certain exceptions.
Seizure of Tenant's Goods
Section 19 of the
Housing
(Miscellaneous
Provisions)
Act,
1992
prohibits a landlord from seizing a
tenant's g o o ds as a me a ns of
e n f o r c i ng payment of rent due on
premises let solely as a dwe l l i n g.
Further Information
The Department of the Environment
published a most helpful d o c ume nt
entitled
Charter for Rented
Housing
in March 1996 wh i ch should be
available free of charge from the local
authority. The three statutory
instruments referred to above: S.I. No.
3 0 of 1996, £ 2 . 0 0 (+ 3 6p postage),
S.I. No. 146 of 1993, £ 1 . 60 (+ 3 6p
postage), S.I. No. 147 of 1993 ( £ 2 . 00
(+ 3 6p postage) may be obtained by
post from the Go v e r nme nt
Publications O f f i c e, 4 /5 Harcourt
Road, Dublin 2. Tel. No. (01)
6 6 1 3 1 11 Fax: ( 0 1 ) 4 7 5 2 7 6 0.
Readers may note that payment may
be made by credit card. There is also
a credit policy in operation to a
limit of £ 2 0 for c omp a n i es and
professional bodies.
•
The following is the full text of the
Law Society news release issued on 9
July, 1996, in response to the
Government's announcement
concerning new judicial nominations.
The Law Society w e l c omes all of the
n ew j u d g es announced by the
Government, but w e l c omes with
particular warmth and pleasure the
nomination of three distinguished
solicitors wh o will enjoy a place
in legal history as the first ever
solicitors to serve as j ud g es of the
Circuit Court.
John F. Buckley, Frank O 'Donnell
and
Michael
White
all have the
qualities of intellect, character,
j ud g eme nt and legal k n ow l e d ge which
make them eminently well qualified to
serve the Irish people as members of
the judiciary.
Th e se appointments represent a
breakthrough for which solicitors
have been campaigning for decades.
In accordance with the Courts
and Court Officers Act 1995,
f o l l ow i ng four years' service as
Circuit Court judges, these solicitors
will in addition b e c ome eligible for
appointment to the High Court and
Supreme Court.
This is a g o od day, not merely for
solicitors but, more importantly, for
the Irish public and for the
administration of justice in Ireland.
The size of the pool of legal talent and
experience from which Circuit Court
j u d g es can be appointed has been not
merely greatly w i d e n ed by legislation
but drawn on in reality. It is
unquestionably in the public interest
that judicial appointments be open
to all lawyers with the ability to
fill them.
The remaining prohibition on the
direct appointment of solicitors as
j u d g es of the High Court and Supreme
Court is a relic of history wh i ch
continues to operate against the public
interest. If it were dropped, the
Go v e r nme nt wo u ld have available to
it a much wider range of candidates,
with more varied experience both of
law and of life, from wh i ch c h o i c es
could be made. The increased
competition wo u ld be beneficial in the
High Court and Supreme Court, as it
has been in the Circuit Court.
Although pleased with these
appointments, solicitors will feel a
tw i nge of disappointment at today's
announcement that only three of the
nine available Circuit Court
j ud g e s h i ps have been allocated to
solicitors. In addition to the three
solicitors wh o se appointments were
announced, it is b e l i e v ed that a
number of other extremely able and
suitable solicitors made application
to the Judicial Appo i n tme n ts
Advisory Board.
A s solicitors represent over 80% of
the legal profession, it might
reasonably have been e x p e c t ed that
the Go v e r nme nt wo u ld have made not
merely 33% but instead the majority
of these nine n ew appointments from
the ranks of solicitors, both on merit
and to help redress the historic
imbalance.
Ken Murphy
•
(See also page
184)
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179