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GAZETTE
N E W S
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 1996
Report on Council Meeting held on
26 July, 1996
The following is a brief summary of the
meeting of the Council of the Law
Society on 26 July, 1996.
1. Newly-appointed Circuit Court
Judges
The three newly-appointed solicitor
Circuit Court judges, John F. Buckley,
P. Frank O'Donnell and Michael White
were in attendance at the beginning of
the Council meeting and were welcomed
by the President, who expressed
confidence that each would do the
profession proud in administering justice
in the circuit courts. On behalf of the
Council and the profession, the President
wished the new judges well in their
careers on the bench. On behalf of all
three judges, Judge O'Donnell conveyed
their appreciation to the current Council
and its predecessors for their many years
of campaigning to secure amended
legislation providing for the appointment
of solicitors to the Circuit Court bench.
He urged the Society to continue its
efforts to secure further appointments
and gave a commitment that the right of
audience of all lawyers before the courts
would be respected by the new judges,
equally and without fear or favour. The
three judges received a prolonged
standing ovation from the Council prior
to their departure.
2. Elections to the Council
The Council fixed Thursday, 10
October, 1996, as thefinal date for
receipt of nominations of candidates for
the annual and provincial elections and
Thursday, 7 November, 1996, as the
close of poll date for the annual and
provincial elections for 1996/97.
3. Motion - Lawyer/Client Privilege
"That this Council reviews the policy
of the Society with regard to lawyer/
client privilege generally and the
powers of the Society in particular".
Proposer:
James MacGuill
Seconder:
Hugh O 'Neill
This motion was adjourned to the
September Council meeting so that the
implications of the previous day's Dail
passage of amendments to the Criminal
Justice Act, 1994, could be assessed.
4. Abrahamson Case
The Chairman of the Education
Committee reported to the Council on
the High Court judgment of 15 July,
1996, in the judicial review proceedings
brought by 811 law undergraduates
against the Society. He explained that the
High Court had found in favour of the
Society's contentions (a) that the
Bloomer
judgment had effect against all
the world and not simply the parties to
that case, and (b) the applicants in
Abrahamson
did not have a right to be
consulted by the Society in relation to the
Society's policy decisions. However, the
applicants had a legitimate expectation
that exemptions from the FE-1 would be
granted and that "exceptional circum-
stances" existed, which would permit the
Society to exercise its discretion to grant
exemptions to the applicants. While, as a
matter of law, the court could not require
the Society to exercise its discretion to
grant exemptions, the Society had been
directed to consider exercising its
discretion to do so. The Council
discussed thefindings of the court and
the Society's concerns about standards.
The Chairman of the Education Com-
mittee thanked the Council members for
their views, which would be taken into
account at the meeting of the Education
Committee which was to be held imm-
ediately following the Council meeting.
5. Outcome of Special General
Meeting
The Council adopted the resolution
which had been passed at the Special
General Meeting of the Society held on
the previous evening, as follows:
"That -
(a) the Society should complete the
purchase of the Hendrick Place
property;
(b) any capital expenditure on a new
Law School should come before a
General Meeting of the Society as
soon as may be practicable;
(c) in the meantime, all necessary
work should proceed in relation to
the proposed new Law School
(whether consultative,
architectural, in relation to
planning permission etc.) in order
that the Society may avail of tax
incentives".
On a separate issue, it was noted that the
item of special business, which would
have allowed existing Past Presidents of
the Society to attend Council meetings
until November 2000, had been rejected
by the General Meeting. Accordingly,
the Past Presidents' privilege of
attendance at Council meetings, other
than for three years following their last
election as a Council member, had now
ceased. The disappointing level of
attendance at the Special General
Meeting was remarked on and the
Council agreed that consideration
should be given to amending the Bye-
laws to provide for voting by proxy.
6. Criminal Justice Act, 1994
The Director General briefed the
Council in detail on the provisions of
the Criminal Justice Act, 1994, as
amended by the Disclosure of Certain
Information for Taxation and Other
Purposes Bill, 1996, which had been
passed by the Dail the previous day. He
explained that, under the pre-existing
provisions of the 1994 Act, the Minister
for Justice was empowered to designate
professional bodies, including solicitors,
for the purposes of the Act. During his
Second Stage speech on the Bill, the
Minister for Finance had stated that
solicitors, among others, would shortly
be so designated. Designation would
require solicitors to retain documents
and materials concerning the
identification of clients for use as
evidence in the investigation of any
offence and would also require
solicitors to report clients to the Garda
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