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G
AZETTE
P R E S I D E N T ' S
M E S S A G E
OCTOBER 1996
Back to Business
Andrew F. Smyth
N o w that the v a c a t i on p e r i od h as
e n d e d, o n e c an sit b a ck a nd recall the
p l e a s a nt t i m es s p e nt d u r i ng the S u m m e r
m o n t h s a n d, at t he s a me t i me, n o te the
v o l u me of m o v e m e nt in t he c o u r t s. F or
t he first t i me e v e r, the C i r c u it a n d H i g h
C o u r t h a v e b e e n sitting r e g u l a r ly d u r i ng
the m o n t h of S e p t e m b er a nd c l e a r ly the
G o v e r n m e n t, w i th t he f u ll s u p p o rt of
t he J u d i c i a r y, is g e t t i ng to g r i ps w i th
t he b a c k l og of c a s es a n d e n d e a v o u r i ng
to b r i ng a b o ut a s i g n i f i c a nt d e c r e a se in
this b a c k l o g. T h i s is to be a p p l a u d e d,
a nd all t h o se c o n c e r n ed are d u e a
s i n c e re v o te of t h a n k s, not o n ly f r om
the p r o f e s s i on b ut a l so f r o m the p u b l ic
at large.
T h e r e is n o d o u bt that law a nd o r d er is
h i gh on the a g e n da in e v e r y b o d y 's
m i n d a nd the r e c e nt p r o t e s ts in D u b l in
a g a i n st d r u g p u s h e rs is t a n g i b le p r o of
of the real c o n c e r ns felt by r e s i d e n ts of
t h o se a r e as m o st a f f e c t ed by d r u g
p u s h i ng w i th the p r e s e nt state of a f f a i r s.
T h e y feel - rightly or w r o n g ly - that
the f o r c es of l aw a nd o r d er are not
a p p l y i ng t h e m s e l v es in s u f f i c i e nt
n u m b e r s or w i th s u f f i c i e nt r i g o ur to the
p r o b l e m, a n d w h i le t h e re c o u ld be
m a n y valid r e a s o ns w h y this is so, it is
h o p e d that the p r o t e s ts t h e m s e l v es will
b r i ng a b o ut i n c r e a s ed v i g i l a n ce on the
part of t h o se e m p o w e r ed to e n f o r ce the
l aw a nd h o p e f u l ly a l so e n s u re that this
h i d e o us f e s t e r i ng c r i me of d r u g p u s h i ng
is e l i m i n a t e d.
T h e n e w legislation on m o n e y
l a u n d e r i ng is a l so to be w e l c o m e d,
d e s p i te the S o c i e t y 's r e s e r v a t i o ns w i th
r e g a rd to t he p r o p o s ed i m p l e m e n t a t i on
of this l e g i s l a t i o n. T h e i n v e s t i g a t i on
into f r a u d u l e nt d o le c l a i ms will
h o p e f u l ly b r i ng a b o ut p o s i t i ve r e s u l ts
a n d, yet a g a i n, o n e m u s t c o m m e n t on
t he o p e n illegal sale of c i g a r e t t es a nd
t o b a c co in the streets of D u b l i n. T h i s in
itself c o n s t i t u t es a f r a u d o n e v e ry
c i t i z en a nd t h o se w h o s u p p o rt t he
illegal activities w h e t h er as seller or
b u y e r s h o u ld r e m e m b er this.
O n the e d u c a t i on e n d, it is c l e ar that the
p r o p o s a ls put f o r w a rd in relation to the
L a w S c h o ol h a v e n ot m e t w i th
u n i v e r s al a p p r o v a l.
It is r e f r e s h i ng to h e ar a c t i ve d i s c u s s i on
on the p r o p o s a ls a n d h o p e f u l ly at the
e n d of the d a y the ma t t er will be
r e s o l v ed to the benefit of t h o se w h o
will b e c o me m e m b e r s of the p r o f e s s i on
in t he f u t u r e.
S i n ce I last w r o te to y o u, I h a v e
r e p r e s e n t ed the S o c i e ty at b o th the
Am e r i c an B a r A s s o c i a t i on M e e t i ng a nd
t he C a n a d i an L a w C o n f e r e n c e. O n b o th
o c c a s i o ns it w a s i n t e r e s t i ng to n o te that
t h o u gh t he n u m b e rs i n v o l v ed in e a ch
a r ea are s u b s t a n t i a l ly g r e a t er t h an t h o se
in I r e l a n d, the p r o b l e ms w h i c h r e m a in
to b e d e a lt w i th a re c o m m o n to all
c o u n t r i e s. T h e o v e r - s u p p ly of l a w y e r s,
mu l t i - d i s c i p l i n a ry p r a c t i c e s,
c o m p u t e r i s a t i o n, e t h i c al s t a n d a r ds - all
b e c o m e p o i n ts of d i s c u s s i on a n d n o - o ne
s e e m s to h a v e a s i m p le s o l u t i o n. E t h i c al
s t a n d a r ds are i m p o r t a nt if t he
p r o f e s s i on is to retain the r e s p e ct a nd
c o n f i d e n ce of t he p u b l i c, a n d a ny
l o w e r i ng of s u ch s t a n d a r ds is to b e
d e p l o r e d. W e s h o u ld n e v er sell
o u r s e l v es short f or t he s a ke of a q u i ck
r e t u r n, a n d it b e h o v es e v e ry m e m b e r of
the p r o f e s s i on to act r e s p o n s i b ly at all
t i m es a nd to u p h o ld the l o ng t r a d i t i on
of the p r o f e s s i o n. In that w a y w e will
retain the r e s p e ct of t h o se w e s e r ve a nd
i n d e ed t h o se w h o w o u l d s e ek to
d e n i g r a te the p r o f e s s i on also.
•
The Will Aid Charities, Gorta, Action Aid Ireland,
Oxfam in Ireland and Rehab Foundation,
wish to thank all Solicitors and Bar Associations
who participated in Will Aid during February 1996.
Your generous contributions are what made Will Aid
a great success this year.
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