The Gazette 1996

GAZETTE

MARCH 1996

Report of Council Meeting held on

8 March 1996

The following is a brief summary of

proceedings at the meeting of the

Council of the Law Society on 8

March, 1996.

1. Motion - Acting for both

developer and pu r cha s er

"That this Council resolves, in

exercise of the powers conferred

on it by the Solicitors Acts 1954 to

1994, to make regulations relating

to solicitors acting on behalf of

both developer and purchaser in a

conveyancing transaction."

Proposer:

Niall Casey

Seconder:

Michael Carroll

This motion was brought with the

support of the Professional Guidance

Committee and was passed in the above

amended form. Regulations to give

effect to it will be brought to the April

Council meeting for approval. A

proposed amendment to broaden the

effect of the motion to prohibit acting

for more than one party in all

conveyancing transactions was defeated,

but support for this in principle was

indicated by the Council. The

Professional Guidance Committee is to

examine the extension of the rule to all

conveyancing transactions and bring a

new motion to Council.

2. Motion - Ma nd a t o ry Practice

Management Training Course

"That this Council approves the

introduction of a mandatory

practice management training

course for solicitors or firms of

solicitors setting up in practice for

the first time, as follows:-

(i) In the case of single

practitioners, that the

practitioner be required to

attend the course;

(ii) In the case of partnerships,

unless one of the partners shall

previously have attended the

course, then one partner shall

be nominated to attend the

course."

Proposer:

Hugh O 'Neill

Seconder:

Donald Binchy

This motion was approved by the

Council. Appropriate regulations will

now be drafted to give effect to it and

brought back to Council for approval.

3. Motion - Compulsory Insurance

Regulations

"That this Council takes urgent

steps to alleviate the financial

hardship which the compulsory

insurance regulations will impose

on the majority of the profession."

Proposer:

James McCourt

Seconder:

Hugh O'Neill

This motion was adjourned to the

April Council meeting to allow further

examination of the issue by a sub

committee.

4. Supreme Court J udgme nt in

Bloomer

The Chairman of the Education

Committee reported to the Council on

the outcome of the Supreme Court

appeal in the Bloomer case. He also

reported that a further set of High

Court proceedings in relation to

education matters has been issued and

served on the Society.

5. Relations with the Bar Council

The President reported on his meeting

with the Chairman of the Bar Council.

It appeared that the Bar Council's

attitude to relations between the two

professional bodies remained

unchanged in spite of the Society's best

efforts to restore them. Accordingly, it

was decided to delete the subject from

the Council agenda.

6. Working Group on the Establishment

of a Courts Commission

The Director General reported in broad

terms on the Working Group's

progress but made it clear that he

could not breach confidentiality by

giving a specific briefing. The

requirement on him to observe

confidentiality was accepted.

7. Outcome of Special General

Meeting held on 7 Ma r c h, 1996

It was agreed that the following

motion should be formally listed for

the Council meeting of 19 April, 1996:

"That this Council approves the

resolutions passed at the Special

General Meeting"

8. Working Gr oup on Qualification

for Appointment as Judges of

the Superior Courts

The President had received a request

from the Minister for Justice for the

names of three Society nominees to the

above Working Group which the

Minister had agreed to set up at the Dail

Committee stage of the Courts and

Court Officers Bill last December. The

Working Group will comprise three

representatives of the Law Society,

three from the Bar Council together

with representatives of the public and

other interested parties. Council

approved the nomination of the Director

General,

Ken Murphy,

and Council

members

Geraldine Clarke

and

Ernest

Cantillon

as the Law Society members

of this Working Group.

9. Criminal Justice (Drug

Trafficking) Bill, 1996

It was strongly argued by the Chairman

of the Criminal Law Committee that the

Society should, on civil liberties grounds,

publicly oppose the seven-day detention

provisions contained in the above Bill.

Following a debate this was agreed.

10. Section 68 Committee

It was proposed that a Section 68

Committee should be established for the

following purposes:

(a) to provide the profession with

authoritative and consistent Law

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