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GAZETTE
M
W
H
JULY 1994
Deba te on ' Capp i ng'
Con t i nues
A press statement issued by the Law
Society on 9 June, stating that the
proposal by the Minister for Commerce
and Technology,
Seamus Brennan,
TD,
to introduce legislation to place a cap
on the amount of compensation the
courts could award in personal injury
actions, amounted to a vote of no
confidence in one of the most
fundamental aspects of the legal
system - the adjudication by
independent judges of the amount of
compensation a person should get
when they suffered personal injury
through no fault of their own - was
reported in the
Irish Independent, Cork
Examiner
and
Irish Press
of 10 June
and in the
Limerick Leader
on 15 June.
An article in the
Sunday Tribune
of 12
June reported that the proposed
legislation would include a major
overhaul of the law relating to personal
liability. The article quoted a
spokesperson for the Law Society as
saying that the Minister's proposed
schedule for compensation awards
would curtail judicial discretion in
awarding damages for personal injuries
and could be unconstitutional. It could
mean that judges would be unable to
take the personal circumstances of an
injured party into account and that
would lead to injustice.
A feature article in the
Irish
Independent
on 29 June reported that
the "Brennan Bill" would include a
new definition of the duty of care,
would reform the law concerning
occupiers' liability, would reform pre-
trial procedures, would permit
structured awards and would provide
for a schedule of payments for a range
of different injuries. The article quoted
the President of the Law Society,
Michael O'Mahony,
as saying that the
proposed schedule would almost
certainly be unworkable and he also
questioned whether the proposals
would lead to a reduction in insurance
costs.
An article in the
Sunday Tribune
of 3
232
July said that the establishment of a
personal injuries compensation board
and a detailed grading system to assess
pain and suffering awards were the
main provisions of the forthcoming
Bill. The article noted that critics of the
legislation had said that the idea was
fraught with legal and constitutional
difficulties.
The
Irish Independent
of 4 July
reported that the Government had ruled
out the option of introducing a fuel
levy as an alternative to legislation to
cap personal injury awards.
Cost of Delay
On 21 July 1994 the
Irish Times
reported comments by Mr.
Justice
Costello
in the High Court when he
said that he would like the Comptroller
and Auditor General to investigate the
cost to the tax payer of having to pay
for regular High Court motions where
the State failed to lodge a defence to an
action within the appropriate time.
Greater Transparency on
Disciplinary Procedures
An article by
Kieron Conway,
j published in the
Irish Times
on 11
June, noted that although there were
over 5,000 complaints about solicitors
made to the Law Society in the past
five years only a handful ended up in
court. The journalist commented that
there was greater transparency in the
regulatory system for the profession as
a result of a change in policy eighteen
months ago by both the Law Society
and the High Court and the article
noted that since the beginning of 1993
the Law Society had published in its
Gazette
details of amounts paid out by
the Compensation Fund and had also
reported on all final determinations of
the High Court on disciplinary matters.
Solicitors Bill
The
Sunday Business Post
on 26 June
reported that SADSI was calling on
President Robinson to test the
constitutionality of the Solicitors
(Amendment) Bill, 1994 on the
grounds that it proposed an unlawful
restriction on the constitutional right to
earn a livelihood. According to
SADSI, section 37 of the Bill would
have the effect of precluding a newly-
qualified solicitor from setting up in
practice for a period of three years
after qualification.
Claim on the Compensation Fund
An article by
Veronica Guerin
in the
Sunday Independent
of 29 May,
reported that the Irish Permanent
Building Society was engaging in an
internal investigation to establish how
the purchase of 38 properties had been
financed at a cost of £1.5m although
they were expected to make a
maximum of £900,000 at auction.
The article noted that the Building
Society had reported a number of
solicitors involved in some of the
transactions to the Law Society.
In the ensuing weeks, a number of
daily and Sunday newspapers noted
that the Irish Permanent Building
Society had lodged a claim of
£500,000 on the Compensation Fund
in relation to the mortgage transactions
and had notified the Society of its
intention to make a claim for a further
£220,000.
Numbers
The evening papers on 23 June, and
the
Irish Independent
of 25 June noted
that, according to a European survey
by the publishers of
Law Firms in
Europe Guide,
Ireland had one lawyer
for every 920 citizens, ranking sixth in
the survey. On 26 June an article in the
Sunday Tribune
noted that a survey
undertaken by the Law Society of
students on the 30th Advanced Course
had shown that 25 of 66 respondents
believed that they had no prospect
of employment following
qualification.
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