26 / 432
VOL. 88 NO. 1
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1994
I N C O R P O R A T E D
L A W
S O C I E T Y
O F
I R E L A N D
V i e w p o i n t
5
While increased allocations to the courts and to legal
aid in the Government's expenditure estimates are welcome,
much more needs to be done.
N e w s
7 et seq.
Council establishes taskforce to resist capping proposal,
p. 7; North/South seminar on Criminal Law, p. 10; Clasp raises
£12,000 for the homeless, p. 13; Compensation Fund payments
approved in December, p. 13; Annual Report of FLAC for 1993,
p. 14; winners of Blackhall Place Prize Bond Scheme, p. 18;
SYS Autumn Conference, p. 30; Cork Solicitors get Social, p.
30; SADSI News, p. 36; Document Exchange Approaches Half
Century, p. 36; Seminar on the European Convention on
Human Rights, p. 37.
M e d i a w a t c h
9
The debate about introducing a limit on the amount
that could be paid in compensation for pain and suffering in
personal injury awards continues to receive attention in the
media, as does the forthcoming Solicitors Bill.
L a wb r i ef
11
Solicitor liable for mental distress; District Court - small
claims procedure; Minister has no proposals for fusion of
the legal professions; The growing use of technology as a
courtroom tool; Borking nominees for legal posts;
Dr. Eamonn Hall
reports.
T h e H e a l t h ( N u r s i ng H om e s ) A c t
r
1 9 9 0
15
The Act came into force on 1 September 1993, and
introduced a registration system for nursing homes and a system
for assessing entitlement to public nursing home case. However,
there remains a major question mark over the legal position
concerning entitlement to care, writes
Mel Cousins.
P e o p l e a n d P l a c es
20
Sy s t ems in t he O f f i ce - T en not-so-easy T i ps
23
Lawyers are intelligent people, writes
Frank Lanigan,
but they are anarchic, individualistic and hate organisation!
He offers ten not-so-easy tips for achieving a good system of
office management.
B o o k R e v i e ws
25
This month practitioners review the following recent
publications: Irish Company Secretarial Precedents; Irish
Corporate Procedures; Lawyers Skills; Irish Investment Market;
Basic Documents on Human Rights; A Dictionary of Irish Law;
and AGuide to Buying or Selling Your House in Ireland.
P r a c t i ce N o t e s
31
Draft Guidelines on Professional Conduct for Criminal Law
Practitioners; Stock Transfer Forms; Insurance Premium
Refunds arising on Mortgage Redemptions.
C o p y r i g h t P r o t e c t i on o f C o m p u t e r S o f t w a r e
i n I r e l a nd
33
Michael Vallely
takes readers step by step through the EU
Directive on the Legal Protection of Computer Programmes and
its effect on the 1963 Irish Copyright Act.
P r o f e s s i o n al I n f o r m a t i on
Notices concerning lost land certificates, lost wills,
employment and miscellaneous advertisements.
38
Editor:
Barbara Cahalane
Editorial Board:
Dr. Eamonn G. Hall,
(Chairman)
Elma Lynch, (Vice Chairman)
John F. Buckley
John Costello
Justin McKenna
Noel C. Ryan
Advertising:
Seán Ó hOisín. Telephone:
305236 Fax: 307860.
Printing:
Turners Printing Company
Limited, Longford.
The views expressed in this publication, save
where otherwise indicated, are the views of
contributors and not necessarily the views of
the Council of the Law Society. The
appearance of an advertisement in this
publication does not necessarily indicate
approval by the Law Society for the product
or service advertised.
Published at Blackhall Place, Dublin 7.
Telephone 6710711 Telex: 31219 Fax: 6710704.
The front cover shows
(clockwise):
Patrick Brennan,
Judge of the District Court,
district 3;
Brendan Wallace,
Judge of the
District Court, district 18;
John Clifford,
Judge of the District Court, Cork City, and
John Garavan,
Judge of the District Court,
district 7.
3