The Gazette 1994

GAZETTE

S t a n d a r d C o n t r a c t

o n F e e s n e a r

F i n a l i s a t i on

Work on a two-page standard contract

on fees is nearing finalisation,

according to the Chairman of the Law

Society's Costs Committee,

Gerard

Griffin,

and it is hoped to place the

proposed contract before the October

meeting of the Council for approval.

Gerry Griffin

The standard contract is intended to

meet the requirements of section 68 of

the Solicitors (Amendment) Bill, 1994,

which will come into effect three

months after the enactment of the Bill.

The section will make it obligatory for

solicitors to notify their clients in

writing, at the commencement of a

transaction, of the

actual

charges for

the services to be provided to them, or

estimate

of those charges, or the

basis

on which charges would be made.

Reporting to the Council on the

progress of the draft contract, the

Chairman of the Cost Committee said

that, in his view, section 68 of the

Solicitors Bill would be of benefit to

the profession as solicitors and their

clients would have to address the issue

of fees at the outset.

SPAIN

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N E W

D e p a r t m e n t

C omp l e t es R e v i ew

o f C i r c u i t C o u r t

J u r i s d i c t i on

; According to a recent communication

to the Society, the Department of

Justice has completed a review of

activity levels in the Circuit Court. The

| review, which assessed the altered

I jurisdiction of the Circuit Court under

the Courts Act, 1991, "will form the

basis of proposals which the Minister

for Justice will be bringing to the

Government with a view to eliminating

arrears in the Circuit Court", according

to the Department.

The information emerged in response to

representations by the Society

concerning the problem of delay

generally and, in particular, the backlog

of civil cases on the Carlow Circuit.

According to Carlow Bar Association,

criminal matters are receiving a

disproportionate share of the time in

: the Circuit Court and the number of

criminal trials pending will prevent the

Court from dealing with District Court

I civil appeals, civil and matrimonial

cases in forthcoming sessions. The Bar

Association estimates that cases that

were ready for hearing in June 1993

are unlikely to be reached until

February 1995 at the earliest. The

Circuit Court sits in Carlow for four

weeks each year but only one week is

allocated to non-criminal business.

I At the request of Carlow Bar

Association, the Society made

representations to the Department of

Justice pointing out that a delay of this

magnitude was unacceptable. The

i Society reiterated the call by Carlow

Bar Association for greater time to be

• allocated to civil business, or for an

| alternative solution such as the

; allocation of an additional judge to the

I Carlow circuit to deal with the backlog

of civil work.

While the announcement that the

review has been completed is welcome,

the Society has again asked the

Department to take urgent action to

j deal with the situation in Carlow.

•

GAZETTEAUGUST/SEPTEMBER1994

P r o p o s a l t o ' C a p '

A w a r d s b e i ng

M o n i t o r e d

The Law Society continues to monitor

developments on the proposal by the

Minister for Commerce and

Technology,

Seamus Brennan

TD, to

! place a 'cap' on the amount of

damages that could be awarded for

I pain and suffering in personal injuries

actions. The indications are that the

Minister is examining the idea of

promulgating in legislation a schedule

of injuries with a 'points system' and a

scale setting out the amounts to be

awarded for the points allocated. It is

also thought that while the Heads of a

Bill have been drafted, they have not

yet been submitted to Cabinet and that

the Minister is, meanwhile, taking legal

advice on the issue. To date, the

Minister has not made a definitive

public statement about his plans,

despite calls by the Law Society and

the insurance industry to do so.

í The Society has had a number of

meetings with officials in the

Minister's Department, at which the

Society has set out it objections in

principle to the Minister's proposal and

has pointed out the likely

i Constitutional difficulties in giving

| effect to the proposal.

' Further meetings with officials are

envisaged and, in the meantime,

developments continue to be monitored

closely by the Task Force, established

by the Council of the Society in

January 1994.

•

S o l i c i t o r s B i l l g o e s

t o S e a n a d

The Solicitors (Amendment) Bill,

| 1994 was passed by Dáil Eireann on

j 13 June on a vote of 54 in favour to

32 against. The First and Second

| Stages of the debate on the Bill were

; taken in the Seanad on 6 July and it is

thought likely that the Committee and

i Report Stages will be dealt with at the

! end of October and that the Bill will

be enacted by the end of the year.

•

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