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GAZETTE
N E W S
Council Approves Submissions
Pilot Civil Legal Aid Project
At the meeting of the Council on 17
September last, the Council was
updated on developments at a meeting
with the officials of the Department of
Equality and Law Reform on the pilot
project on Civil Legal Aid. The
President reported that, following
unsatisfactory discussions on the level
of fees being offered, the Department
had written to practitioners inviting
them to participate in the pilot scheme
on the basis of a fee of £75.00 per case
for the first four cases, reducing to
£65.00 for each case thereafter. The
Law Society had responded
immediately advising solicitors not to
participate in the Scheme on the basis
of the inadequate fees offered. The
Council fully endorsed this approach
and observed that the project itself was
inadequate and had not been properly
thought out. The Council was informed
that there were indications that some
members of the profession had agreed
to participate in the Scheme but that it
was likely that some of them may have
responded before they had received the
President's letter. Many Council
members believed that, in time, those
practitioners would become aware of
the impracticality of the pilot scheme
and that it would be uneconomic to do
the work. Council members accepted
that the Law Society could not prevent
members of the profession from
participating in the Scheme; it was a
matter for each individual solicitor to
decide.
Submission on Courts Service
The Council approved the text of a
joint submission with the Bar Council
to the Minister for Justice concerning
the future of the courts service which
had been prepared on the initiative of
the Society. The Council was
informed that the Bar Council was in
agreement with the submission except
for the recommendation concerning
the appointment of part-time judges. It
was agreed that the different views of
the two bodies would be set out in the
submission. Members of the Council
welcomed the fact that the Bar
Council had agreed to support the
submission, believing that a joint
approach by the two practising
professions would add weight to the
proposals outlined in it.
Submission on Proposal to cap
Personal Injuries Awards
The Chairman of the Litigation,;
Committee reported that the
Committee had endorsed a submission
prepared by the Director General
criticising the proposals by the
Minister of State for Commerce and
Technology,
Seamus Brennan
TD, to
limit compensation awards for pain
and suffering in personal injuries
cases. The Council agreed that the
submission should be despatched to
Government as soon as possible and
that the details of the submission
should be released to the press.
Costs
The Chairman of the Costs Committee
reported that the Ready Reckoner that
had been sent out to each practice to
assist practitioners in establishing how
much it cost per hour to run their
offices had been very well received by
the profession and there had been
much positive feedback. In turn it had
led to increased interest in the
regional seminars on costs being
organised around the country and the
Chairman reported that nearly every
Bar Association had organised a
seminar on the topic.
Compensation Fund
The Council approved a schedule of
payments of claims on the
Compensation Fund. The Council
debated further the policy aspects
concerning the exercise of the
Society's discretion under section 21
(5) (a) of the Solicitors Act, 1960
under which the Society may decide
to make or refuse to make a grant in a
case in which the solicitor did not
have a Practising Certificate in force
I at the time when in the opinion of the
Society the loss arose. The Council
decided to adjourn the debate to the
October meeting to allow further
consideration of discussion papers
that had been prepared by a number of
members of the Council and a
memorandum that had been prepared
by the Registrar of Solicitors.
Northern Ireland Council Meeting
The President of the Society reported
that he and the Junior Vice-President
had attended the August meeting of
the Council of the Law Society of
Northern Ireland. The President said
that he appreciated the excellent
relationship between the two Law
Societies and was confident that it
would continue.
Donal E. Browne R.I.P.
The Council observed a minute's
silence in memory of the late
Donal
Browne,
President of the Kerry Law
Society and State Solicitor for Kerry
and the sympathy of the members of
the Council was conveyed to his
family and colleagues.
•
| President's Message
(Continued from page 291)
our submission we pointed out that
Lord Chancellor Mackay, announcing
that the courts in England and Wales
would be established as an executive
agency from 1995 had remarked that
. . an agency will not affect the
judiciary, either in its independent role
and functions or in its relations with
the administration". Our proposal,
similarly, would not in any way
interfere with the judicial
independence of judges, or how they
deal with cases, but rather would
relieve the judiciary of unnecessary,
administrative burdens.
Raymond Monahan
President
293