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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