GAZETTE
Í
NOVEMBER 1993
N E W S
Council to Campaign Further
against Capping Awards
At its meeting on 22 October last,
the Council of the Law Society
resolved to campaign further against
the proposal by the Minister
of State for Commerce and
Technology, Seamus Brennan, TD,
to place a cap on the amount that
could be awarded for pain and
suffering in personal injuries claims.
The Council decided that its future
campaign should focus on the fact that
innocent victims of accidents would
suffer if the proposals were
implemented. The Council endosed the
views expressed by then Junior Vice-
President,
Frank Daly,
that the theme
or slogan for the campaign should be
"why should the victims pay?". The
Society would emphasise the fact that
the Government had done little to
minimise the number of claims which
arose, such as the introduction of
motor vehicle testing, improving the
the condition of roads, etc. The Council
decided to seek support from
organisations which represented
individuals likely to be affected by the
proposal such as trade unions. Among
the suggestions proposed by the
Council were a standard letter or leaflet,
which would be issued to solicitors'
practices and which they could send to
!
their clients, that would outline the
Society's primary objections to the
proposal. This could be displayed by
solicitors in their offices. The Litigation
Committee of the Society undertook to
consider these proposals.
The Chairman of the Litigation
Committee reported that the
Committee was recommending that an
opinion should be obtained from senior
counsel on the constitutionality of the
Minister's proposal. It was noted that a
good reaction had been received from
TDs and Senators who had been
lobbied on the proposal. It appeared
also that support for the proposal
among members of the Cabinet might
not be unanimous. The Council noted
that the Minister of State for
| Commerce and Technology was
linking his proposal to cap damages to
! the creation of employment in the Irish
market-place, a link which, in the view
of the Council, was unsustainable.
Pilot Civil Legal Aid Scheme
| Members of the Council expressed
disappointment that some members of
the profession - a small minority - had
i
indicated their intention to participate
in the Pilot Project of Civil Legal Aid
being conducted by the Department of
Equality and Law Reform in respect of
civil legal aid cases in the District
Court and that it was regrettable that
the Society's stance had not been
supported by all members of the
profession.
Admissions Policy
The Council gave further consideration
to the Society's current admissions
policy to the profession. In particular,
the Council considered a memorandum
setting out five possible options, based
on the debate to date on the issue,
which had been prepared for the
Council by the Director General of the
Society. The Council adjourned the
debate on the issue pending the receipt
of further views from the Southern
Law Association, the Advisory
Í Committee on Legal Education, and
the views of the Education Committee
!
of the Society, among others.
Guide to Professional Conduct -
Undertakings
The Chairman of the Professional
| Purposes Committee reported that a
new draft had been prepared of the
, portion of Chapter 7 of "A Guide to
| Professional Conduct of Solicitors in
Ireland", dealing with undertakings.
The Committee had received
| correspondence from a number of
| Council members in respect of the
amendments circulated and intended to
!
reconsider the draft in the light of this
| correspondence. A revised draft would
be presented to the Council at the
November meeting when the Council
Í would be asked to take a view on the
draft.
! Compensation Fund
The Council was notified of a decision
by the Compensation Fund to refer a
i number of solicitors to the Disciplinary
Committee and was informed of the
Society's decision to re-enter a petition
to strike-off a particular solicitor and to
oppose a petition by another solicitor
to be restored to the Roll of Solicitors.
The Council also approved a schedule
of payments from the Compensation
Fund (see page 330). The Council
noted the contents of the Accountants'
Certificates Report which indicated
that accountants' certificates had been
submitted in 95.5% of cases.
•
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