The Gazette 1993

GAZETTE

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

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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