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GAZETTE
JULY/AUGIJST
19
Other business
Mr. Moloney asked:—
what was the position regarding the proceedings
against the Minister for Justice
et all
Since the itemised Schedule II figures were crazy,
was it not wrong that the Society's representative on
the particular Court Committee should be putting
his name to a revision of the fees listed?
Was it a case that contingent fees were going to be
tolerated, since in his view, it would bring the
profession into disrepute?
Could a section of the
Gazette
be devoted to
developments relating to costs?
The President replied that the particular Court case was
at the 'discovery' stage. So far, the Society had spent
£10,000 on the issue and the Council would now have to sit
down to see if the Society was justified in proceeding
further. In the matter of the charging of percentage costs,
he had gone over the ground with most Bar Associations
and the issue had been discussed within the Council. It
was clear that the profession was looking for a lead from
the Council. In the near future, he hoped it would be
possible to issue a guideline which would be fair both to
the public and to the profession. In the matter of the
Schedule II costs, the question of accepting or otherwise,
the increase allowed, had been fully discussed at the
Council meeting before the relevant Order had been
made, and the concensus was to accept the adjustment.
Cork Circuit Court
Mr. A. Comyn commented that while a second Circuit
Judge was about to be assigned to Cork to deal with
outstanding criminal cases, the official in the County
Registrar's office, who would act as Court Registrar,
had retired and he understood from the County Registrar
that the person concerned would not be replaced. Mr.
Frank Daly said the Southern Law Association was
aware of the situation and intended making represen-
tations in the matter.
In reply to a query from Mr. Devine, the President
explained that when there was reference to making
professional indemnity insurance compulsory, this
arrangement, if adopted, would have no effect on the
Compensation Fund. The Compensation Fund covered
fraud by solicitors holding clients' funds whereas,
professional indemnity insurance was in respect of
professional negligence on the part of a solicitor.
Mr. Doyle drew attention to the difficulty created for
the profession by speeches delivered by members of the
Council without due regard to the media impact. In this
context, he referred to a recent address to members of the
Law Students' Society in University College, Galway.
Concluding the discussion, Mr. Ken Murphy drew
attention to the undesirability of describing the
alternative programme as the 'Ladies Programme'
bearing in mind that a significant number of the members
of the profession were female. The President said that the
point had been noted for future years.
This concluded the business of the meeting and the
President declared the meeting closed.
•
The Unconstitutionality of the County
Rate on Land.
(contd. from p. 143)
rationalises its decision in terms of the constitu-
tional pattern as a whole. It articulates the
character of the constitutional system and indicates
the nature of its unity. Along broad lines, the Court
is a rationalising and synthetising agency, and in
this sense its work has value far beyond individual
settlements. The Supreme Court had at least a
greater degree of aloofness and a greater
opportunity for achieving objectivity, and is has as
part of its equipment the tradition of the unity of
the law".
Salmond's views conflict with those stated by
Friedmann in his "Legal Theory"
20
,
"The great American judges of the present century
have looked at the issues and at the statutes before
them and they have balanced verbal and
grammatical texts against legislative measure and
social purposes in varying mixture. This can hardly
be otherwise, for statutes differ greatly in scope,
purpose, drafting and meaning. It is easy to
appreciate the social purpose of a social reform
statute; it is far more difficult to distil the social
purpose of a broad constitutional provision."
It may well be that the Supreme Court could have
considered the constitutionality of the Valuation Acts in
more detail, if they had borne in mind the above
sentiments expressed by both Swisher and Friedmann.
Footnotes
1. [1982] IR 117.
2. Supreme Court, 2 December, 1967, unreported.
3.(1973), 109 ILTR, 1.
4. [1972] I.R. 330 at p. 334.
5. [1972] I.R. 1. at p. 34.
6. [1976] I.R. 38 at p. 50.
7.(1963) E.C.R. at p. 178.
8. [1972] I.R. 1 at p. 13.
10. [1965] I.R. 294.
11. [1980] I.R. 102 at p. 130.
12. [1982] I.R. 241.
13.(1973), 109 ILTR 68.
14.
McGee
-v-
Attorney-General
[1974] I.R. 284.
15. [1965] I.R. 217 at p. 239.
16.[1965] I.R. 294.
17.(1949) ILTR 113.
18. [1966] I.R. 451.
19. [1934] I.R. 44.
20. 5th edition (1967) at p. 462.
Law Directory 1984
Erratum
The following entry was omitted:
LARKIN, Mary Emer, B.A. (N.U.I.) (Summer 1976).
John C. Murphy & Co., Solicitors, The Square, Gort, Co.
Galway. Tel. (091) 31022. (Pearts).
134