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PROVINCIAL DELEGATE
Pursuant to Bye Law 38 the Council have co-
opted Mr. William B. Alien, Galway, as provincial
delegate for Connaught.
ENGLISH LAW SOCIETY
SCARBOROUGH CONFERENCE
The Presndent, Mr. Eunan McCarron, and Mrs.
McCarron were guests of honour at the National
Conference of the English Law Society held in
Scarborough, Yorkshire,
from
21st
ao
24th
October.
The theme of the conference was the Role of
the Profession in the community. Mr. Payne,
President of the English Law Society, delivered
an inaugural address, and the lecture by the dis
tinguished speaker was given by the Archbishop
of York, Dr. Coggan. Other subjects treated were
" The Public Need for Professional Service ", and
" Matching To-day's Community Needs ".
There were discussion groups on Remunera
tion and on Legal Aid, while the Young Members
bers considered the Erosion of the Rights of the
Individual. A detailed account of the proceedings
will be found in the November and December
issues of the English Law Society Gazette.
TAX RELIEFS FOR COSTS OF CHANGING
TO DECIMAL CURRENCY
Tax reliefs for machine decimalisation costs :
(1) Non-Capital expenditure on adapting or con
verting machines, including labour costs and
the cost of repacing component parts may be
immediately deducted as an expense in com
puting taxable profits :
Example: For a trader who pays income tax
at a rate of 7/- in the £ the tax reief on an
outlay of £30 on the conversion of a machine
would be worth £10.
(2) Where expenditure
is
incurred before 6
April,
1971, on the purchase of a new
machine
for decimalisation,
" free deprecia
tion " may be claimed, so that the purchaser
may, if he wishes, write-off the full expen
diture in the first year in which the machine
is brought into use.
Example: For a trader who pays income tax
at the rate of 7/- in the £ the tax relief on an
outlay on the purchase of a new machine
would be worth £35.
EUROPEAN JURISTS CONFERENCE
A combined conference of the European Jurists
Association, representing the lawyers of the Six
Common Market Countries, and of the European
Group of the English Law Society was held in
Paris on 15th and 16th November 1969. About 80
English solicitors and 30 French lawyers attended;
Mr. P. C. Moore and Mr. Gavan Duffy repre
sented Irish lawyers in a private capacity.
The
sessions were held
in
the Palais du
Luxembourg, a magnificent 17th century building,
where the French Senate sits. Maitre Louis Pettiti,
Secretary-General of the European Jurists Asso
ciation, welcomed the English and Irish lawyers
on Friday 15th September, and Mr. George God-
dard, Chairman of the European Group, replying
in French, expressed
the gratification of the
members that the Conference was being held in
beautiful Paris.
The first paper was given in English by Maitre
Gastambide on " The position of Subsidiary Com
panies
(Societies Filiales)
in Britain and
in
France). The lecturer stressed that the position
of a subsidiary company in France had not been
clarified, until the legislation passed in 1966. The
present position is that if more than half of the
shares of the subsidiary company are held by the
principal company, it is considered a "filiale".
If on the other hand, the principal company holds
less than half the shares of the subsidiary, the
principle of " participation " applies. The advan
tageous position of the large public companies
called " Societes Anonymes " was then stressed,
in so far as they could issue transferable shares,
and that a " Directoire " similar
to an English
Board of Directors could be constituted. The lec
turer then detailed the main provisions regarding
" Societes Anonymes," and emphasised that there
was no open invitation to the public to subscribe.
If there is only one Managing Director, he is given
very wide powers, but a " Conseil de Surveillance "
(Council of Supervision) is elected by the share
holders to watch over his activities. The company
becomes
legal entity only after it has been
registered in the Register of Commerce. After a
succeulent
lunch given by
the Association of
Suropean Jurists in the Hotel du Palais d'Orsay,
at which Mr. Moore was honoured by being placed
at the top table, the second lecture was delivered
in French by Maitre Gruber. It dealt specifically
with the powers of the more private companies,
called "Societes a Responsabilite Limitee" and of
the almost unlimited powers of the " grand" Tech
nician or Managing Director. He also emphasised
that the
ulrta vires
rule did not prevail in France,
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