429 / 736
Draftsmen
themselves
used
a
traditionally
archaic style that led to obscurity. Schedules to
Acts
incorporated rules and essential matters
instead of being confined
to information and
examples.
Too much detail was included in an attempt
to cover every eventuality, and there was a reluct
ance to leave anything to the discretion of officials
or of the courts. Amendments were piecemeal and
ill-considered.
The report urges that all legislation including
statutory instruments on one topic should be
found in one place, with one Act for each subject.
Present methods of publication made it hard to
find the applicable law or to keep texts of statutes
up to date. Many fields of law should be codified
or consolidated.
Sir Desmond said one of the main difficulties
for the lawyer today was to find out what the law
was and to understand it when he found it. " We
want quality of legislation not quantity."
M.P.s had to be persuaded that there was a
real problem over the legislation they produced
and that there had to be changes in their pro
cedure for passing it.
(Statute Law Deficiencies, Sweet and Maxwell, n New
Fetter Lane, London. Price Ids.).
Daily Telegraph, 26 March, 1970.
SOCIETY OF YOUNG SOLICITORS
CORK SEMINAR
The ninth joint Seminar organised by the Society
of Young Solicitors and the Council of Provincial
Solicitors was held in the Metropole Hotel, Cork,
on 21st and 22nd March 1970. The first lectures
given by Mr. Gerald Moloney on " Consumer Pro
tection Law in Ireland " and by Mr. Forman, Chief
Legal Adviser of the British Consumer's Council
on the " English Trade Description Act 1968 " are
available in transcript form ;
the importance of
this subject is most relevant.
The Hon. Mr. Justice Kenny delivered the second
lecture on " Some Aspects of Family Law " ; some
of the changes brought about by the Succession
Act 1965 were considered in detail and it was
stressed that the English and New Zealand Acts
were irrelevant in this connection. It was stated
that in urban areas, in the case of a married man
with children, the best will to make was one
giving everything to the wife ; if the children are
over 17 years, it would be unwise to give the wife
a life estate, and it would be best to give her at
least one third of the residue. It was emphasised
that, if a wife claims her legal right, her estate
would be liable for all estate duty. The Judge
stressed that under the Guardianship of Infants
Act 1964, the great majority of the cases are heard
in camera ;
even solicitors and counsel are not
admitted ; it was stated that many of these cases
presented deep psychological problems which
should not be brought before the public gaze. The
number of these cases is increasing, particularly in
the High Court and the Circuit Court. The fact
that lihere
is no expeditious cheap method of
having separation proceedings tended to encourage
persons who sought a separation to take proceed
ings under the 1964 Act for the maintenance and
custody of the children ; the cost of the ordinary
matrimonial proceedings was prohibitive. As re
gards
the mutual
property
rights,
and
the
obligation of husband and wife, in granting injunc
tions the Courts have tried to reconcile property
rights with the obligation of the parties to live
together and the duty of the husband to maintain
his wife. It was unfortunate that the English
doctrine preserving the equitable estate of the
deserted wife in the property which had been the
matrimonial home had been rejected by the House
of Lords. Finally, the Judge said there was no
public demand
for divorce, and
the present
position should be maintained.
The third session was devoted to the intricate
problem of " The fusion of the two legal proces
sions." Mr. Neville, Chairman of
the Young
Solicitors Society, stated that the Society intended,
on the invitation of the Commission on Court
Practice and Procedure, to submit its views to the
Committee, and invited members to express their
views in a preliminary discussion, which was intro
duced by Mr. Arthur Lavery and Mr. Frank
O'Donnell. Mr. Lavery stated he had been in
Regina, Canada for 12 years ;
the advantage to
the client in the merged system lay in the fact that
the client selected his lawyer, who prepared.the
case, and conducted the trial in Court; there was
consequently only one fee payable. The disadvan
tage was that the client tended to consult his
lawyer regardless of the type of work involved.
There was a substantially larger earning power in
large firms ; the Canadian solution entailed a high
degree of specialisation in the large centres. Here
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