588 / 736
to meet the day to day maintenance, rates and
other overheads and a proposed reduction in the
amount payable
to
the Compensation Fund
enables us to propose the increase of the annual
subscription by the equivalent so that you will
not feel
it
too accutely. We hope also
that
socilitors throughout the country will be willing
to put up some capital to match the price the
Government may pay for our premises here in
the Four Courts.
You will read in the report
about our intention to promote a fund-raising
effort.
International Bar Association:
The report briefly mentions that I was the
official representative of the Society at the 13th
By-Annual Conference of the International Bar
Association at Tokyo, It was a very well attended
and well organised Conference, the first to be
held in Asia. The subjects discussed included: —
"The Role of the Lawyer in the next 20
years";
"Automation and the Law";
"Legal Aid in Developing Countries";
"The Lawyers liability for his negligence";
"The Role of non judicial Tribunals in the
Resolution of Disputes";
"International marriages and problems of
Property Status";
"Practice of Law by non-lawyers".
A separate section on business law was set
up which will
enable
individuals, as distinct
from Law Societies and Bar Associations, to join
and get value from a subscription. The topics
which" it is proposed this section will cover illu
strate the comprehensiveness and importance of
the term Business Law. Members who are inter
ested should contact the Secretariat.
Government Court Fees:
Comments are made from time to time in the
press and elsewhere on the high cost of litigation
which is a matter of concern not alone to the
public but to members of the profession who are
conscious of the necessity of ready access to the
Courts at all levels. This is an inherent part of
our system of Government. It must be pointed
out that the State itself can contribute to the
expense of litigation by the imposition of high
Court fees payable to the Exchequer and also by
any failure to modernise and rationalise Court
procedure and
the Government offices which
administer Court business. The Council are con
cerned at the progressive increase in fees payable
to the Government at all levels which ultimately
fall upon the litigant although payable in the first
instance by the solicitors' profession. In 1939 the
Court stamp payable on an originating plenary
summons was 10/-. It increased progressively be
tween 1939 and 1970 and now stands at £8, or
16 times the 1939 figure. Increases in the lower
Courts follow the same pattern. The Court stamp
on issuing a Circuit Court civil bill was 2/6 in
1939. It is now £2 10s. The corresponding figures
for a District Court civil process are 1/6 and
10/-. A Registry of Deeds memorial which yielded
15/- to the exchequer in 1939 now pays £4. In
the area of licensing, fees charged have increased
by 500%
(£3 for the registration of a club in
1939 as compared with £15 in 1970), while the
system has been altered to produce further hidden
increases by making the fee payable on the appli
cation, not as formerly on the certificate of regis
tration so that an unsuccessful applicant pays
the full fee of £15 to the Government. Fees of
these dimensions are a serious burden on solicitors
and their clients because they must be paid at
the
initiation of proceedings and substantially
increase
the capital requirements of solicitors'
offices.
Reformatories and Industrial
Schools system:
In the field of child-care and the legislation
which falls within the jurisdiction of the District
Court the Kennedy Commission have just pub
lished their report. It points out that the whole
aim of the system should be geared towards the
prevention of family breakdown with its resulting
problems and that the committal or admission of
children to residential care should be considered
only where there
is no satisfactory alternative.
Among their major recommendations the Com
mission
suggest
that
the present
institutional
system should be abolished and replaced by group
homes and that children of different ages and
sex should be placed in such group homes re
creating as far as possible the structure and social
conditions of the normal family.
The present
reformatory system is criticised as being inade
quate and the Commission recommend the closure
of a number of institutions either immediately
or at the earliest possible opportunity. Stress is
laid upon
the necessity of providing adequate
educational facilities — a recommendation, indeed
obvious
in
itself but one which will
require
considerable study followed by action and the
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