73 / 274
GAZETTE
J
U
NE/J
U
LY
1976
to Solicitors' Costs and the Rules which govern them.
Trustees, Local Authorities and all other Bodies respon-
sible for Solicitors' Charges have the same facility as
individual Clients to seek Rulings of a Taxing Master
on the propriety of costs or charges for services ren-
dered.
Compensation Fund
On the financial side we have had no major problems
involving the Compensation Fund, but it is the policy
of the Council to build a fund of such dimension that
it will reasonably cover all contingencies and eliminate
heavy impositions on members, in the event of unfore-
seen claims of an unpredictable nature being imposed
jpon us.
It is well to point out that our Profession and
apparently the Stockbrokers are the only Professions
who provide exclusively from their own resources a
Compensation Fund giving one hundred per cent in-
demnity to d e n t s in respect of money entrusted to the
Profession in the course of their professional duties. All
proven claims have been paid or admitted for payment
up to date. One of the onerous responsibilities of our
Profession is the unavoidable obligation of handling
and accounting for Clients' moneys. In these days of
•heavy interest rates it is becoming a heavier obligation
where there arc overlapping or triangular transactions
which cannot conveniently or otherwise be suitably
arranged, so as to avoid the responsibility and obliga-
tions which the Clients must necessarily impose on
the Solicitors or Firm concerned. All these problems
bring us into the vast area of Solicitors' Undertakings
involving bridging finance, trusteeship of Title Deeds,
the execution, stamping and perfection of registrations
of Purchase Deeds and other Title Documents and a
multitude of difficulties that can arise in carrying out
these duties with reasonable efficiency to the satisfaction
of the Clients, their Bankers a n d / or other lending
Institutions. The system of Solicitors' Undertakings is
presently being looked into by the Council and the
results of the Council's deliberations will be circulated
for the benefit of our members as soon as possible.
Law Reform
The Law Reform Commission under the Chairman-
ship of Mr. Justice Brian Walsh is an innovation in
our legal system and we look forward with great expec-
tation to the activities of this Commission and its im-
pact on our jurisprudence in the fields of Family Law,
Property Law, Litigation and Court procedures. It is
hoped that our Society will have an important role to
play in this area of Law Reform. The Commission is
presently considering such problems as the age of
majority and the vexed question of domicile of married
persons and our Parliamentary committee will in due
course be making its views known to the Commission
on these fundamental problems.
Legal Aid
Up to recent years all legal aid has been carried entirely
by the Legal Profession and the Profession also carries
all legal a d on the civil side and will continue to do
so until such time as legislation is introduced when the
Report of the present Commission is available and also
when sufficient funds are available for its implementa-
tion. On the Criminal side legal aid has operated since
the 1 st April, 1965, and this particular Legislation is
also the subject of a special enquiry in respect of which
comprehensive reports have been submitted by the
Ceneral Council of the Bar. There is still considerable
controversy in this area, and it is hoped that in the
interests of the administration of justice these problems
mav be resolved at an early date.
Solicitors' Benevolent Fund
I have had the privilege of seconding the adoption
of the Annual Report and Accounts of the Benevolent
Society at its recent Annual Meeting and I am pleased
to report that the Association through its Officers and
with the assistance and co-operation of our Director
General has improved very considerably the income to
the Fund. The Association is well worthy and deserv-
ing of the support of all the members of the Society.
The Independence of the Legal Profession
Finally I wish to say that the Council of the Societv
is motivated by the concept that the independence of
the Legal Profession and the independence of our
Judiciary are fundamental to the preservation of our
free democratic Society and its Institutions. It is also
equally true that we have a duty and an obligation to
uphold and preserve the highest ethical standards in
our Profession so that our service to the people may be
worthy of the trust and confidence reposed in us since
the foundation of our State. The separation of powers
(although some say it is a Political illusion) namelv
Executive, Legislative and Judicial is in my view an
integral part of our Constitutional Democratic system.
The Constitution provides that all Judges shall be in-
dependent in the exercise of their Judicial functions
and subject only to the Constitution and the Law
(Article 35(11). Th is judicial independence from ad-
ministrative direction can only exist and be upheld
by an independent legal Profession. The price of free-
dom is therefore eternal vigilance.
The President then asked
Mr. John F.
Bucklev,
Chairman of the Education Committee, to make a pro-
gress report about the Education arrangements. Mr.
Buckley said that, subject to special transitional
arrangements which would operate until 1978, the new
system of legal education had come into force since
October, 1975, and henceforth, apart from special pro-
vision for law clerks, all apprentices entering the pro-
fession would have to be Arts or Law graduates. He
gratefully acknowledged the invaluable assistance he
had received from the Advisory Committee, which was
composed of ordinary members and some lecturers, and
who were making suggestions for the effective adminis-
tration of the new system.
Mr. Buckley felt it was necessary to obtain pro-
fessional assistance in order to set up a professional
course. Arrangements had accordingly been made that
Mr. Kevin O'Leary, who was in charge of Law courses
in the National University of Australia in Canberra,
would come to Dublin about next October to give us
expert advice on this problem, and he hoped there
would henceforth be a closer liaison between appren-
tices and lecturers. On behalf of the Societv, he had
had a long meeting with the Higher Education Autho-
rity, primarily to deal with difficulties in connection
with the part-time Law Faculty in Galway, and he had
been sympathetically received.
The President then called on
Mrs. Moya Quinlan
Chairman of the Blackhall Place Premises Committee
to make a statement. Mrs. Quinlan reminded the mem-
bers that no work of external construction was required
on the premises. The main problem was to modernise
the interior of this 18th century building. The con-
tractors, Messrs. Crampton, had carried out this work
efficiently, and it was hoped that the central adminis-
tration block would be available for occupation in
August or September. The original estimate for the
73