The Gazette 1961

I am very sensible of the fact that I am addressing

as important a group of individuals as there is in

the country. Ninety per cent, of all prosecutions for

indictable offences in 1960 were disposed of in the

District Court and no less than 102,000 persons

appeared before you on summary charges. A great

volume of civil disputes are also adjudicated upon

in your courts.

Apart from the importance of the work you do,

there is no doubt that the public image of our

judicial system is formed in large measure from the

manner in which District Courts are conducted and

I should like, at this stage, to pay you the tribute of

saying that that image is universally a good one.

Your courts are not, and can never be, conducted

in a routine or mechanical fashion. The stuff you

deal with—human nature in all its frailty—does not

admit of such treatment. Tragedy and comedy are

your daily fare.

It is this that distinguishes the

District Court from the other courts. Great learning

and great prudence are necessary in any Judge, but

a District Justice must possess many qualities over

and above them.

Indeed, so rich and varied are

your experiences, it is not surprising to find that our

literature and drama are enriched from time to time

by your members.

We must, all of us, do what we can to improve

the administration of justice and to give to our

people as fine a system as our wisdom can devise

and our resources permit. The present form of our

law and our courts is the result of a long process of

evolution.

Ideas and institutions have developed

and changed in harmony with changing circum

stances.

We must in our time make our own particular

contribution to that process and I hope that the

establishment of this new office of President of the

District Court will be of very great value in this

regard. It will be the means whereby the Minister

for Justice, and others, can have access to the

accumulated

fund of learning, experience and

wisdom represented by the District Court Bench.

It will, I know, be a source of very real satisfaction

to anyone occupying my office to know that this

machinery for consultation and advice is available

and that the fund I referred to can be readily drawn

upon.

As you know, I have established in my Depart

ment a new section to carry out a programme of law

reform. Your assistance and advice will be very

much appreciated by that section.

I hope that you

will feel free not only to offer that assistance and

advice in regard to the proposals put forward by us

but also to take the initiative in suggesting reforms

which you yourselves regard as either necessary or

desirable.

I have asked my Department also to undertake

a systematic study of the juvenile delinquency problem

and I shall arrange for the President to be approached

in order that your views and advice on this matter

can be obtained.

I am aware that you are at present studying the

system of taking depositions in criminal cases, a

system which, as you know, has been criticized in

some quarters as being unduly cumbersome. I shall

be very pleased in due course to have the fruits of

your collective thinking on this problem also.

I sincerely hope that our meeting today at luncheon

will result in our getting to know each other better

and appreciating more readily each other's difficulties

and problems, and that it will in that way be of

value to Justice, which we are all pledged to serve.

THE LEGAL PROFESSION IN POLAND

A recent report in an English newspaper indicates

that the legal profession in Poland is in trouble with

the Government at the moment.

It appears that

certain " reforms " aiming at setting up a set tariff of

legal fees and organising defence lawyers

into

co-operative groups have been introduced by the

Polish Association of Law Workers. The reforms

have been strongly resisted by senior members of

the association who view them as an attempt by the

Government to eliminate lawyers who " go to all

lengths " on their clients' behalf. They have been

warned that the Government will intervene unless

they " tighten discipline " within their own ranks.

Already,

some well-known

lawyers have been

suspended, or face court penalties.

COUNTY CLARE LAW ASSOCIATION

At the Annual General Meeting of the above

Association held at the Courthouse, Ennis, on the

7th December, 1961, the following Officers were

elected :—

President,

Patrick P. O'Shea, Kilrush;

Vice-

President,

Michael J. Walshe, Ennis;

Honorary

Secretary

and Treasurer,

Michael

J. McMahon,

Kilrush ;

Committee,

Patrick J. Chambers, Ennis-

tymon; Daniel O. Healy, Scariff; Thomas A.

Lynch, Thomas F. O'Reilly and James B. MacClancy,

all of Ennis.

LIMERICK SESSIONAL BAR

ASSOCIATION

At a recent meeting of the Bar Association the

following officers were elected :—

President,

Niall S. Gaffney;

Hon.

Treasurer,

Thomas E. O'Donnell;

Hon. Secretary,

James I.

Sexton ;

Committee,

William Leahy, Edward Treacy,

Michael B. O'Malley, Michael Cussen, Maurice

Power, Caleb C. McCutcheon.