The Gazette 1983

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INCORPORATED LAW SOCIETY OF IRELAND
GAZETTE
Vol. 77. No. 6 July/August 1983
In this issue . . .
Comment 147
Trade Disputes (Amendment) Act, 1982 —
"Definition of Workmen" 149
Half Yearly General Meeting 153
Solicitors' Accounts Regulations 165
Growth in Family Law Cases 166
Executive Editor:
Editorial Board:
Advertising:
Mary Buckley
Charles R. M. Meredith, Chairman
John F. Buckley
Gary Byme
William Earley
Michael V. O'Mahony
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Liam O hOisin, Telephone 305236
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other-wise indicated, are the views of the contributors
and not necessarily the views of the Council of the
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does not necessarily indicate approval by the Society for
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Published at Blackhall Place, Dublin 7.
Comment. . .
. . . Too Unconventional ?
The recent welcome, if belated, announcement that Ireland is to
ratify the United Nations Convention on Human Rights is a re-
minder that Ireland's record in introducing into domestic law
conventions in the making of which it has participated is hardly dis-
tinguished. This is particularly true of International Conventions re-
lating to legal matters. There have been 28 conventions adopted by the
Hague Conference on Private International Law since 1954. Ireland
has introduced into domestic legislation only one of those, that relating
to the Form of Wills. While a number of the conventions might not fit
conveniently into our Common Law system, it is significant that the
United Kingdom has ratified seven conventions and signed a further
one. Those which are of particular interest to lawyers and would
therefore be of service to their clients, include conventions on the
Service of Documents Abroad, the Taking of Evidence Abroad and,
most important, the Enforcement of Maintenance Agreements.
Our record in respect of Council of Europe conventions is not so
poor in numerical terms, though there does seen to have been a lessen-
ing of enthusiasm for ratifying conventions in recent years. These
conventions cover a whole range of governmental activities hut, again,
it is in those relating to legal matters that Ireland appears to move
particularly slowly. We have the dubious distinction of being the only
country which has not ratified the Convention on Information on
Foreign Law; perhaps not surprisingly we are one of few countries
which has not ratified the Convention on Legal Aid nor have wc
ratified the Conventions on Data Protection and the Legal Status of
Children.
The Convention on the Service of Judicial and Extra Judicial
Documents Abroad, by providing that a central authority in each of
the contracting States will either serve or arrange for the service of
these documents, makes the service of such documents a much simpler
task than it is for litigants in non-contracting States.
Similarly, the Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad
provides that a central authority in each State will he available to
arrange for the taking of such evidence. Most of the principal States in
Europe, together with the United States have ratified these two
Conventions.
The Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Decis-
ions relating to Maintenance Obligations provides a simple procedure
for invoking the judicial processes of a contracting State against a
maintenance debtor resident in that State to compel payment due
under a Maintenance Decision made in another contracting State.
While there are reciprocal arrangements for the enforcement of Main-
tenance Orders between this country and the United Kingdom, the
failure to ratify the Hague Convention deprives spouses and children
of the opportunity of invoking the procedures established by the Con-
vention against a maintenance debtor resident in one of the other
contracting States, which now include most of the major European
countries.
It would be easy to argue in relation to the Hague Conference mat
the value of our participation in the conferences is dubious if we do not
propose to adopt a reasonable proportion of its conventions.
In passing, it may be commented that Irish delegations to the
Conference have tended to be cpmposed of public servants. Other
countries' delegations regularly include academic and practising
lawyers. One beneficial result of which is that such countries achieve
greater public awareness of and discussion in legal journals of the Con-
ferences proceedings.
It is, however, more important to raise the question of why the State
has not ratified conventions in the making of which is had played an
active part and which have been adopted by other Common Law
jurisdictions. •
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