The Gazette 1955-58

dentures. The new Act enables the Council to make

regulations .-.xtending this period to two years before

the expiration of the term and the Council propose

to make this regulation immediately.

It will be in

effect before the date of the next Irish examinations

in July. I say that it is an important relief to appren–

tices because there is little doubt that the strain

of having to pass the Irish examination within one

year or less before the date of the final examination

is very heavy and exacting. I think I may say that the

solicitors' final examination at the present time on

account of the width of the curriculum is one of

the most difficult examinations

in the country

to-day. The path of the student is so beset with

examinations that I sometimes wonder whether

we are

turning out good examinees or good

solicitors. The two things are not necessarily the

same. In my view the term of 5 years, reduceable

to 4 in certain circumstances, is too short for the

amount of knowledge both in law and practice

which a solicitor's apprentice must acquire to pass

the Society's final examination. When you add

to this the necessity of studying both oral and

written Irish during this short period it will be

realised that a solicitor's apprentice has a far more

difficult task before him to-day than his predecessor

had 50 years ago, when the Act of 1898 was in its

infancy.

It is therefore a substantial relief to a

solicitor's apprentice to be able to take the second

Irish examination one year earlier which will leave

him two years to prepare himself for the Society's

final examination.

I think I may also say without disclosing any

secrets that one of the matters which has been

considered by the Court of Examiners is the advisa–

bility of permitting an apprentice to take the Society's

final examination in two parts. As you know under

the existing regulations all the subjects must be

passed at one sitting.

I can see no reason why a

solicitor's apprentice should be expected to acquire

and retain in his head the sum total of legal know–

ledge for the three days on which he attends the

final examination. This to my mind is an example

of the enslavement of our present educational system

to examinations which after all are not an end, but

merely a means towards an end.

The present

system of our professional examinations

in my

view leads to cramming and it would, I think,

conduce to the better training of our future legal

practitioners if apprentices could study various

sections of the curriculum and sit for the appropriate

parts of the examination at various stages of the

course. The Society would be justified in considera–

tion of this concession in insisting upon a high

standard of competence at each examination.

think I have said enough to indicate the lines on

which the Court of Examiners are thinking. The

final decision in this matter will lie with the Council'

of the Society but the members of the Society may

rest assured that no effort will be spared to devise

a system which will conduce in the highest degree

to train future solicitors in a way which will maintain

and if possible raise the traditions of the past.

The Council are also engaged in drafting Pro–

fessional practice, conduct, and discipline Regula–

tions under section 71 of the Act.

It is not the

intention of the Council to seek to provide anything

in the nature of a code of professional conduct

or what is known in the United States as " canons

of professional ethics."

Good sense and good

taste and the training received from his master will

usually be the inner voice which will tell a solicitor

what is right and wrong in matters of this kind.

We all know that we must not advertise or solicit

business or commit any of the breaches of pro–

fessional etiquette which may be summarised under

the heading of attracting business unfairly.

In the

modern world of high pressure advertising cam–

paigns, sales boosting, and public relations systems,

which are no doubt appropriate to commerce and

in that sphere of benefit to the public, the professions,

and particularly the legal profession, have held.fast

to the ancient tradition of independence, and the

accepted rules of professional conduct are the same

to-day as they were 50 or 100 years ago.

The

Council have been studying the regulations made

by the Law Societies of other countries under

provisions similar to those which are contained

in the Solicitors' Act, 1954, and draft regulations

have been prepared dealing with the main branches

of professional conduct which it is thought will be

of value both to the more experienced members

of the profession and those starting in practice.

hope that substantial progress will have been made

in this matter before the date of the next ordinary

general meeting.

The delay in the framing of new scales of District

Court Costs following the increase in the jurisdiction

of the District Court by the Courts of Justice

Act, 1953, has caused considerable difficulty to

both the profession and the public, but I understand

that the new scales are likely to be published shortly.

Delays in the various public Departments continue

to engage the attention of the Council and represen–

tations have been made where necessary to the

Department or Minister concerned. It is the daily

lot of the practising solicitor to have constant

dealings with almost every Department of State

and it is our experience that although the cost of

public administration grows yearly the difficulty

and delay in having business transacted continually

increases. Whether this is due to the increasing

difficulty and complexity of business, inadequate

office organisation or accommodation, or some