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As I am referring to the question of organisation,
may I also add a word upon the subject of co-opera
tion between the professions. In this year we have
co-operated with the accountants in preparing the
case for retirement benefits, to which I will allude
later. In the present time, more than ever before,
there is the need for all professional bodies to work
together in harmony and in co-operation. So far
as the Law Society is concerned, we are ready and
willing at all times to co-operate with all other
professional bodies, to join with them and support
them on matters of common and mutual interest.
The principal event during the past six months,
as far as we have been concerned, has been the
increased Court fees, which were brought into
operation with startling suddenness one Monday
last October. It is no exaggeration to say that the
solicitors of Ireland were severely shocked; and
for the first time in history the Council felt com
pelled to make a public protest by way of a letter to
the newspapers, not only against the amount of the
new fees, but also of the manner in which they were
imposed. It is now more than ever clear that the
purpose of the increase was to provide additional
revenue. We as solicitors and as loyal citizens are
quite prepared and willing to accept taxation if
imposed as taxation. We would not have objected to
reasonable increases, but we feel we must object,
and we must let the public know when taxation is
imposed on them in a concealed form and without
regard to the problems and difficulties which arise
from a hasty application.
For instance, until new Rules were made by the
High Court and District Court Rules Committee,
plaintiffs were unable to recover the new increases
and had to bear the loss themselves., Again the new
scale operates with particular hardship in cases
where accounts are taken in the Examiner's Office.
The previous scale of fees provided for a maximum
of £10. The new scale does not contain the former
provision for a maximum fee and in some cases
the fees payable might be quite fantastic. Un
doubtedly, in this instance there is a mistake, but
it is typical of the difficulties which arise from lack
of consultation and undue haste.
We deplore
too the increase in the fees in Bankruptcy and
in minor matters. There is the danger that the
effect of such increases may be to leave it uneconomic
to utilise the services of the Courts and that the
result may be to cause a denial of justice. A Com
mittee of the Society has been detailed to study
the incidence of the increases, and we hope, to
make representations in due course to remedy the
more serious anomalies.
Meanwhile solicitors are called upon to act as the
great unpaid tax collectors, and additional court
fees follow in the wake of increased charges in the
Land Registry, increased stamp duties and estate
duties, all of which are paid to the State through the
services of the profession.
There is another side to the problem. Solicitors
cannot be expected to finance their clients in the
payment of outlay, as heretofore, and the time is
now coming when solicitors will have to change
their established practice and ask their clients to
provide the outlay as the occasion arises.
I have just now spoken of the work, which we
performed for the Department of Finance as unpaid
tax collectors. May I express the hope that the
Minister will recognise the very special position of
the solicitors' profession, and in his next Budget
make the concession which we have been seeking
in conjunction with the accountants who perform
similar services for the revenue in the matter of
retirement benefits. After a struggle of 8 years, the
Law Society in England have been successful in
inducing the Chancellor of the Exchequer to allow
the remission in contributions for retirement benefits
by self-employed persons, and the provisions have
been incorporated in the English Finance Act of
1956. A Joint Committee of the Society and Accoun
tants have been working on this problem during the
past year; and we are sure that the Minister for
Finance will give the fullest consideration to the
proposal, which we are putting to him, to allow
relief from Income Tax in respect of premiums
paid by solicitors and accountants to make provision
for their retirement and old age. May I express the
hope that in his next Budget the Minister will be
able to make provision for this long overdue relief.
As always at the Annual Meetings a President
has to refer to the perennial problem of delays in
government offices. During the past 12 months
we have made a new approach to this problem. In
the first instance at a conference with the Com
missioner of Valuation, we have asked him to
indicate the time within which they would expect
cases coming to their office to be dealt with and
would regard complaints in excess of such time as
legitimate.
The Commissioner in the frankest
possible way told us of his difficulties and in the end
we have agreed upon a time-table within which
cases referred to the Valuation Office may reasonably
be dealt with. This time-table so far as the cities are
concerned, viz., six weeks, is reasonable, but the
delay in country districts viz., six months, is
rather more than we would like. However, it does
represent a very considerable improvement, and
we are grateful to the Commissioner of Valuation for
his assistance and co-operation in the matter.
In like manner we approached the Irish Land
Commission and were met in the most helpful and