Previous Page  499 / 822 Next Page
Information
Show Menu
Previous Page 499 / 822 Next Page
Page Background

GAZETTE

DECEMBER 1988

C ommu n i t y Lawye rs r i ght

t o p r ac t i se w i t h i n t he E.C.

Two recent dec i s i ons of the European

Court of Jus t i ce

I n t w o

1 & 2

i mp o r t a nt de c i s i ons earlier t h is year t he Eu r opean

Co u r t of J u s t i ce e x p l o r ed t he q u e s t i on of l awye rs f r om one E.C.

c o u n t r y p r a c t i s i ng in ano t her Memb e r S t a te by way of 'establish-

me n t ' or p r o v i s i on of legal se r v i ces. In pa r t i c u l ar t he Co u rt

c o n s i d e r ed t he t e r ms of D i r e c t i ve 7 7 / 2 4 9

3

t o f a c i l i t a te t he

e f f e c t i ve exe r c i se by l awye rs of f r e e d om t o p r ov i de se r v i ces

( he r e i na f t er r e f e r r ed t o as " T h e D i r e c t i v e ") in b o t h cases and

A r t i c l e 52 of t he Treaty of Rome ( he r e i na f t er r e f e r r ed t o as " T h e

T r ea t y ") in t he f i r st case.

Gi ven t he m o m e n t um t h a t has been gene r a t ed in r e l a t i on t o t he

p r oposed c omp l e t i on of t he Internal Ma r k et by 1992 bo th decisions

w i l l be of i n t e r est t o I r i sh l awye rs c o n s i d e r i ng c o mm e n c i ng or

i ndeed e x p a n d i ng ac t i v i t i es in t he U. K. and on t he Co n t i n e n t.

Article 1 of the Directive states:

1. This Directive shall apply, within

t he l imi ts and under t he

conditions laid down herein, to

the activities of lawyers pursued

by way of provision of services.

No t w i t h s t a n d i ng an y t h i ng

con t a i ned in this Directive,

Member States may reserve to

prescribed categories of lawyers

the preparation of formal docu-

ments for obtaining title to

administer estates of deceased

persons, and the drafting of

formal documents creating or

transferring interests in land.

Article 4 stipulates:

1. A c t i v i t i es r e l a t i ng to t he

representation of a client in legal

proceedngs or before public

authorities shall be pursued in

each host Member State under

the conditions laid down for

lawyers established within that

State w i th the exception of any

conditions requiring residence,

or registration w i th a profes-

sional organisation, in that State.

2. A l awyer pu r su i ng

t hese

activities shall observe the Rules

of professional conduct of the

host Member State without pre-

judice to his obligations in the

Member State from which he

comes.

3. Wh en t hese a c t i v i t i es are

pursued in the United Kingdom,

"Rules of professional conduct

of the host Member State",

means the Rules of professional

conduct applicable to Solicitors,

where such activities are not

reserved for Barristers and

Advocates. Otherwise the Rules

of professional conduct applicable

to the latter shall apply. However,

Barristers from Ireland shall

always be subject to the Rules of

professional conduct applicable

in t he Un i t ed K i ngdom to

Barristers and Advocates.

by

Cathal T. 0 Conaill,

B.C.L.,

So l i c i t or

When these activities are

pursued in Ireland "Rules of pro-

fessional conduct of the host

Member State" means, insofar

as they govern the oral presen-

tation of a case in Court, the

Rules of professional conduct

applicable to Barristers. In all

other cases, the Rules of pro-

fessional conduct applicable to

Solicitors shall apply. However,

Barristers and Advocates from

the United Kingdom shall always

be subject to the rules of pro-

fessional conduct applicable in

Ireland to Barristers.

Article 5 states as follows:

For the pursuit of activities

relating to the representation of

a client in legal proceedings, a

Member State shall require a

l awyer to w h om A r t i c le 1

applies:

— To be introduced, in accor-

dance w i th local rules or

customs, to the presiding

judge and, where appropriate,

to t he President of t he

relevant Bar in the host Mem-

ber State;

— To w o r k

in

conjunction

(emphasis added) w i th a

lawyer who practises before

t he j ud i c i al a u t h o r i ty in

question and who would,

where necessary, be answer-

able to that Authority, or w i th

a n

avoue

or

procuratore

practising before it.

(A) ( GUL LUNG) -v- CONSE I LS

DES ORDRES DES AVOCATS

DES BARREAUX DE CO L MAR

ET DE SAVERNE A ND OTHERS:

J u d gme n t 19 th J anua r y, 1988.

This case (hereinafter referred to as

Gullung)

was a reference under

Article 177 of the Treaty from a

French Court to the European Court

for a preliminary ruling. The facts of

Gullung

were a little unusual. Mr.

Claude Gullung, who was a lawyer

holding both French and German

nationality, had practised as a

Notary at Hirsingue, France, from

1947 to 1966 wh en he had

resigned f o l l ow i ng disciplinary

measures taken against him by the

Disciplinary Board for Notaries of

the Department of Haut-Rhin.

Subsequently he had first sought

to be registered on the list of

conseils juridiques (legel advisers)

of Marseille and later to be

admitted as an avocat of the

259

Ca t hal T. O ' Cona i ll