121 / 144
DECEMBER, 1935]
The Gazette of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.
27
Courts of Justice Bill.
The Council has met fourteen times, and
there
have
been
forty-four
committee
.meetings, a great many of which were
occupied with the consideration of the new
Courts of Justice Bill, which has been under
the consideration of the Oireachtas through
out the year, and will soon take its place on
the Statute Book of this country.
I am
pleased to say that most of the amendments
submitted by your Council during the year
were adopted by the Government and inserted
in the new Bill which, when passed into law,
will, I think, remove many of the complaints
we were accustomed to hear for the past ten
years in regard to the proceedure and practice
of the Courts of Justice of the Irish Free
State.
It will, I think, be a very useful
measure of reform, and will be welcomed not
only by legal practitioners but by the general
public for the facilities which it offers and
the rights it confers.
I wish, on behalf of
this Society,
to thank the Minister for
Justice and the Attorney-General for the
courtesy and consideration shown to
your
President and your Council throughout all
our dealings with them in reference to our
suggested amendments to the Bill.
Membership.
Turning to the Annual Report of
the
Council, you will observe that the number of
members of the Society has been increased
from 775 to 786. This, however, is not as
satisfactory as it may appear. There are
1,294 solicitors practising in the Free State,
and it is a surprising fact that there are 508
of them who failed during the year to become
members of
a
legal organisation which
primarily exists for their own welfare and
protection and
the maintenance of
the
dignity and privileges of their own profes
sion, of which, I feel sure, they themselves
are proud to be members. I hope that in the
coming year most of those 508 gentlemen
who stand outside this Society will join hands
with those within. It is a distinct handicap
not to belong to this Society, as those of us
who have the use of our magnificent Law
Library well know. Members can, of course,
have the loan of any book free of charge that
the library contains, whether he lives in the
city .or
the country, by simply commu
nicating his wish to the Secretary.
If the
solicitors who neglect to join the Society are
influenced by the idea that their only loss is
want of access to our Library, there again
they are wrong, because
it should be
remembered that the Council of the Society
is always available for advice and assistance
in helping to advise and elucidate questions
of both law and practice. The sooner all the
solicitors in the country realise that their
Society has done in the past, is doing now
and will continue to do, solid and enduring
work for the whole profession, the better ;
and the value of its industry can, perhaps,
be best appreciated by recollection of the
fact that it has had forty-four Committee
meetings and fourteen Council meetings
during the year.
Legal Text-Books.
At the half-yearly meeting held in the
month of Ma}' last I spoke to you at con
siderable length on the subject of the want of
suitable legal text-books. This is a subject
that has been engaging the earnest con
sideration of your Council during the year.
It has, I am glad to say, attracted attention
in other quarters, where the necessity for
such books and the difficulty of producing
them has been recognised. It is hoped that
as soon as the Courts of Justice Bill passes
into law, a scheme may be devised for the
production and publication of such works as
are first urgently necessary.
I have hopes
that the Government, the Bar and the
Universities will all co-operate with your
Council in this scheme. Your Council has
already signified its willingness to contribute
to what may be described as a Publication
Fund to meet the cost of production and
publication of such legal text-books as are
immediately necessary. A book on Local
Government Administration is badly wanted.
There is no up-to-date book on Housing,
although there have been many recent Acts
passed dealing with the subject. Vanston^'s
book on Local Government and Vanston's
book on Public Health both require to be
brought up-to-date. No book has been
published on either of these subjects since
1919. Carleton's "County Court Practice "
and " Wylie's Judicature " are both out of
print, and I am informed that Kisbey's
" Bankruptcy " will soon be out of print.
I mention the foregoing few instances—I am