17 / 112
JUNE, 1909]
The Gazette of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.
18
not so.
It was the opposition of another
branch of our profession, but not the Solicitors'
profession. We have asked what the objection
to the Bill was, but we have not been informed.
I only mention that because, since I became a
member of the Council, I have refrained from
writing letters to the Press, and therefore I desire
to take this opportunity of refuting'those state
ments.
I am not doing this at the instance of
the Council, though they were most anxious
these Bills should pass, and are so still (hear,
hear).
MR. JAMES BRADY :
Permit me to join
my strong "protest against the unfair attacks
made by certain gentlemen writing to the Press
on the practitioners of Green Street Court. Not
only did we give every assistance in our power,
but we drafted amendments, and we sat for
several days considering these amendments,
and those are the amendments your Council
adopted.
Not alone were the amendments
adopted by the Council, but the profession
at large, throughout Ireland, endeavoured by
all the means in their power to get the legis
lation which those supporting it thought would
be for the benefit of County Court practice.
Whoever is responsible, the solicitors' profes
sion in Ireland is in no way responsible (hear,
hear). Mr. Craig.very ably dealt in the cor
respondence with those gentlemen who made
an attack especially on the Green Street prac
titioners.
Now, whatever may be the fault
with regard to the delay caused by the existing
practice
in
the County Courts
throughout
Ireland, there has been a lot of talk and
humbug, and no practical effort has been made
to introduce remedial measures.
I think if an
inquiry were set on foot, and that a committee
of investigation inquired into the matter, it
would be very easily and quickly ascertained
where the difficulty is.
I have no personal
desire to express my own view here at the
present moment,
I should much prefer that a
committee of investigation should be appointed
to inquire with reference to all this talk and
nonsense given expression to for some time
past. My own belief is that business in the
Recorder's Court was more quietly carried out,
and carried out in a much more business-like
manner, when we had the old Quarter Sessions
existing. What happens now ? These monthly
sittings now overlap each other and the busi
ness gets intermixed.
It is impossible for the
presiding judge to undertake all the work
which is cast on his shoulders owing to the
action of those gentlemen who are protesting
for more legislation. The result of it is that
these monthly sessions overlap, and really
before we finish these May Sessions we will
have the June Sessions in on top of us, and so
it goes on from month to month, with the
result that I was alarmed
to find I had in
my office—I am sure Mr. Byrne and others
have the-same experience—bundles of papers,
relating
to cases
lying over, waiting
the
defences to be heard.
If we are to have
further legislation to make confusion worse
confounded, I do not know what is going to be
the result. But I think there should be more
earnest effort and less talk to remove any diffi
culties that at present may exist in County Court
practice in Ireland.
I am bound to say that
gentlemen who
talk
from
this Mercantile
Association—well, beyond making efforts to
recover bad debts, and when they fail tossing
them into a solicitor's office to get collected
at a percentage, they do not do anything.
They throw the decrees to the Sheriff, and
when there is a return of no goods, they growl.
It is time for some inquiry to be set on foot,
and that some independent gentlemen with
courage should ascertain where there is any
existing difficulty, and where there is any cause
of complaint, and report here to this Council.
Then let this Council
report to
the public
on the subject and end this controversy which
has been going on for the past six years.
MR. D. A. QUAID: I think the Recorder's
Court should be transferred to the Four Courts.
When you have
to instruct counsel, it is
absolutely impossible to carry on under the
existing system, as it
is
impossible to get
counsel sometimes to go up there. Having
regard to the extension of the jurisdiction of
the County Courts, and particularly to the
large volume of important business transacted
by the Recorder, it would only be dignified,
and would suit both branches of the profession,
if that Court were in the Four Courts.
I do
not know what the Recorder's view would be,
but I am quite certain if a representation were
made to the Treasury, some arrangement might
be made by which the transfer might be effected
with great advantage to our profession and to
the public.
The proceedings then terminated.
Meeting of the Council.
May
5///.
Presentation.
A
resolution of thanks was
passed
to
Sir A. F. Baker for his presentation of an