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PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS TO
THE ANNUAL GENERAL
MEETING OF THE SOCIETY
24 November, 1977.
Members of the Council and members of the Society,
you already have before you my Annual Report as your
President for the year 1976/77 together with the Annual
Report of the Council of the Society in addition to the
individual Reports from the Chairmen of the Standing
Committees, all of which are contained in the Society's
Gazette for the month of October, 1977.
There are however, some matters of concern to the
public to which I would like to make specific reference on
this occasion. In the field of Legal Aid, our Society eagerly
awaits the publication of the Reports of the Tormey
Committee on Criminal Legal Aid and the Pringle
Committee on Civil Legal Aid. An interim solution has
been worked out on Criminal Legal Aid, pending the
publication of the Tormey Committee's Report and the
Government's decision as to implementation of its
recommendations. The Society appreciates that Civil
Legal Aid is a comprehensive and fundamental matter
affecting not alone the members of this Society, but more
importantly the public who might hope to benefit from any
such system. While the Society appreciates that the
Government must have an opportunity of fully considering
the Report of the Pringle Committee on Civil Legal Aid
before it can take a decision on the introduction of a
comprehensive system, I would earnestly appeal to the
Government to give priority to consideration of the
introduction of a significant measure of Civil Legal Aid in
the area of Family Law. I need hardly emphasise that
under Article 41 of the Constitution, special recognition is
accorded to the position of the family in Irish society. In the
present circumstances which obtain in this sphere as far as
the law is concerned, the spirit of this Article of the
Constitution is in urgent need of implementation in a very
concrete way. The legal profession in this country has
continued to carry the burden of providing a legal service in
many cases at very considerable cost to themselves both in
time and money, but with the impact of inflation and the
growing number of such cases arising from the radical
changes in public attitudes to family matters the profession
cannot be expected to carry this burden indefinitely in the
absence of any form of Government support. I would once
again like to take an opportunity of paying tribute to the
work of the Free Legal Advice Centres in their many areas
of activity in the field of voluntary legal aid, but
particularly in the area of Family Law in which the law
students with the assistance of the legal profession have
filled a complete void.
The Society welcomes the Government's appointment
of a Committee to recommend safeguards for persons in
custody and for members of An Garda Siochana. The
Society has been invited to make a submission to this
Committee. This task is at present in hand. I would once
again like to take this opportunity of recording the
appreciation of our profession for the work of An Garda
Siochana which they perform in difficult circumstances
frequently without an adequate degree of co-operation
from the public. Crime and violence generally in Ireland
has now reached an unacceptable level. Society itself must
share to a considerable extent responsibility for the present
unsatisfactory situation in this regard. The Government
and An Garda Siochana can at best only attempt to
provide short term solutions to treat the symptoms of the
problem. It is society as a whole which must make a
determined effort to tackle the cause of the problem. This
involves everyone, but particularly the parents of the
children of the nation as well as their teachers and all those
concerned with the education and training of youth.
The members of the Incorporated Law Society of
Ireland willingly accept their role in Irish society and are
conscious of their responsibility in helping to preserve the
essential stability upon which the future of our country
depends.
Finally, to you the members of the Society, could I urge
continued loyal support for the Council of the Society in
the many critical challenges facing it at the present time.
Bruce St. John Blake,
President, Incorporated
Law Society of
Ireland.