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GAZETTE
P i R A
N O
MARCH 1995
Passport Regulation for
Irish American Children
Solicitors often handle child custody
cases on behalf of their clients
including Irish-American national
children. The following information
issued by the US Embassy should be
helpful to practitioners.
Under U.S. law, when there is
controversy concerning the custody of
a minor child, a passport-issuing
office in the United States or abroad
may deny issuance of a passport to a
minor only if it receives a court order
(original or certified copy) from the
court within the country in which
passport services are sought. The
court order must give custody of the
child to the person who has requested
that passport services be denied to the
non-custodial parent, or must
specifically forbid the child's
departure from the country without
the court's permission. It should also
be noted that the court order is only
valid in the country in which it was
issued. In the absence of such a court
order, the issuance of a passport to a
qualified applicant may not be denied.
Either parent may apply to obtain a
passport for a child under the age of
thirteen without the consent of the
other parent.
In other words, should the US
Embassy in Dublin receive an original
or certified copy of an Irish court
order awarding custody of their
American citizen child to a client,
stating that the parent who was not
awarded custody cannot remove the
child from Ireland without the
permission of the client or of the Irish
court, the Embassy would then be in a
position to refuse to issue a passport
for the child to the non-custodial
parent.
Should you have a client involved in a
custody dispute, where the child either
is an American Citizen, or has a claim
to United States citizenship, and your
client does not wish for the non-
custodial parent to obtain a passport
for the child, then please forward the
court order granting custody to your
client to the American Citizen
Services Unit, the American Embassy,
42 Elgin Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4,
tel: (01) 6688-777, ext: 2412.
Family Law and Civil Legal Aid
Committee
Law Society/RIAI - Agreed
Statement - Planning
Permission - Opinions on
Compliance
1. The five forms of Opinion of
Compliance published by the RIAI
are agreed with the Law Society
for use in appropriate
circumstances. A sixth form of
Opinion on Compliance for
apartments is in the course of
preparation.
2. The RIAI and the Law Society
agree that it would be desirable to
have only one set of standard
Forms of Opinion or Certificate
and both will co-operate with the
objective of producing such a set
of Forms and getting them agreed
with all appropriate parties. The
RIAI will agree to its forms
becoming the basis for such an
agreed set.
3. The Law Society will advise its
members to try and clarify at the
commencement of a transaction
what form of Certificate of
Opinion on Compliance will be
forthcoming. The Law Society
agrees that in dealing with RIAI
members it will advise its members
to accept the appropriate RIAI
form. RIAI members may
occasionally be asked to sign the
forms of Certificate of Opinion on
Compliance published by the Law
Society but the Law Society agrees
that solicitors should not press
RIAI members to sign the Law
Society forms. Occasionally the
RIAI forms will not meet the
particular circumstances of a case
and may have to be adapted. Care
should be taken by RIAI members
to make sure that any altered form
is acceptable to their Professional
Indemnity Insurers.
4. The RIAI and the Law Society
have agreed to the publication of a
factual statement of qualifications
for membership of the RIAI, the
Irish Architects Society, the
Incorporated Association of
Architects and Surveyors, and the
Architects and Surveyors Institute.
The Law Society will contact these
bodies with a view to seeing if
there is a consensus in favour of
agreeing such a statement. When
this has been done the Law Society
and the RIAI will review the
position.
Conveyancing
Committee
Law Society Form - Price
Increase
Due to spiralling paper costs increases
in 1993 and January 1994 of 40%,
it has been necessary to increase the
price of the Law Society's standard
forms with effect from 17 January,
1995.
The new prices are as follows:-
Requisitions on Title (per 50) £24.50
Conditions of Sale (per 50)
£ 16.00
Building Agreements (per 50) £14.75
All of the above are subject to 21%
VAT.
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