The Gazette 1995

GAZETTE

1995

new judges would be done "taking into

account proposals in the Bill as it now

stands." It was also stated in the article

that the Minister for Justice said "I

have had a series of meetings with the

Bar Council and the Law Society and I

have been listening to some of their

criticisms of the Bill and the

workability of the Bill." She was

preparing a memorandum for

Government based on that review she

explained. She went on to say "it is

possible that there will be changes in

the Bill as it was presented to the Dail

before Christmas."

Criminal injury compensation

An article on 15 March 1995 was

printed on the front page of the

Evening

Press

with a headline 'Crime compo for

all urged'. The article stated that the

Government today faced demands to

reintroduce criminal injury

compensation for victims of the public

after it was revealed that Gardai have

received £ 10.7m in compensation

awards. The article stated "the

solicitors' body and victims' support

representatives urged that there should

be compensation for all citizens after

figures were released showing that over

600 Gardai were compensated over the

past three years." "It is a pity that the

injuries suffered by ordinary citizens

are not also recognised," said the

Chairman of the Law Society Criminal

Law Committee,

James MacGuill.

'Minister to speed up court

hearings'

An article was published in the

Evening Herald

on 15 March 1995

under the headline 'Minister to speed

up court hearings'. The article reported

that court cases will be dealt with

more quickly under laws being drawn

up by Justice Minister

Nora Owen.

was reported that a new Criminal

Justice Bill will be introduced to deal

with court procedures which will

reduce the number of remands and

adjournments in court cases. It was

reported that the Minister said she is

considering extending remand periods

and allowing remand hearings to be

held at a court near prisons where

102

accused people are being held. "The

delays in our courts are totally

unacceptable" she added.

Solicitors (Amendment) Act 1994

An article was published in

The

Phoenix

on 17 March 1995 headed

'Legal Eagles' concerning the

Solicitors (Amendment) Act, 1994.

The article stated that although the

Solicitors (Amendment) Act, 1994

came into effect on 4 November last,

it has not necessarily had serious

negative implications for the country's

4,000 solicitors. The article went on to

say that many welcomed the Bill,

since it simply made many of their

modern business practices into

statutory regulations.

It was stated that "It is generally

accepted that it was a good Act, it

takes steps to protect the client, it will

do much to enhance the reputation of

solicitors in the eyes of the public and

it will make roguery in the legal

profession virtually impossible." The

article continued "to this end, under

Sections 8 and 9 of the Act, new

grounds of complaints against

solicitors have been introduced."

The article stated that a spokesperson

for the Law Society stated that "the

Act provides for the investigation by

the Society of complaints received

from clients of the solicitor or from

any persons on behalf of such clients,

that the legal services provided

were inadequate in a material

respect and were not of the quality

that could be reasonably expected of

the solicitor or firm of solicitors."

The article also referred to Section 68

of the Act where solicitors must now

provide fully detailed itemised

bills for their work, giving precise

details to their client of where their

money has been spent. The article

interviewed various solicitors and

their views of the Act. Overall the

article was a positive one for

solicitors.

Call for judges to have training

After the handing down of the

sentence in the X case there have been

calls forjudges to have training. In the

Irish Independent

on 22 March 1995

under the heading 'Womens group in

campaign for judges' college'. It was

stated that Justice Minister

Nora

Owen

is to study plans for a judges

training college aimed at ensuring

greater consistency in decisions

handed down from the bench. It was

reported in the

Irish Press

on 22

March 1995 that judiciary must stay

informed according to Minister for

Justice Nora Owen.

Abortion Information Bill

The publishing of the Abortion

Information Bill led to strong media

coverage during the month of March.

In an article on the front page of the

Irish Independent

on 23 March 1995

it was stated that "Legal Team to

Argue Unborn case". The article

stated that a separate legal

team would represent the interests of

the unborn in a Supreme Court

hearing on the constitutionality

of the Abortion Information Bill. In

what is understood to be an

unprecedented move, Chief Justice

Liam Hamilton

has árppointed two

legal teams to argue against the

State in the hearing - one for the

unborn, the other for the mother. It

was stated that the challenge

will open in the Supreme Court on

4 April and is expected to last four

days. The team representing the rights

of the unborn will be led by Law

Society President

Paddy Glynn,

assisted by

Ralph Sutton, Peter Kelly

and

Mary Irvine.

On the front page of the

Irish Times

on the same day, 23 March 1995, it

was stated under the heading

'Supreme Court hearing on Bill in

April'. It was reported that "arguing

against the constitutionality of the Bill

on the right to life of the unborn are

Mr. Ralph Sutton

SC,

Mr. Peter Kelly

SC, and

Ms. Mary Irvine.

The

solicitor is

Mr. Patrick Glynn,

President of the Law Society."

Catherine Dolan

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