185 / 424
GAZETTE
MAY/JUNE 1995
6. Nothing in these Regulations
shall:-
(a) affect any arrangement in
writing, whenever made,
between a solicitor and his
client as to the application of
the client's money or interest
thereon; or
(b) apply to money received by a
solicitor, being money subject
to a trust of which the solicitor
is a trustee; or
(c) deprive a solicitor of any legal
recourse or right, whether by
way of lien, charge or
otherwise, that the solicitor or
his firm may have against a
client's money standing to the
credit of a deposit account.
7. Nothing in these Regulations shall
require an accountant, in
complying with regulation 22 of
the Solicitors Accounts Regulations
No 2 of 1984 (S.I. No 304 of
1984), to make an examination as
to whether a solicitor has complied
with these Regulations in relation
to accounting to a client for interest
on money received by the solicitor
or his firm for or on account of
the client.
Dated this 27th day of April, 1995
Signed on behalf of the Law
Society of Ireland pursuant to
section 79 of the Solicitors Act,
1954
PATRICK A. GLYNN,
President of the Law Society of
Ireland
I consent to the making of the within
Regulations pursuant to section 73(1)
of the Solicitors (Amendment) Act,
1994.
Dated this 2nd day of May 1995
DECLAN COSTELLO,
President of the High Court
S.I. No. 27 of 1995 -
European Communities
(Unfair Terms in Consumer
Contracts) Regulations,
1995
On 1 February 1995 the Minister for
Enterprise & Employment introduced
these Regulations implementing Council
Directive No. 93/13/EEC of 5 April
1993. As the Directive should have been
implemented by 31 December 1994 the
Regulations have been given
retrospective effect from that date.
The essential feature of the Regulations
is the prohibition of unfair terms in
contracts concluded after 31 December
1994 between, on the one hand, a seller
of goods or supplier of services who is
acting for purposes related to his
business (which includes a trade or
profession and the activities of any
government department or local or
public authority), and, on the other, a
consumer,
beipg a natural person who
is acting for purposes which are outside
his business. Excluded from the scope
of the Regulations are contracts of
employment, contracts relating to
succession rights and rights under
family law and contracts relating to the
incorporation and organisation of
companies or partnerships.
The Regulations provide that a
contractual term shall be regarded as
unfair if it has not been individually
negotiated and if, contrary to the
requirement of good faith (as to the
assessment of which, guidelines are set
out in a Schedule to the Regulations),
and having regard to the nature of the
goods or services and all the
circumstances attending the conclusion
of the contract, it causes a significant
imbalance between the parties as
regards their respective rights and
obligations under the contract, to the
detriment of the consumer. A contact
term is deemed not to have been
individually negotiated where it has
been drafted in advance and the
consumer has not therefore been able
to influence its substance.
In addition, an indicative and non-
exhaustive list of the terms which may
be regarded as unfair is contained in a
further Schedule to the Regulations.
The assessment of the unfair nature of
the terms of a contract may not be
based on the definition of the main
subject matter of the contract nor on
the adequacy of the price of the goods
sold or the remuneration for the
services supplied.
A contractual term which is unfair
will not be binding on the consumer;
the contract itself will, however,
continue to bind the parties, provided
it is capable of continuing in existence
without the unfair term.
Where contractual terms are offered to
consumers in writing, the Regulations
impose an obligation on the seller or
supplier to ensure that they are drafted
in plain, intelligible language. It is
unclear whether a term which is not in
plain language will be deemed an
unfair term but the Regulations
provide that if there is any doubt about
the meaning of a term, the
interpretation most favourable to the
consumer shall prevail.
Cormac O 'Hanlon
Chairman
Company and Commercial
Law
Committee
Solicitors' Accounts
Regulations - April 30 1995
Costs Received - Lodgment
Procedures
On a number of occasions in the past,
the Society's Compensation Fund has
been exposed to risk because solicitor's
practices have lodged monies received
in respect of undischarged outlays to
office account, and subsequently have
had difficulty because of working
capital constraints, effecting payments
to the third parties to whom the monies
were due.
In order to protect the Compensation
Fund and to ensure compliance by
practitioners with the Solicitors'
Accounts Regulations, the
Compensation Fund Committee on
behalf of the Council of the Society
have issued the following practice note,
161