The Gazette 1995

GAZETTE

DECEMBER 1995

Society's standards entrance

examination pursuant to a

regulation which was found

invalid by the High Court;

(ii) persons who had obtained a

degree in law on or after 22

September 1990 (i.e. within the

last five years) from one of the

recognised Universities in the

Republic of Ireland which, if the

exemption regulation had not

been found invalid, would have

entitled them to an exemption

from all or part of the FE-l but

who had not have of been given

such an exemption prior to 22

September 1995;

(iii) persons who obtained a degree in j

law on or after 22 September

1990 from the Queens

University, Belfast, which would

have entitled them to an

exemption from the FE-l if the

Queens University, Belfast, had

been one of the Universities

listed in the invalid exemption

regulation. An applicant who has

obtained a degree in law from

the Queens University, Belfast,

will 'in any event be required to

pass an examination in

Constitutional Law to be set by

the Society.

The graduates in the above categories

must apply for an exemption to the

Society by 1 March 1996. A notice

was published in national newspapers

both in the Republic of Ireland and in

Northern Ireland. See page 326 of this

Gazette

for notice.

j The Society made no decision on 31

October in relation to law

j undergraduates. It was stated in the

press release that this would be

considered at the next meeting of

the Council of the Society on

24 November.

The press statement was covered in

I the Irish Independent on 3 November

| 1995 under the heading 'Law Society

' Compromises over Exam

| Exemptions'. It was reported that the

I Society had modified its regulations

so that the graduates who are affected

can apply to the Society before March

1 next if they want to be exempted

from the requirement to sit the

Entrance Exam. The Director General

of the Law Society,

Ken Murphy,

said |

that "the Society's decision was

designed to eliminate potential

unfairness arising as a consequence of |

the High Court Judgment." In the Irish

Times the press statement was

covered in an article with the heading

'Law Society Modifies its Rules' on 3

November 1995. This article stated

"that the Apprentice Solicitors

Steering Committee expressed delight

at the Law Society's decision. It

means the 66 law graduates due to

begin the course in three weeks will

not have to sit the exams as many of

them had feared." It was also reported

that "a spokesman for the QUB law

graduates who took the High Court

action said they were "relatively

happy" with the Law Society's

decision but that it fell short of the

intention of their case which was to

secure exam exemptions for all QUB

law graduates."

RTE 1 Radio News, 2 November

The decision by the Council was the

topic of the RTE 1 Radio News at

6.30 p.m. on 2 November. The item

referred to the fact that a recent High

Court decision removed the exemption

from the Blackhall Place exams that

all law graduates in the Republic had

enjoyed since 1989. It was reported

that "now the Society has restored the

exemptions for people who have

already received their law degrees

here and extended it to Northern

Ireland graduates but those still

studying for degrees may not receive

the same treatment." The item also

reported that the Society has

postponed a decision of students still

in University until later this month

and that this decision had angered the

Union of Law Students of Ireland,

Chairman,

Loughlinn Deegan.

Loughlinn Deegan

was interviewed

and said "while much as they might

hide behind the various High Court

decisions, I think, the simple

motivation is numbers, they regard

there as being too many solicitors in

this country and they are very eager to

try and cut down on the numbers of

people entering the profession and this

is providing them with the ideal

opportunity to do that."

Ken Murphy

was interviewed in response to this

and said "I think it very important to

emphasise that this is not the attitude

of the Law Society. It has always been

a question of maintaining standards of

people entering the legal profession

and going on to practise law on the

Irish public. We have a statutory

obligation to maintain those standards

and it is very interesting to read the

High Court Judgment in that regard,

in its finding that essentially the

motivation that the Society had for

making its decision in relation to the

Queens graduates was standards and

standards alone, not controlling the

numbers entering the profession."

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