The Gazette 1995

GAZETTE

N T

M E

S S A G

N O V E M B E R

1995

The Law Society in Review

Andrew F. Smyth

\ On 24 November 1995 I had the

honour and distinction of being

i elected to the Presidency of the Law

Society. I wondered as I took office

what changes would take place during

my year of Presidency as a natural

follow-up to the Review Working

Group's Report.

I must congratulate those who made

| submissions to the Review Working

Group as they were both constructive

and clearly seen as beneficial to the

profession as a whole.

There are many facets of the Review

which would require further

discussion and consideration and it

; was for this reason that I asked at the

| Annual General Meeting that such

submissions should be made to the

Review Committee at the earliest

possible date so that they in turn can

prepare an updated document for

further consideration by the Council

of the Law Society. I would ask you

to attend to this matter urgently so

that we in turn can report back to the

membership by 7 March as promised.

Education is very much on the mind

of the profession and it is true to say

that the Education Committee have

worked extremely diligently and, in

my view, absolutely fairly in making

decisions which obviously impact

upon students already in the system

i and hoping ultimately to come into the

system. I would like to assure those

| who may feel otherwise that decisions

] in the education area are not made

lightly and certainly are taken only

after intensive discussions. As there

are so many different parties involved,

it would be totally unsustainable were

a decision or decisions taken which

might merely fulfil the ambitions of

i one section to the possible detriment

of others. The overall good of the

: profession must at all times be

j considered and, as I have already

indicated, the interests of those

wishing to join the profession must

also receive the most sympathetic and

careful consideration. 1 must also

stress that every effort must be made

to attain very high standards for

admission to the Law School and this

will at all times be a major

| consideration for the Education

; Committee. In the aftermath of the

i Bloomer decision in the High Court

the committee has made what I regard

as extremely correct decisions and

| will deal with outstanding issues in

due course.

The implementation of the Courts and

Court Officers Bill will, of course, be

welcomed by the profession despite

reservations about the non-

admissihility directly of members to

| the position of judges of the High and

Supreme Courts. The right of

members of the profession to

nomination to the Circuit Court is

I welcome and it is to be hoped that in

the very near future they will take

I their place on the various Circuits

around the country. It is to be hoped

! that the appointment of more judges

j will be followed by adequate

administrative back-up and indeed

better facilities for the practise of law.

I would like to take this opportunity to

personally thank Mrs.

Nora Owen,

Minister for Justice, for her

; willingness to meet with the various

delegations from the Law Society and

to discuss, in a reasoned and

practicable way, the genuine concerns

| of the profession. It is also fitting that

; I should acknowledge with thanks the

j considerable co-operation which the

I Society has obtained from the

members of her staff in that regard.

1 would be anxious during my term of

I office to endeavour to promote the

profession so that it is presented in a

\ more favourable light to the public.

While there is no doubt that some of

the adverse publicity is merited, my

own feeling is that it is only a very

small percentage of the profession

who bring this about and that the vast

majority of practitioners fulfil their

clients' requirements with a very high

degree of professionalism and

expertise. I regard each member of the

profession as his or her own best PR

Executive and I am satisfied that with

the correct degree of effort and

goodwill the public view of the

profession can be altered with

resultant benefit to both the profession

and the public alike.

i I wish to say at the commencement of

my term that I am available to any

: member of the profession should he or

she wish to contact me and if I can

; assist in any way to assuage the fears

or ease a burden then I am only too

willing to do so. I realise that in

saying this I may be leaving myself

open to a fairly intensive degree of

cross-questioning, but I must firstly

acknowledge that I am President of

your

profession, that I am

your

representative and it is only by

| listening to the members of the

profession that I can adequately carry

| out such representation.

I thank each and every one of you for

i placing your trust in me and look

: forward to a fruitful year.

Andrew F. Smyth