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GAZETTE
MARCH 1995
'Crackdown on rogue solicitors a
success'
An article bearing the above headline
was printed in the
Sunday Press
of
5 February by Howard Rose. The
article stated "a crackdown on
solicitors suspected of misusing
clients' money has been a success".
"The crackdown targeted solicitors
thought to be acting illegally. The
Society has used new powers under
the 1994 Solicitors Amendment Act
but its most effective sanction has
been to demand audited accounts for
each practice before renewing a
licence to practise," it was reported.
Family Law reporting ban review
It was reported in the
Irish
Independent
of 6 February that new moves to ease
the blanket ban on reporting family law
cases may be considered by the
Equality and Law Reform Minister,
Mervyn Taylor. It was reported that:
"on foot of the High Court ruling in
relation to incest cases, Mr. Taylor is
said to be keen on hearing the views of
lawyers and other groups on the ban on
reporting family law cases. "
Civil Legal Aid
In the
Evening Herald
on 30 January in
an article headed 'Taylor in £2m legal
aid move' it was stated that Equality
and Law Reform Minister, Mervyn
Taylor is to spend £2m on a range of
measures to improve family, legal and
counselling services. The article also
stated that within a matter of weeks,
the Minister will place a Civil Legal
Aid Bill before the Cabinet as part of a
package of reform and legislation
which the Government wants to have
in place before holding a divorce
referendum possibly mid-June.
In the
Irish Times
on 7 February it
was reported that the Minister for
Equality and Law Reform, Mr. Taylor
has announced legislation which will
make the civil legal aid service a full
legal entity nearly 22 years after the
European Court of Human Rights case
which led to its establishment.
Mr. Taylor also announced a 24% rise
in the legal aid boards' funding this
year, and the doubling of its staff over
the past two years.
On 7 February the
Irish Press
printed
an article headed "Divorce to boost
need for legal aid". The report stated:
"Minister for Equality and Law
Reform, Mervyn Taylor yesterday
predicted an upsurge in the demand
for civil legal aid if a Divorce
Referendum is successful. The
Cork Examiner
reported on 7
February that "if divorce is introduced
here in this summer's proposed
Referendum, the Legal Aid Board
which operated a series of law centres
around the country will have
sufficient resources at its disposal to
require free legal aid, Law Reform
Minister Mervyn Taylor pledged
yesterday." An article by Gerry Whyte
of TCD analysed the proposed
changes in the legal aid service in the
Irish Times
on 8 February.
'Judiciary not above criticism:
top judge'
An article by Alan O'Keeffe in the
Sunday Independent
on 12 February
stated that judges, like every other
public official, should not be
immune to criticism said Supreme
Court Judge Hugh O'Flaherty last
night. This was part of his address to
the NUJ Conference in Dingle. He
also spoke of the importance of
freedom of expression and of
the need for an efficient courts
system: "it seems to be that trials are
taking too long," he said. Judge
O'Flaherty referring to the media and
the libel laws, said there was a strong
argument that money damages should
be confined to intentional defamation
and all defamation awards should
have reasonable limits. The
Irish
Times
reported the speech under the
heading "Judge favours lower
defamation awards".
Catherine
Dolan
ARAB LAWS:
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SADSI Elects New
Aud i tor
The results of the election of Auditor
of the 111th session of the Solicitors
Apprentices Debating Society of
Ireland were announced on
17 January.
The new Auditor is Mr.
Feargal
Brennan
who, in a keenly contested
race, narrowly defeated the other
candidate, Mr.
Stewart
Gilhooley.
Mr. Brennan,
an apprentice with
Gerrard Scallan & O 'Brien, Solicitors
in Dublin, hails from Waterford. He
has placed effective representation for
all apprentices at the top of his agenda
for the coming year. He hopes that he
can contribute to an improvement in
conditions generally for apprentices
while at the same time enhancing the
debating and social tradition of the
society.
Indeed his year of office has kicked off
to a good start. On Thursday, 16
February apprentices packed Blackhall
Place for the first event of the year, the
"Post Valentine Ball". Slightly less
formal than the name might suggest,
the event nonetheless was enjoyed by
all in attendance and certainly augurs
well for the coming year.
On the debating side of things SADSI
has already this year had orators
expounding on multivarious themes, in
the Irish Times, Observer Mace and
Trocaire/Global Development Forum
debating competitions, and SADSI, in
keeping with the long tradition of the
society will also be represented in the
forthcoming Irish Moot Court
competition.
The Auditor certainly has a busy year
ahead of him.
pes
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