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Jurisdiction
As you are aware, the report and recommend
ations of the Committee set up by the Minister to
investigate the question of increased jurisdiction
for our District and Circuit Courts
is now in
his hands. We await his decision with interest
and I trust that on this occasion suitable scales
of costs acceptable to the profession will accom
pany the bringing
in of any order increasing
the
respective
jurisdictions. Representations
in
that regard have already been made by me to
the Minister on your behalf and I believe were
sympathetically received.
The Succession Act
On the 1st January next the Succession Act
will come into force. This will have very far-
reaching effects both for our profession and for
the members of the public. I would like to take
this opportunity to remind all persons who have
made wills prior
to
that date
to
review
the
position with their solicitors in the light of the
provisions of the Act. I feel I cannot stress this
too strongly as it would be placing an impossible
burden on the profession to expect its members
to notify each individual testator. I would ask
the members of the press present to draw partic
ular attention to this matter.
In connection with this Act and other Statutes
which have been passed recently or are in process
of being enacted I would
like
to pay an ap
preciative tribute to the work and enterprise of
the Society of Young Solcitors in arranging two
seminars—one
in Mullingar and
the other
in
Cork—both highly successful and splendidly at
tended, at which lectures were given and study
groups held dealing in detail with the new legis
lation. In addition, a series of lectures on various
legal topics are being held. The dearth of text
books is becoming more and more evident and is
to be deplored. Due to the size of this country
publication of such books
is quite uneconomic
and unless something is done very soon by the
Government in the form of a subsidy a serious
situation will result. Efforts such as those I have
referred to help in some measure to fill the need
but of necessity they must be limited. I do, how
ever, thank most sincerely those responsible and
congratulate them on the success already achieved.
Legal Education and Training
The Council
is very conscious of
the dis
advantages and shortcomings of the present sys
tem of legal education of apprentices. A memor
andum dealing with this subject was submitted
to the Commission on Higher Education and to
the Department of Justice some years ago but so
far has produced no results. This question of
legal education and training is a matter that is
receiving constant attention and is being dealt
with by a special committee. If nothing concrete
has emerged since last I addressed you it must not
be assumed that nothing is being done. The work
is of necessity slow, entailing as it does consult
ation with other bodies including the Bar.
My personal view
is
that we should try to
achieve a common system of basic legal education
with the Bar and that students having passed a
certain stage would then specialise in one of the
two branches. New regulations have been made
dealing with the Preliminary Examination to bring
it into line with the entrance examination to the
Universities. Three subjects, viz., Mathematics,
English and Latin, are necessary together with
any two of four optional subjects. The rush of
students seeking apprenticeship continues and is
a source of deep concern to the Council. Over
crowding of the profession could lead to many
and varied abuses, all of them detrimental, and
steps will have to be taken to prevent such a
situation from arising.
Solicitors' Benevolent Association
Once again I commend to you all the excellent
work performed voluntarily by
the Solicitors'
Benevolent Association. The charitable help dis
pensed quietly and unostentatiously by the As
sociation to our less fortunate brethren and their
relatives too often passes unnoticed. No words of
mine should be necessary to exhort every member
to become a subscriber.
Costs
Your Council
is
fully alive to the need for
proper remuneration if services are to be satis
factorily and properly rendered. Overhead ex
penses which all of us have to face are increasing
relentlessly year by year. The difficulty of meeting
these commitments
is
increased by
inadequate
scales of costs which have failed to keep pace
with the rise in expenses. I would like to assure
you all that it is not through any neglect or
default on the part of the Council that such a
position exists and that the pressure to have the
matter remedied is constant and continuing.
International Bar Association
Your Society is a member of the International
Bar Association and as your representative along
with the Senior Vice-President Mr. O'Donnell
and your Secretary Mr. Plunkett I attended the
bi-annual meeting of that Association in Lausanne
last July. The topics dealt with were most inter
esting and informative and gatherings of
this