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He gave us every opportunity of putting our views before
him and received us most courteously. It has been announced
that various substantial amendments to the Bill will be made
but your Council has not, as yet, considered these amend
ments which will be the subject matter of discussion in
Dail fiireann, and, therefore, I cannot at the present time
enter into any more detail about this Bill save to say that
I believe that very many of the amendments suggested by
your Council, particularly those dealing with undutiful wills
in parts IX and X contained in the two memoranda already
referred to, have been accepted and that these amendments
to the Bill will relieve the very considerable uneasiness, not
only of the public but of the solicitors' profession, which
the first publication of the Bill evoked.
Section 77 of the
Bill provides that the testator's signature shall be made or
acknowledged in the presence of each of two or more witnesses
who need not be present at the same time. The Council
recommended that there should be no change in the existing
provisions and consider that section 77 will give rise to many
difficulties and possibly to unnecessary litigation.
It seems
that this recommendation has not as yet been accepted.
The Solicitors' Benevolent Association
At the half yearly meeting of our Society I asked that every
member of our profession should become a member of the
Solicitors' Benevolent Association and I repeat this request.
The Association is now in its hundred and second year and
once more I draw your attention to the fact that the sub
scription is the very modest sum of £i per year. I think that
the Association is worthy of all the support that the members
of our profession can give it.
It would be impossible to
overestimate the wonderful assistance which it has given to
so many during that period.
Legal Aid
The Criminal Justice Legal Aid Act, 1962, was introduced
by Mr. Charles Haughey, then Minister for Justice, who was
assured that our profession looked upon legal aid in criminal
matters as a substantial advance in the social legislation of
the State and my predecessor, Mr. Lanigan, referred to this
when he spoke to you in the month of May, 1963. At that
time he said that no regulations had been brought into force
for setting out the procedure to be followed and the fees to
be paid.
I consider that Mr. Haughey deserves the greatest
possible credit for bringing in this Bill but I think also that
the public should know that the proposed service of legal aid
is a service rendered by the legal profession for considerably
reduced fees. Your Council asked for an escape clause where
the Court is of the opinion that the case is of exceptional
difficulty.
Such provisions apply in Northern Ireland. We
have not been able to get the agreement of the Department in
this matter. The Minister states that the scheme is experimental
and will be reviewed in a year's time.
Costs Applications
During the past year, the iz% increase in the Schedule 2
and High Court costs was granted. The position with regard
to the increase in Circuit Court, Land Registration and District
Court costs is slightly confused. After many years work, the
new scale of Circuit Court costs was approved by the Minister
and then came before the Circuit Court Rules Committee. It
was intended that when the Circuit Court Rules Committee
sent the Rules back to the Department of Justice and received
confirmation that we would at once lodge the application for
the 12% increase and the Department knew that that was
what was intended.
However, the Circuit Court Rules
Committee took the view that it was quite unnecessary to have
two separate applications so they sent to the Minister the new
scale of Circuit Court costs as agreed by him for his formal
approval and they added to it the 12% increase to which the
Minister has not yet intimated his agreement.
The Minister took the view that the two matters should be
dealt with separately and refused to concur to the rules
submitted by the Committee and that was the position some
weeks ago when the Minister became Minister for Agriculture.
The 12% increase in the District Court costs was approved
by the Minister and the District Court Rules Committee was
asked to supply detailed scales of costs but they took the view
that composite scales should be sufficient as they would make
future working much more simple especially in the event of
increases in outlay. As I understand it, the practical difference
is that if detailed scales are insisted on there may be 16 to 18
of these scales whereas if the composite scales are accepted,
there would be approximately 6. This question had not been
determined either at the time that we were trying to solve the
Circuit Court costs problem. Finally, in the case of the Land
Registry costs, the 12% increase was approved by the Minister
and the Rules Committee was asked to formally submit the
application for written approval and they did so approximately
one month ago but so far their letter has not been acknowledged.
In view of the unsatisfactory position in these three cases,
I asked Mr. Brian Lenihan, the Minister for Justice, if he
would see me to discuss these outstanding matters and I had
a personal interview with him on Tuesday, the loth November.
I am hopeful that any minor difficulties which exist in finalising
these three matters will now be overcome without delay and
I will be extremely disappointed if we do not receive official
notification to this effect before my term of office ends.
The Compensation Fund
When the Compensation Fund was established in 1954,
there were some members of our Society who thought that
it was unreasonable that the vast majority of reputable solicitors
should have to compensate clients who suffered loss through
the dishonesty of a very small minority of defaulters.
This feeling was no doubt sharpened when the annual
contribution was raised from £5 to £20 in 1960.
I think,
however, we must all admit that the Fund is the best public
relations activity which could have been undertaken by the
Society because it maintains public confidence by assuring
clients that losses suffered in the event of dishonesty by any
practitioner will be borne by the Fund. The respect and
confidence of our clients is the greatest asset which we possess.
By accepting corporate responsibility for the honesty of our
profession we are preserving that confidence. It is therefore
necessary to ensure that the reserve fund is kept at a safe level
and to take positive action in time to avoid losses. These are
matters which receive continuous attention from the Compen
sation Fund and Registrars Committees. There are of course
statutory provisions which are designed to protect the Fund
against losses suffered by clients as the result of their own
negligence or where there has been co-operation between the
solicitor and the client in unethical practices. When such
circumstances are found, the society has a discretionary power
to refuse or reduce compensation. The Report of the Compen
sation Fund Committee has been circulated to all of you and
it shows the surplus in the hands of the Committee which
makes me hope that this time next year it may be possible to
reduce the present contribution of £15 per annum still further.
I think we owe a deep debt of gratitude to the Committee for
the excellent manner in which they have administered the Fund.
Conclusion
My year of office has been exciting, exasperating, memorable
and enjoyable, all of course at different times. The visit to
Mexico, Los Angeles and New York in connection with the