The Gazette 1961 - 64

The problem as I see it will fall naturally into two branches, first: the right of a lawyer of one member state to appear or have audience in the courts of another member state and secondly, the right of a lawyer of one member state to practise law in another from his office. It is possible that the ultimate interpretation of the treaty might give a different ruling on each of these two aspects. Whatever the changes may be that face us, it is quite certain that changes there will be. Ifthe common market is to establish freedom ofmovement within the community then undoubtedly there will have to be a uniformity of law within that com munity at certain levels. Certain branches of the law will have to be completely uniform throughout the community and it is more than probable that we shall have superimposed upon us on a " take it or leave it" basis, a system of community law governing such matters as bankruptcy, patents, trade marks, enforcement of judgments, sale of goods, restrictive practices and other such matters, which in the course of time will tend to become more rather than less numerous. I can envisage that if we join the community we shall be faced with a double system of law like that of the federal law and the state law in the U.S.A. It would seem natural that in such eventuality the lawyers of the member states should be free to practise the community law in any part of the common market but only local lawyers should be entitled to practise State law or domestic law relating to a particular member. There is a fundamental difference in the concept of the judiciary between the common law countries such as ourselves and Great Britain and the civil law countries which embrace most of the continental states. This difference will pose a difficult problem if there is to be integration of the judicial system at any level. No suggestion as to how this may be achieved has yet been made as far as I am aware and we must await and study developments. What the common market will mean to the practising lawyer in this country cannot yet be assessed but greater competition and greater opportunities appear to be certain. All these changes will be gradual and will be spread over a long period but we must prepare ourselves to avail of opportunities and to meet competition and the council intends to study develop ments closely. At this stage there is not very much we can do, but we could join with other branches of the profession in providing in formation or lectures on the Treaty of Rome as it will affect the legal profession, and the European Court at Luxembourg which it established. We may ultimately have to widen the studies both of practitioners and apprentices to equip ourselves to changing conditions. In the cities and larger towns there will surely have to be a greater degree of specialisation with consequently larger firms. If lawyers, for example, from Great Britain could advise at any level on matters arising here we must match their degree of specialisation if we are to hold our own. Law is getting daily more complex and it is more and more difficult for the average solicitor to keep abreast ofthe technical details of all branches of law—other professions have their specialists and we may have to follow suit. I read with interest that in his speech at the annual meeting of the Institute of Chartered Accountants the president, Mr. Ernest Dawson, had come to the same conclusion about his profession. The council are well aware that the problem will need constant study and supervision and we hope, in consultation with our neighbours, to learn more accurately just what the position of the lawyer in the common market will be.

INTERNATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION Some nine or ten years ago your society became members of the International Bar Association which is an association of law societies throughout the world. It holds a conference every second year which any member of a society, which is itself a member of the association, is entitled to attend, and representatives from your society have attended conferences of the I.B.A. at Oslo in 1956, at Cologne in 1958 and at Salzburg in 1960. A further conference is to be held this year in Edinburgh, from the ijth to the 2oth July, and a number of members of the society have indicated their intention to attend. As a preliminary to the Edinburgh Conference the council of the I.B.A. on which your society has a representative, held a meeting in Dublin last January. We were very glad to have the opportunity ofwelcoming practising lawyers from different countries to Dublin even at that time ofthe year and ofshowing them a little Irish hospitality. In my view, these meetings are of considerable value to all solicitors. Various topics of practical interest are discussed and one gets the opportunity of seeing how laws of other countries, with whom we shall more than likely have closer contacts in the future, differ from our own. Apart from this, there are social functions included in each conference where one gets an opportunity of mixing with and getting to know lawyers of other countries and their wives. Nothing but good can come from meetings between professional men of similar outlook from different countries, and the council feel that this association is one that we should, as indeed we do, support, and I would like to encourage the members to take an interest in the association and to attend the conferences. Our society will not in any way benefit from this but I think you, ladies and gentlemen, would find the conference not only interesting but instructive. I have noticed that such members of your society as have attended any of these conferences were always looking forward to the next. LAW REFORM Turning now to rather more domestic matters, I would like to say how much we welcome the energy and enterprise of the Minister for Justice in initiating a large programme of 1 aw reform. Several of my predecessors have drawn attention to the fact that in so many respects our law had been allowed to lag behind and that there was an urgent necessity for reform. A gigantic task now faces the Minister and the staff of his department and he can be assured that in so far as we can do so the council and the members of this society will afford him as much assistance and co-operation as they can. He has already indicated to the council that he would be glad of the benefit of their views on the various topics which he has scheduled for law reform, and the council has set up small working parties to study the various branches of the law in which reform is imminent. These working parties will report to the council who, in turn, will submit their recom mendations to the minister. Sometimes the need for a particular reform becomes apparent in a particular case which pinpoints an injustice or an anomaly. The members of the society can help in this work by letting Mr. Plunkett know of any instances where they think the law reform is desirable. Any suggestions will be more than welcome and will be carefully studied by the working parties and the council. If we can give the minister the benefit of our combined experience we can put before him practical problems and practical suggestions for reform which might be quite uncontroversial and easily achieved. For example, a lot of tedious and unproductive work would be eliminated if the Apportionment Act were