The Gazette 1961 - 64

appointment is confined to members of the Bar. (See paragraph 21 of the 8th schedule of the Act.) (Ddil Debates.} PARTICULARS DELIVERED STAMP. COSTS The fee of £3 95. 9d., which has heretofore been chargeable by the vendor's solicitor for having the I.V.D. stamp impressed, has been the subject of enquiries to the Society by members. As this fee is in the nature of a Schedule II charge it is probable that it may now be increased in accordance with the Schedule II increases in S.R.G.O. 1960, that is to say by 33-3-% bringing the fee up to £4 133. od. It is understood that it has been taxed up to this figure. CORRECTION It has been pointed out that the report of the speech made by Mr. T. D. McLoughlin at the ordinary general meeting of the Society on November 23rd, 1961, which appeared in the last issue of THE GAZETTE is not altogether an accurate account of what he said. Mr. McLoughlin is reported as having said that the valuers appointed in connection with compulsory acquisitions by the Land Values Reference Committee should have legal qualifications. This is not correct. It should read that the arbitrator appointed by the committee should have legal qualifications. Mr. McLoughlin is also reported as having said that he was in favour of a committee of junior solicitors to advise the Council. This should read that he was in favour of a committee of junior solicitors to consider problems particular to younger members. CONFERENCE OF DISTRICT JUSTICES At a luncheon party given by the Minister for Justice on December ytb, the Minister said: I am very pleased to have this opportunity of meeting the entire District Court Bench. It is unfortunately true that, in the nature of things, the Minister for Justice can all too seldom have the benefit of personal contact with members of the judiciary. As a rule, it is only when some unfortunate Justice in a remote area finds a courthouse tumbling about his ears, or when some poor poteen-maker hopes that the Minister, being a Dublinman, will take a lenient view of his case and seeks the return of his supply of Christmas wash, which has been seized by an unsympathetic " gendarmerie ", that a Justice's view comes to be considered by the Minister for Justice. This, regrettably, being the position, it is very pleasant for me to meet you all socially on this occasion which I hope is only the first of many.

point had been made to the Government by the Society and that the Government, after having given sympathetic consideration to the Society's proposals was, regretfully, unable to agree to upset the existing position. He did not suggest that a solicitor of long standing and experience would not in certain circumstances make an excellent Circuit Court judge but he felt that in matters where the legal professions are concerned the Government would have a very great regard for a firmly entrenched precedent such as this. Mr. Booth's proposal was also opposed by Messrs. Vivion de Valera and Patrick Lindsay. They based their arguments almost entirely on the question of whether or not a solicitor's experience qualified him for appointment to the Circuit Court bench. They » were both strongly of the opinion that a practising barrister's special experience made him far better qualified for a higher judicial appointment than . a solicitor, no matter how competent or good a I lawyer that solicitor was. In the discussion that followed it was this point mainly that was argued. Mr. Haughey, in closing the discussion, repeated, in effect, what he had already said. He did not think that the matter should be discussed on the basis of the qualifications which a judge should have as it was too vast a field of discussion. The perfect judge would have a very rare combination of qualities and it was quite conceivable that a solicitor would have this combination of qualities which would fit him to be appointed as a Circuit Court judge. However, the tradition was there and it was simply because it was tradition that the Government were accepting it. One of the results of the Society's representations to the Government on this matter has been the insertion of section 60 of the Act. This section gives statutory confirmation to the solicitor's right of audience in the Circuit Court. Previous to the passing of the Act the question of whether or not a solicitor was entitled to have audience in the Circuit Court depended on the provisions of the County Courts (Ireland) Act, 1877. Later on Mr. Booth also moved an amendment to the 8th schedule of the Act which would have had the effect of making a solicitor eligible for appoint ment as a Registrar of Wards of Court on an equal footing with a member of the Bar. Mr. Haughey stated that he was strongly tempted to accept this amendment in view of the high regard in which he held the solicitors' profession. The matter was being examined departmentally in connection with the whole question of the staffing of Court offices and he stated that if the amendment was withdrawn it would be considered sympathetically later on. However, in the Act as passed, eligibility for this