The Gazette 1961 - 64

I am very sensible of the fact that I am addressing as important a group of individuals as there is in the country. Ninety per cent, of all prosecutions for indictable offences in 1960 were disposed of in the District Court and no less than 102,000 persons appeared before you on summary charges. A great volume of civil disputes are also adjudicated upon in your courts. Apart from the importance of the work you do, there is no doubt that the public image of our judicial system is formed in large measure from the manner in which District Courts are conducted and I should like, at this stage, to pay you the tribute of saying that that image is universally a good one. Your courts are not, and can never be, conducted in a routine or mechanical fashion. The stuff you deal with—human nature in all its frailty—does not admit of such treatment. Tragedy and comedy are your daily fare. It is this that distinguishes the District Court from the other courts. Great learning and great prudence are necessary in any Judge, but a District Justice must possess many qualities over and above them. Indeed, so rich and varied are your experiences, it is not surprising to find that our literature and drama are enriched from time to time by your members. We must, all of us, do what we can to improve the administration of justice and to give to our people as fine a system as our wisdom can devise and our resources permit. The present form of our law and our courts is the result of a long process of evolution. Ideas and institutions have developed and changed in harmony with changing circum stances. We must in our time make our own particular contribution to that process and I hope that the establishment of this new office of President of the District Court will be of very great value in this regard. It will be the means whereby the Minister for Justice, and others, can have access to the accumulated fund of learning, experience and wisdom represented by the District Court Bench. It will, I know, be a source of very real satisfaction to anyone occupying my office to know that this machinery for consultation and advice is available and that the fund I referred to can be readily drawn upon. As you know, I have established in my Depart ment a new section to carry out a programme of law reform. Your assistance and advice will be very much appreciated by that section. I hope that you will feel free not only to offer that assistance and advice in regard to the proposals put forward by us but also to take the initiative in suggesting reforms which you yourselves regard as either necessary or desirable.

I have asked my Department also to undertake a systematic study of the juvenile delinquency problem and I shall arrange for the President to be approached in order that your views and advice on this matter can be obtained. I am aware that you are at present studying the system of taking depositions in criminal cases, a system which, as you know, has been criticized in some quarters as being unduly cumbersome. I shall be very pleased in due course to have the fruits of your collective thinking on this problem also. I sincerely hope that our meeting today at luncheon will result in our getting to know each other better and appreciating more readily each other's difficulties and problems, and that it will in that way be of value to Justice, which we are all pledged to serve. THE LEGAL PROFESSION IN POLAND A recent report in an English newspaper indicates that the legal profession in Poland is in trouble with the Government at the moment. It appears that certain " reforms " aiming at setting up a set tariff of legal fees and organising defence lawyers into co-operative groups have been introduced by the Polish Association of Law Workers. The reforms have been strongly resisted by senior members of the association who view them as an attempt by the Government to eliminate lawyers who " go to all lengths " on their clients' behalf. They have been warned that the Government will intervene unless they " tighten discipline " within their own ranks. Already, some well-known lawyers have been suspended, or face court penalties. COUNTY CLARE LAW ASSOCIATION At the Annual General Meeting of the above Association held at the Courthouse, Ennis, on the 7th December, 1961, the following Officers were elected :— President, Patrick P. O'Shea, Kilrush; Vice- President, Michael J. Walshe, Ennis; Honorary Secretary and Treasurer, Michael J. McMahon, Kilrush ; Committee, Patrick J. Chambers, Ennis- tymon; Daniel O. Healy, Scariff; Thomas A. Lynch, Thomas F. O'Reilly and James B. MacClancy, all of Ennis. LIMERICK SESSIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION At a recent meeting of the Bar Association the following officers were elected :— President, Niall S. Gaffney; Hon. Treasurer, Thomas E. O'Donnell; Hon. Secretary, James I. Sexton ; Committee, William Leahy, Edward Treacy, Michael B. O'Malley, Michael Cussen, Maurice Power, Caleb C. McCutcheon. 7*