The Gazette 1975

Law Students Debat ng

Inaugural

((19 February, 1975)

P l Cocney, T.D., Minister for Justice, in the 'se of proposing a vote of thanks to Mr. Paul nratty, the Auditor of the Kings Inns Students Dating Society, for his paper on legal education gratulatcd him on picking this subject of funda- p j 1 . importance to the future of the legal pro- it l s , o n a n d avoiding the temptation to be with Su , y delivering a paper on some of the in subjects a as family law or so-called repressive law. The ^mister continued. 0u Tj ,e lc 8al profession is in a privileged position in r Society in that it has a monopoly of financially a n d r a l , v c business. If that monopoly is to be justified a continued the profession must give to the public Qf e a ' jy professional service. It is my belief a service ent s t a n d a r d c a n n ° t be provided unless new tr . r a n t s l o the profession are fully and adequately ined to carry out their jobs. This has not L n the f°sition up to now." ^ be Minister reviewed the submissions made to his fi p a r * m e n t on the subject of legal education. The con ' t h C S e W 3 S 3 S f a r b a c k a s 1 9 6 1 ' T h e r e h a s b e e n ^nsistent pressure from the Incorporated Law tice C t y f 0 r r c f o r m i n t h e education of their appren- . s - The Minister said he was glad to have been a e to co-operate with the Society in bringing about * * educational regime for intending Solicitors ^ m e n c i n g next academic year. He thanked the a n d e t y their attitude to this important subject stud S U r e t b a t t b e n e w r e S ' m e involving academic inst l 6 a d i n g t 0 a degree followed by a period of ruction by the Society in the practical and com- H'oT^ a PP , i c a t i o n °f academic legal knowledge serv- W e l1 fit o u r n e w S o l i c i t o r s to offer a prope.- car , Ce t h e P u b l i c f r o m t b e very start of their eers. "The efficiency of a new Solicitor up to now and Cllded o n b o w t b o r o u 8 b a n apprenticeship he had n l n m y e x P e r i e n c e many apprenticeships were in » * o n l y . I have indicated to the Society and they ^ e Pt my point of view that no student having taken f avv degree should be deprived entry to the pro- c h s , ° n lor want of a master and that the practice of a rging premiums to apprentices should be dis- c °ntinued." t h ^ if Minister continued by saying that he hoped e x e Benchers of Kings Inn would shortly follow the j n m Ple of the Incorporated Law Society by introduc- a g a course of studies which would involve both the the a n d t b e P r a c t i c a l subjects. He stated that ^ Present practice whereby a qulified barrister had W a s e a r n bis trade by devilling to an established man less' a n a m a t e u r ' s b approach where a hard pro- sionalism was required. bra i f m n o t i n l a v o u r ° l t b e lusion of the two j ts n c h e s of the Society but each will have to justify f e . S e p a r a te existence by a high standard of pro- c om° n a l Performance. The Solicitors branch has m cnced reforms to ensure just this. If the other

branch fails to follow suit, I would fear such pressure for fusion between the branches that even I, an opponent of fusion, would find it hard to resist." The Minister continued to say that he would like to see as soon as possible a system whereby law students .would commence their studies by taking a • degree and at that stage they would opt to become barristers or solicitors and enter on the practical course of study provided by the professional body of their choice. At the moment a teenager leaving school has to decide at that relatively immature stage which particular branch of the profession he will join and the Minister remarked that he thought a more mature choice could be made at the degree stage. Mr. Justice Kenny suggested that the whole system of legal education should be confined to the uni- versities, instead of being split between the Universities, the King's Inns and the Incorporated Law Society. Seven of the nine E.E.C. countries trained their law students totally within universities, and the break in the law student's training in Ireland was indefensible. Mr. Patrick Hanratty echoed the point on frag- mentation. A professional student who wished to take an academic degree found that he had to take separate examinations in the same subject in separate institr'ions, usually in separate years. This arose through a lack of liaison and co- operation between the various institutions. No real progress could be made in solving the basic problems of legal education until this primary problem had been overcome, he added. Mr. Hanratty said that the emphasis was on lecturing, almost to the exclusion of other forms of instruction. Dialogue between teacher and student was impossible in overcrowded classrooms. Practical exercises in the application of the rules learned at lectures were almost non-existent and, in many cases, visits to the courts were not even encouraged. "In this respect not alone is law studied without adequate reference to its social context, but also without adequate reference to its practical legal context. The student's concept of justice and appreci- ation of the way the law works is lost in a tangled mass of equitable easements, memoranda and, if he can't stand the pace, tranquilisers." Because a long-term solution could not be found without greater liaison between the various institu- tions, Mr. Hanratty suggested the establishment of a Council for Legal Education. The council would consist of representatives from the Benchers of the King's Inns, the Council of the Law Society, the Law Departments of the Universities and the legal professions. Apart from eliminating fragmentation in the education system, the Council of Legal Education could deal in a rational and unified manner with the problems affecting all branches of t h e legal e d u c a t i o n. 57