The Gazette 1991

g a z e t t e

a p r i l 1991

pendent. Under a 1990 law, incorporation was allowed for lawyers provided 100% of the equity was owned by practising lawyers. Legal advice could only be given by lawyers in private practice or incorporated as aforesaid. Holland - the Dutch Bar had examined the question of multi- disciplinary practices. They are per- mitted to co-operate wi th other professions in partnership provided there is comparable education and disciplinary rules but, so far, not wi th accountants. Here, the view still was that the role of account- ants, especially in auditing, was impartial and the role of advocates was partial - hence, an immediate conflict. Tony Holland, the English Presi- dent, expressed the view that the age of professions was possibly coming to an end. The reality was - whether we liked it or not - that we were in an age of consumérism. Lawyers had to service an inter- national market and clients with international requirements. There was strong consumer pressure and c ompe t i t i on, especially f r om accountants. There were contributions also f r om t he de l ega t i ons of Liechtenstein (where I think they have only 43 lawyers and one of their main problems related to money laundering), Poland, Luxem- bourg, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Turkey and Les Jeunes Avocats. It 'was interesting to learn also f r om Dr. Karl Hempell, Vice- President of the Viennese Bar, that he receives and regularly reads our Gazette. If this Report is inaccurate in any way, then I would be greatly pleased if he would write to correct me - indeed, perhaps he might write in any event to elaborate and expand on my comments. It was a fascinating and en- riching experience to hear one's colleagues from all over Europe. There is no formal constitution or regulations governing this meeting of Presidents. They have no rule- making or disciplinary powers. But the potential of this meeting as an influence for law, order, justice and peace throughout Europe is enor- mous through the exchange of ideas, the example of high ethical values and the mutual help the legal profession in each country can give to the others, and of

From the

Ireland and I expressed the hope that the required resolution would be passed for the purpose of approving the draft Directive on establishment. The Conference or meeting of Presidents was held at the Ferstal Palace. This was an all day meeting on Friday, 8th February. I estimate that 26 countries were represented - in effect, I understand that all countries of Europe were repre- sented w i th the exception of Iceland and Malta. It was a fascin- ating international experience. At the meeting itself, the Irish dele- gation comprising Peter Kelly of the Bar Council and myself were flanked by the French delegation on one side and the Italian delegation on the other side and in the course of the social events over the few days, we had the pleasure of mee t i ng a w i de va r i e ty of Europeans including Dr. Kurt Waldheim, President of Austria, Dr. Walter Schuppich, President of the Austrian Bar, and the delegates from England, Scotland and North of Ireland. On one evening, I dined wi th the Presidents of the Lawyers As soc i a t i ons f r om Romania and Bulgaria and had a " n i ght c ap " w i t h the President f r om Finland. The meeting took the form of reports f r om all the different European countries. These were extremely interesting and varied. There was a report from Dr. Klaus Shmalz of Germany on the prob- lems arising from the unification of East and West Germany - the former having approximately 2,000 lawyers and the latter about 5 8 , 0 0 0. The delegate f r om Czecheslovakia reported on the position before and after the Revolution of November, 1989; that they were now as free as Western Europe and the principle of free access to the legal profession was accepted. There had been a dram- atic increase in the number of lawyers. There was also a report from Romania on the position since the Revolution there. In Denmark, they thought " t he one stop shop" was a threat to the independence of the legal profess- ion and it was very important for the profession to remain inde-

Report from Vienna European Presidents' Conference Vienna is obviously one of the highlights of a President's itinerary. It surpassed all advance expecta- tions. We arrived in Vienna on the evening of 6th February. The temperature was minus 10 degrees and we awoke on the following morning to find the city under a heavy carpet of snow - the first major snow-fall experienced there for three years. This added to the beauty of the city. There was a meeting of the Inter- national Bar Association on the a f t e r noon of Thursday, 7 th February at which we got an interesting address by the English delegate, John Young, on "Liberalisation and expansion of international trade in legal services - the GATT proposal and its implementation". It was nice to hear the meeting being told that Ireland along wi th Germany were the only t wo countries who were fully up-to- date in their international obliga- tions in passing the required legislation for implementing the E.C. Directive of 21/12/88 on the mutual recognition of Higher Education Diplomas. At this meeting also there was a reference to the CCBE meeting to be held in Dublin early in May. I assured the meeting that they would find a warm welcome in

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