The Gazette 1991

GAZETTE

DECEMBER 1991

Philip Ely, in his keynote address on the theme of widening horizons (again, reflecting the increasing internationalisation of legal pract- ice) provided some interesting reflections from a solicitor with more than 33 years of service to his profession behind him. He chose essentially domestic themes in a wide-ranging address. He spoke of the problems facing the profession in a period of recession in the UK highlighting the growing cost of solicitors' overheads. It now costs the average firm about £27,000 per year simply to stay in practice and the cost to the sole practitioner is about £6 , 000 (these are the aggrega t i on of t he cost of practising certificates, investment business certificates, indemnity insurance and Compensa t i on Fund). The recession was also causing unemp l oyment and younger members were now finding it very difficult to get jobs on qualifying. But though the re- cession is biting, Ely believes that the profession in England is well placed to meet the challenges. The quality of those now qualifying, their academic ability, their training and their f u r t her con t i nu i ng education was of a much higher order t han when he himself commenced practice, he said. Technology was also a major development and he spoke of the growing awareness and application of management skills in the profession. This was also linked to a growing recognition of the need for client awareness, efficiency and communication. He stressed also how essential it was to have a strong independent profession in the UK. "Never before has there been a greater need for i ndependent advice and for independent defence against the powerful, against the departments of state, against the monopolistic institutions which now control the property market", he said. He reminded his listeners of the role of the independent solicitors in the long and distressing catalogue of mi shand l ed cases, i nc l ud i ng

Human Rights Another interesting session was that devoted to the subject of human rights in which a number of eminent lawyers, including Helena Kennedy, QC, who has been prominently associated with the Charter 88 Group. She argued the case for a fundamental revision of the English constitution to enable human rights to be better protected in law. The essential theme of the speakers was that Britain needed a written constitution which would explicitly protect basic human rights and that the European Convention on Human Rights should be directly incorporated into British law. Some important points were made about the protection of the rights of accused persons and Helena Kennedy, in particular, drew heavily on the lessons to be learned from Birmingham and Guildford. Charter 88, of which she is a council member, are, of course, pressing for more than just a Bill of Rights. They are also seeking electoral reform and important changes in relation to t he appointment of judges. One could hardly fail to be impressed by the strength of the case they made in relation, in particular, to the protection of the rights of those accused of criminal offences and I thought it of con- siderable interest that they laid great emphasis on the importance of access by a solicitor to an accused person in custody. Their view was that this should be an absolute right, with no provision for derogation from it. •

Birmingham and Guildford as well as many other cases where solicitors carried great responsi- bility, very often on their own, for many years. He also spoke about the inefficient and dishonest in the profession in the UK and questioned whether the efficient solicitors could forever be expected to protect and pay for the in- efficient. He also doubted whether the Law Society itself could sustain its role or its credibility if it in turn forever protected the inefficient and dishonest at the cost of the efficient and the honest. These no doubt are themes wh i ch will strike cords of sympathy in many quarters of the profession here. I have no doubt that we shall be hearing more on these subjects. Judicial review I attended an interesting session on the subject of judicial review which, apparently, has undergone some- thing of an explosion in recent years in the UK. First, there was an assessment of the development of judicial review by a local authority solicitor who presented a compre- hensive outline of how it operated and the basis upon which judicial review can be obtained. He also gave a good deal of statistical information on its growth of recent years. Then there was a session which amounted in essence to an attack on the judiciary for having made a mess of judicial review by James Goudie, QC. The response on the part of the judiciary was given by Lord Justice Woolf who said that, while the judges had not made a mess of it, they might have done somewhat better. To my mind, what was interesting, from an Irish viewpoint, was the open and frank way in which these matters were being discussed with the judges. One comes across this time and again at UK conferences. There appears to be a much greater willingness to subject all aspects of the legal system to searching and critical examination and, apparently, a willingness on the part of the judiciary to take part in the process.

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