The Gazette 1952-1955

Solicitors’ Bill Having thus briefly referred to our celebration o f what was done for us a hundred years ago by an alien government, I am glad to say that once again there is every hope, prospect, and assurance that the long deferred Solicitors Bill for which we have so long agitated, may soon be introduced in the Dail. It has been a long struggle. Many o f our Vice- Presidents had hoped that it might have been introduced in their terms o f office. I am, however, now told that it may come very shortly. At times we have perhaps chafed at the delay, but we do appreciate the kindness which we have throughout received from the present Minister for Justice and from his predecessor, and also from the officials of the departments mainly concerned. We believe that this Bill may yet be our new charter. Perhaps our descendants may celebrate its centenary with the bi-centenary o f our charter. As you all know, some o f the important provisions which we have sought will enable us, as is hoped, to provide a Compensation Fund, to be applied at the discretion of the Council in cases in which the money o f clients may not be accounted for. Such cases are, I am thankful to say, rare but we are anxious to have the necessary power to endeavour to make provision for them. Equally, or still more important, will be the powers given to the Society to require proper accounts to be kept by all solicitors and to segregate their money while it is in our hands. Those o f us whose duty it has been to take part in the disciplinary functions o f the Society know that where financial deficiencies have in the past arisen, the cause has most often been that the solicitor concerned had failed to keep his accounts properly and had so found himself almost unknowingly on the wrong side. It is our sincere trust that the Bill when it comes will fortify us in preventing such things happening in the future. It is surely the duty o f the Government and the Legislature to give us these essential powers. It is no exaggeration to say that the sums which pass through the hands of solicitors are in the aggregate exceedingly large. The losses have been small indeed. I f the intro­ duction of the Bill coincides with our centenary year, it will be a happy augury. Legal education. Text books Allied to the questions linked with the Bill are those o f the legal education available to our pro­ fession. Once again one must refer to the paucity o f law books suitable for either the student or the practitioner. I do not think that it is sufficiently realised by those who govern us, or by the public, how essential these are. Our system o f a combination i 4

o f statute law and decided cases makes absolutely essential the publication and periodic bringing up-to* date o f adequate text books. This need is in the United Kingdom met adequately by the constant production and renewal o f standard works upon which the profession and even the judiciary must rely to assist their labours. In this country the market is so small that any adequate reward for such work can be received by neither author nor publisher. We, who have grown old since the inauguration o f the Irish State, have been able to build on the books which were current in our youth. This is, however, not possible to the younger men or to the student. In the absence o f proper books there is the real danger of the Law becoming an uncharted sea. The Legislature is active with new statutes, the Courts with new interpretations. I f our legal system is to function adequately there must be books o f reference. There are, in fact, almost none. The situation grows worse daily. It can be remedied only by some State financial aid. One does not like to suggest new public expenditure, but this would be both essential and small. In this connection I must refer to the surprising fart that even the bound volumes o f the Irish Statutes come only up to 1947. We are four or five years in arrear. This, at least, should not be so. The Council has made representations to the Department o f Justice on these questions, and they have been sympathetically received. Here also definite action would be most welcome. University Degrees I do not wish to leave this part o f my subject without referring to what is, I think, most regrett­ able, namely the diminishing number o f our appren­ tices who take University degrees. In the decades following the first world war something approaching one-third o f the newly-admitted solicitors were University graduates. To-day the number would hardly reach five per cent. That this is so is no doubt mainly due to the increasing demands on the work which they must do during apprenticeship. The difficulty and expense o f obtaining suitable lodgings and the expense o f living in Dublin are, no doubt, contributing causes. It is however to be very deeply deplored. I understand that in Northern Ireland an apprentice must before signing his Articles, have obtained a University Degree. The struggle to obtain the facilities for University education was one o f the great tasks o f our fathers. It is tragic that what they achieved should now be neglected. In my view an apprentice who had first obtained his University Degree should be entitled to serve a much shorter apprenticeship. This is a