The Gazette 1958-61

public, and to prevent inroads on the fund. The members of the solicitors' profession are under a statutory obligation to put up the money for the establishment and the maintenance of the fund. The profession in effect is insuring clients against defalcations by a minority of dishonest practitioners. It is unreasonable to the great body of reputable practitioners to expect them to insure clients and at the same time to deprive them of the powers which are necessary to prevent or minimise losses. Nevertheless the Council, having considered the position with regard to the losses by clients at the present time, decided that all claims in respect of which losses had been proved down to the joth April, 1958 should be paid in full and accordingly cheques have been issued or passed for sums amount ing to £10,699. Other claims are still being investigated and this will take some time. The investigation covers all claims arising since the 5th January, 1955 down to the 28th October, 1958, and during that time claims have been made against thirteen Solicitors, an average of three per year. Unfortunately the ability of the Council to prevent loss has been dangerously weakened as a result of the decision of the Supreme Court declaring the powers of the Disciplinary Committee to be unconstitutional. As I have said previously there has been no effective disciplinary jurisdiction for over two years and it is absolutely essential that the Society should have power to prevent defalcations and not only to take disciplinary action after the defalcations have oc curred. It is hoped that the Compensation Fund will be an effective indemnity to the public in any case where a Solicitor misappropriates his client's money and the Council must be given proper powers to deal with the matter. Pensions and Retirement 'Benefits As I told you last May the Council have been ac tively concerned with the question of retirement benefits for the profession. Since then the services of a firm of experts have been engaged to draw up and submit a draft scheme for pensions annuities. The suggestion is that members will be entitled to con tribute annually to this pension annuity scheme in such amounts as they think fit or can afford and the pensions payable to each contributor at the end of the contributory period, at probably 65 or 70 years of age, will be in proportion to the amount contributed by him to the scheme during the contributory period. The advantage of this flexibility is that the member is not tied to a fixed premium and he can provide for his pension in a greater or smaller contribution ac cording to his earnings. He may desire to contribute a large sum in one year and nothing at all during the

next. And it will be on the sum total of what he has contributed during the contributory period that his pension will be calculated. Furthermore contribu tions may be deducted from earnings for tax purposes and it is probable, although not certain, that the pen sions will be taxable in the hands of the recipient at a lower rate when received. The Council have not yet received the draft Scheme but it is the idea that if and when it is set up the Society will act as Trustee to the Scheme to be established for the benefit of the mem bers and the members will send their contributions to the Society for investment with the Company con cerned. Professional policy and development The Council has also decided to set up a Committee to consider the position of the profession and its members generally not only with reference to the relation of the profession with the public but also in connection with the internal affairs of the profession itself. The Council feels that there should be a settled policy with regard to the future rather than that matters should be dealt with on a day to day basis. Times are changing fast and it is no longer sufficient to deal with matters as they arrive. It seems to me that as far as possible they should be anticipated well in advance and the profession should be given some guidance as to how it should adapt itself to situations as they may occur. The proposed Committee will have to study and report on every facet of our pro fession and consider it in detail. It will, I think, have to concern itself with many things. If such a Com mittee had been in existence in the early i93o's I be lieve it may have been able possibly to do untold good. For instance, to take only one example, since the year 1926 apprentices were coming into the pro fession in such considerable numbers that the result is now that the profession's vastly over-crowded and has increased by one-third since 1926, and a Com mittee of the kind now proposed might have then visualised this difficulty and laid down a policy to deal with it. Land Commission Costs During the year a deputation from the Council at tended at the Land Commission for the purpose of explaining difficulties experienced by the profession in regard to procedure and solicitors' costs in Land Commission matters. The position is that the greater part of solicitors' costs in Land Commission matters are item costs regulated by the Schedule of Fees ap pended to the provisional Rules of 1926 and these costs were increased in 1947 by the addition of 25% to the item charges. They are so completely out of line with present day financial and economic condi tions that it does not pay any solicitor now to do any business in the Land Commission. I do not propose i 64