The Gazette 1958-61

and signed by the chairman. The chairman announced that he nominated the following members of the Society to act as scrutineers of the ballot for the election of the Council to be held on zoth November, 1958 : John R. McG Blakeney, James R. Green, Thomas Jackson, Brendan P; McCormack and Roderick J. Tierney. The President, adressing the meeting, said : LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, Since our last meeting in November I have to record with regret the death of the following members : James Malseed, Co. Donegal; Peter P. Taaffe, Co. Kildare; Thomas J. Dowdall, JVTullingar; James T. Listen, Co. Cork ; Aloysius J. Reddy, Dublin; Cecil G. Vanston, Dublin; Martin J. Crotty, Kilkenny ; Patrick J. Connellan, Longford ; and my father, John Pierce Carrigan, Thurles, who was a mamber of the Council of the Society from the year 1940 to 1949, and was Vice-President for the year 1942-43. On behalf of the members of the Council and myself I would like to express deep sympathy to their relatives and friends. MEMBERSHIP. There are in Ireland 1,369 solicitors who are practising, and of these 1,132 are members of the Incorporated Law Society. This means that there are still 237 solicitors who are not members. I must urge every practising solicitor in Ireland to become a member of the Society. The Society regulates matters within the profession itself and the dealings of the profession with the public. It is the rock upon which our profession stands. It will generally be agreed that in the world to-day standards of conduct, decency and honesty have, in every walk of life without exception, sadly fallen from what they were. The example of the nations of the world in their search for power and profit and self-interest are hardly calculated to inspire the common man to maintain a standard of any kind. It is more necessary than ever that our Society should cling to and enforce the high standards which were set for it in the past by the great lawyers who have gone before us and that it should see that those who do not subscribe to those standards are ad– monished accordingly. BAR ASSOCIATIONS. And in this connection the Bar Associations were never more necessary than they are to-day. I have always been convinced that the Bar Associations are the sheet-anchor of our profession. These have their being and their influence in areas which quite

obviously cannot come under the direct influence of the Council of this Society. They are very often able to deal with certain difficulties arising between their members in a more satisfactory way than the Council of the Law Society could, and their influence in every case without exception does nothing but good; There ought to be a Bar Association in every County in Ireland and every solicitor in that County should be a member of that particular Bar Associa– tion. I make no apology whatsoever for saying that there must be something very wrong indeed with an area which has not got a Bar Association. It may be due only to apathy, but whatever may be the cause there is no excuse. I hope to see the day when every County is served by a Bar Association and indeed apart from one or two exceptions that day has almost arrived. If there is anything that the Council or I can do to assist any existing Bar Association or any group of solicitors in founding a Bar Association, we have only to be asked and we will gladly give any help we can. DISCIPLINARY JURISDICTION. As you know, since the last general meeting of the Society the Supreme Court has delivered judgment on the constitutional issues raised by the appeals taken by two solicitors against orders of the Disciplinary Committee made under Section 18 of the Solicitors Act 1954, whereby the Committee directed that their names should be struck off the roll. The Court was not concerned with any question other than the constitutional validity of the sections of the statute which were challenged by the appell– ants. The Chief Justice had decided that the statute was validly enacted and affirmed this Order of the Committee. The Attorney-General was joined as respondent with the Society. The short point involved in the appeal was whether the Disciplinary Committee, set up by the Solicitors Act 1954 had been given powers and functions the exercise of which involved the " administration of justice " and which could not properly be regarded as falling within the saving provisions of Article 37 of the Constitution. The Supreme Court held that the Solicitors Act 1954 purported to delegate the constitutional judicial authority of the Courts to the Disciplinary Commit– tee in certain cases, and that the exercise of such assigned powers and functions, being calculated ordinarily to affect in the most profound and far- reaching way the lives, liberties, fortunes or re– putations of those against whom they might be