The Gazette 1949-1952

and the reputation o f the profession as a whole. For these reasons the Council are disappointed that the Bill is making such slow progress towards the Statute Book. Everything that the Council could do to expedite its progress has been done, and continual representations have been made to the Department. It is now seven years since the Draft was first submitted and every aspect o f the Bill has been thoroughly discussed. We see no reason why there should be any further delay. It is not a contro­ versial measure, and much o f the Bill is a repetition o f the provisions o f the Solicitors (Ireland) Act, 1898. It is to be hoped that the authorities will take steps to see that the Bill is introduced in the near future. L egal T ext - books : My predecessors have referred in their half- yearly addresses at this meeting to the crying need for the provision o f text-books for law students, and for standard works o f reference for use by practitioners. As the years go by changes in the law make the books which are published in England unsuitable for use in this country. To a large extent our law has stood still since 1923, and we rely on the standard books which wxre published prior to that year. These books are now out of print and the available copies are gradually dis­ appearing. The result is that solicitors’ apprentices are unable to obtain copies o f the books which are prescribed on the syllabus for the Society’s examin­ ations. The Society has tried to improvise a remedy by buying up as many of these books as possible and lending them out to students studying for the final examinations, but this is not a satisfactory position, and students should be able to purchase the books for themselves. Each apprentice pays the sum o f £80 to the Government in stamp duty on his Indentures o f Apprenticeship. The Council has asked the Government to pay this stamp duty to the Society to be used for setting up a fund for the purpose o f financing legal education, including the publication o f students’ text-books and works o f reference. The Minister for Finance was, I think, favourably impressed with the suggestion. It would provide a fund amounting to some thous­ ands per annum out o f which it would be possible to have a number o f the older works re-published, and to have new works written. Unless some steps are taken to finance the publication of new books, legal studies in this country will, in due course, come to a standstill. D elays in G overnment D epartments : The Society continues to receive complaints about delays in various Government Departments,

particularly in the Land Registry, where the position has become so bad as to amount almost to a break­ down in the system. Complaints received by this Society showed that in some cases the registration o f dealings was not completed for over 12 months after the documents had been lodged. Repre­ sentations have been made by the Society over a number o f years to the appropriate Departments, but no improvement has taken place up to the present. The matter affects the profession in so far as clients whose interests are suffering through the delay fail to understand that the fault does not lie with their solicitors, and sometimes they write to this Society complaining as if the solicitor had been guilty o f misconduct in not having their work carried out. It is not right that solicitors should be placed in this position and the Council are con­ sidering what further steps can be taken to deal with the matter. S mall D wellings A cquisition A cts . The Housing Amendment Act, 1950, will probably give rise to an increased number o f applications for loans from local authorities for the leasing and purchase o f sites, and the erection o f dwelling houses. Section 34 o f the Act contains a provision which will enable the local authorities to add the cost o f acquiring the site and the cost o f the lease to the value o f the house for the purpose o f the advance. Complaints have been made about the heavy inci­ dence o f the costs. In some cases the tenant has been required to pay the costs o f the lessor, as well as his own costs in connection with the leasing of the site, and in addition to this he is liable for the costs o f the local authorities in connection with the mortgage. A deputation from the Council went to the Department o f Local Government and made suggesti°ns with a view to easing the position. It was suggested in the first place that section 34 of the Housing Amendment Act, 1950, should be put into operation, and that the local authorities should advance the costs and stamp duty and disbursements in connection with the acquiring o f the site and the mortgage in addition to the price. The deputation informed the Minister that if this were done the Society would consider recommending a sliding scale o f costs in certain cases to be adopted by solicitors acting for the local authorities in con­ nection with the mortgages. The Department were to put forward proposals on the matter, but so far we have not received them, and until we receive them nothing further can be done. I nsurance against negligence by S olicitors : The Waterford Law Society put up a proposal to the Council that this Society should form a Company,