The Gazette 1967/71

a life estate, and it would be best to give her at least one third of the residue. It was emphasised that, if a wife claims her legal right, her estate would be liable for all estate duty. The Judge stressed that under the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964, the great majority of the cases are heard in camera ; even solicitors and counsel are not admitted ; it was stated that many of these cases presented deep psychological problems which should not be brought before the public gaze. The number of these cases is increasing, particularly in the High Court and the Circuit Court. The fact that lihere is no expeditious cheap method of having separation proceedings tended to encourage persons who sought a separation to take proceed ings under the 1964 Act for the maintenance and custody of the children ; the cost of the ordinary matrimonial proceedings was prohibitive. As re gards the mutual property rights, and the obligation of husband and wife, in granting injunc tions the Courts have tried to reconcile property rights with the obligation of the parties to live together and the duty of the husband to maintain his wife. It was unfortunate that the English doctrine preserving the equitable estate of the deserted wife in the property which had been the matrimonial home had been rejected by the House of Lords. Finally, the Judge said there was no public demand for divorce, and the present position should be maintained. The third session was devoted to the intricate problem of " The fusion of the two legal proces sions." Mr. Neville, Chairman of the Young Solicitors Society, stated that the Society intended, on the invitation of the Commission on Court Practice and Procedure, to submit its views to the Committee, and invited members to express their views in a preliminary discussion, which was intro duced by Mr. Arthur Lavery and Mr. Frank O'Donnell. Mr. Lavery stated he had been in Regina, Canada for 12 years ; the advantage to the client in the merged system lay in the fact that the client selected his lawyer, who prepared.the case, and conducted the trial in Court; there was consequently only one fee payable. The disadvan tage was that the client tended to consult his lawyer regardless of the type of work involved. There was a substantially larger earning power in large firms ; the Canadian solution entailed a high degree of specialisation in the large centres. Here 143

Draftsmen traditionally archaic style that led to obscurity. Schedules to Acts incorporated rules and essential matters instead of being confined to information and examples. Too much detail was included in an attempt to cover every eventuality, and there was a reluct ance to leave anything to the discretion of officials or of the courts. Amendments were piecemeal and ill-considered. The report urges that all legislation including statutory instruments on one topic should be found in one place, with one Act for each subject. Present methods of publication made it hard to find the applicable law or to keep texts of statutes up to date. Many fields of law should be codified or consolidated. Sir Desmond said one of the main difficulties for the lawyer today was to find out what the law was and to understand it when he found it. " We want quality of legislation not quantity." M.P.s had to be persuaded that there was a real problem over the legislation they produced and that there had to be changes in their pro cedure for passing it. (Statute Law Deficiencies, Sweet and Maxwell, n New Fetter Lane, London. Price Ids.). Daily Telegraph, 26 March, 1970. SOCIETY OF YOUNG SOLICITORS CORK SEMINAR The ninth joint Seminar organised by the Society of Young Solicitors and the Council of Provincial Solicitors was held in the Metropole Hotel, Cork, on 21st and 22nd March 1970. The first lectures given by Mr. Gerald Moloney on " Consumer Pro tection Law in Ireland " and by Mr. Forman, Chief Legal Adviser of the British Consumer's Council on the " English Trade Description Act 1968 " are available in transcript form ; the importance of this subject is most relevant. The Hon. Mr. Justice Kenny delivered the second lecture on " Some Aspects of Family Law " ; some of the changes brought about by the Succession Act 1965 were considered in detail and it was stressed that the English and New Zealand Acts were irrelevant in this connection. It was stated that in urban areas, in the case of a married man with children, the best will to make was one giving everything to the wife ; if the children are over 17 years, it would be unwise to give the wife themselves used a