The Gazette 1971

to the entry of the state into economic enterprise trans- forming law into an instrument of social control. The emergence of the welfare state and the active participation of the state in industrial enterprise are particular exemplifications of this development. The society which law now serves is undergoing still further rapid transformation. We live in a planned and regulated economy inspired by technological advance- ment and urged on by the speed of communication and transport. The growing interdependence of people, the emer- gence of new economic institutions and concern with social experiment have expanded the dimensions of the law. Problems concerning economics, science, technology, international trade and transport and the establishment of international economic and political institutions have extended the area of law beyond the regulation and control of day-to-day transactions. Law has now entered into the sphere of "social- engineering". The community is increasingly subject to more and more law, but of a different order to times past. Legislation is rapidly replacing the Common Law. Laws regulating employment, international and uniform laws regulating trade and commerce are substituting for individual contract. Law affecting our environment has now become a matter of major concern—problems relating to the quality of air and water, noise, urban planning, radiation, deep sea mining, highways and traffic control call for ever increasing attention. The emphasis has switched from private to public law. There is a continuous making and re-making of the law. The problem now is how to keep the law in contact with and amenable to the needs of a rapidly changing tenchological society. All this calls for increasing familiarity on the part of lawyers with socio-economic factors underlying the law. Law must be organically related to the knowledge of the times. It must be informed by an awareness of facts established by the disciplines of the economist, the scientist, the physicist and the sociologist. Lawyers must be able to see the interaction of these several disciplines and be able to use the data of social and economic life. To quote Lord Radcliffe ( The Law and Its compass) "You will not mistake my meaning or suppose that I depreciate one of the great humane studies if I say that we cannot learn law by learning law. If it is to be anything more than just a technique it is to be so much more than itself; a -part of history and sociology, a part of ethics and a philosophy of life." Equally, there would seem to be a need on the part of the business community for a sharpened awareness of what the law means, what it is for and how it does its job. Businessmen should have some understanding of law as a social institution. There can be no effective liaison between law and business unless the business community has some appre- ciation of the processes of the development of the law, the limits of its competence and the nature of the insti- tutions through which it operates. This requires the creation of a feeling on the part of the business com- munity for the atmosphere of the law. It goes without saying that every businessman must have sufficient knowledge to do his job efficiently. Whilst it would be impossible to make everyman his own lawyer, each must at least have some knowledge and understanding of the legal devices which he puts to the demand for minimum security for the individual to use from day to day. Accountants, chartered secretaries, students of commerce and others who have attended commercial law courses will, of course, have received, 15

answers and directions you need for a sound foundation. It's going to be your business whether you see him at the start or not, but you are going to need him at some stage and the more familiar he is with your overall plan the more speedily he will be able to offer advice and protection. THE FUTURE AND LAW The President of the Incorporated Law Society, Mr. Brendan McGrath, delivered an address to Dublin Rotary on "The Future of Law". He said that people look at law differently. Some see it as a code of prohibitions. Others regard it con- structively as the foundation of a living order which guides men towards a minimum acceptable conduct. One of the basic misconceptions on the part of many people is that law is primarily concerned with conflict— with law in the courts. The traditional association of law with crime is well illustrated by the story of the lady who was being shown over the courts and when brought into the Court of Chancery, which at the time was adjudicating on some problem arising out of the distri- bution of a charitable trust, she inquired of her guide : "Where's the prisoner?" Since law is a system for the solution of problems thrown up by life, conflict and clashes of interest are, of course, inevitable. Litigation is, however, only one aspect of the law. It is concerned with the breakdown of human relations. There is, however, another and more important aspect of the law, and that is, its function as an organ of government for the creation and preservation of an ordered society. Looked at in this light, law will be seen as an instru- ment of order by which society functions in a politically organised community. It is the means by which society works out its purpose. It is a product and forms part of the fabric and culture of society. As such it is a social science and has a social function. Prior to the nineteenth century, law was mainly built on custom and tradition. The sanction of antiquity gave law its justification. The learned in the law were those who knew and could declare what had always been the law. The industrial revolution, however, changed the economic and social fabric of society. Individual liberty was conceived to be the instrument of progress. Bentham, the prophet of laissez-faire, urged that man must be free to exploit the supposedly infinite resources of nature on a competitive basis. The law's function was to aid and abet by the removal of all obstacles to free- dom of contract. This concept failed. The breakdown was something more than a change in ideology. The uncontrolled pursuit of economic gain changed the physical conditions of urban life. The expansion and intensification of industrial production brought about changes not only in the economic structure but also in the social conditions of life. The mushroom appearance of densely populated industrial cities gave rise to problems concerning public health and safety. New industrial corporations and the trade unions gave rise to the problem of the power of one group of men to do damage to others. When men pooled their individual liberties to create combinations whose survival depended upon trials of strength, the theory of freedom was called in question. Finally, the necessity for elimination of waste, the need for capital transcending individual resources and the demand for minimum security for the individual led