The Gazette 1972

goods and capital, the right of establishment, an d the freedom to supply services. The Community Institutions ar e subject only to Com - munity Law , and no t to national Constitutions. No other view would be consistent with the character of Com - munity law as an independent, specific an d original mgal system. Th e Court declared in 1964 that "th e rights created by the (Rome) Treaty, by virtue of their specific original nature, cannot be judicially contra- dicted by (any national) law without losing their Com - munity character an d without undermining the legal basis of the Community" (Case 6/67). Th e Court of Justice ha s on several occasions pointed ou t that it was not part of its duties to judge whether acts of the Com - munity authorities were compatible with the provisions of national constitutions. Values Nevertheless, the protection of fundamental human r |ghts in the EEC does no t depend on elements of such n ghts as have been included in the EEC Treaty. Fo r it can be assumed that th e guarantees written into the treaty ar e extended by unwritten general legal prin- Cl ples in the member States and that it is fo r the Court to determine and , where appropriate, apply those prin- ciples. To quote former Commission member Hans von der Groeben : "While th e Community is no t bound by me fundamental rights as part of national law , it must Solicitors' remuneration is regulated by five different committees. Unlike the public service an d other sec- tions of the community, fees are no t raised concurrently ^ith the national wage rounds. Applications must be considered by th e various judicial committees an d in certain cases then submitted to the Minister fo r Justice. l n the case of non-contentious work (by fa r the largest area of remuneration) the Minister has no direct func- tion bu t orders of the judicial body ar e laid directly by mem before the Oireachtas. Th e result ha s been that oe level of fees fo r some frequent services which ar e charged on an item basis lags fa r behind th e national Price index by the time increases become effective. In contrast to this solicitors' office expenses rise automati- cally yvith the level of wages and prices. There have oeen six wage rounds since 1961 which operated directly ° n solicitors' office expenses. By contrast there has been ° nl Y one increase (12 per cent) in solicitors' item charges and this applied only to three ou t of the five classes of jy°rk (Superior Courts, District Court an d non-conten- i°us business). Orders authorising increases of 12 pe r cent fo r Circuit Court an d Land Registry business were submitted by the judicial committees to the Minister for Justice bu t he refused to concur. Th e Council ar e iinaware why an exception should have been made fo r w o ou t of the five committees as no reason wa s given. , Where the Minister ha s a concurring function there Pas been an average time lag of three and a half years ? e tween date of application an d date of operation of ^creases. I n th e case of th e Circuit Court an appli- cation submitted to the Committee on the 1st August 19 6l was sanctioned by the Department on 2nd October

accept the values which those who drewu up the consti- tutions of the member States embodied in the funda- mental rights." In a ruling of 12t h November 1969 (Case 29/69), the Court dismissed the plea that a Commission decision had violated th e basic rights to human dignity an d equality of treatment. It held that "th e decision in question does no t con - tain any element that might jeopardise the fundamental rights of the individual contained in the general prin- ciples of the law of the Community, of which the Court must ensure the observance." In December. 1970 , the Court confirmed (Case 11/70) its earlier judgments and emphasised that "i t is neces- sary, however, to consider whether there ha s been a failure to provide under Community law a guarantee that corresponds (to fundamental rights under national constitutions), fo r respect of fundamental rights belongs to the general legal principles whose observance the Court of Justice must ensure." Community law does no t constitute a code which merely needs to be applied. New fields ar e being incor- porated into the Community sphere, new law is being made daily, an d this is constantly leading to fresh developments. Despite these developments, th e struc- tural principles of the Community ar e still firmly bedded in the Rome Treaty. Bu t there, too , things ar e moving, as shown by th e tendency to accept that decisions an d directives can have immediate legal effects.

Memorandum to the Minister for Justice Pending Appli cation for Increases based on the Cost of Living Figure Solicitors' Remuneration

1967 while in the District Court an application sub - mitted on 14t h September 1961 was sanctioned by th e Department on 1st January 1965 . By contrast an appli- cation in relation to non-contentious costs which wa s laid directly before the Oireachtas by the statutory body under th e Solicitors' Remuneration Ac t in Ma y 1964 became effective on 1st August 1964 . The applications a t present under consideration ar e for an increase of 42 pe r cent on the level of fees fixed

1971 (Nov. )

increase s

Effectiv e

to date.

Cost of living

100 100

174 200

74% 100%

Judicial salaries (average) Higher civil service (average)

(base November 1961 ) .. . 100

185

85%

Oireachtas Dáil

100 100

250 200 112 100 112 112 100 125

150% 100%

Seanad

Solicitors' item charges Superior Courts (base 1962 ) .. . 100

12%

Circuit Court District Court

100 100

12% 12%

Non-contentious (Schedule 2) 100 Land Registry (Schedule 2) (fixed on RV x 50) 100 Criminal legal ai d (base 1965 ) 100

—

25%

55