The Gazette 1973

Retirement of Secretary The President stated that this would be the last meeting to be attended by Mr. Plunkett in his capacity as Secretary of the Society, an office which he had held since 1942. He paid tribute to Mr. Plunkett for his service to the Society in which various members of the Council joined. The Secretary replying thanked the Council and wished every success to his successor Mr. James J. Ivers, Director General, who was present. Reform of Legal Education The President reported on behalf of the deputation which was received by the Minister for Justice on 27 July 1973 (L/53/2). The Minister had approved in broad principle of the Society's proposals for the reform of legal education but had indicated that he was not disposed to recommend legislation abolishing the Irish examination. Circuit Court Rules Committee It was unanimously resolved to appoint Mr. Thomas Gannon, solicitor, Mohill, in place of the late Mr. Francis J. Gannon. District Court Rules Committee It was unanimously resolved to reappoint Mr. William A. Osborne as one of the Society's representatives on the Committee with effect from 4 December 1973. the dispute, that if there was any way in which their intervention could bring about a resumption of discus- sions with the clerks he would welcome it. The Minister accused the clerks of choosing to resume their "so-called" work-to-rule to coincide with the annual licensing session of the court—an action calcu- lated to inflict the greatest possible inconvenience on the legal profession and on the public. The Minister's response to the Bar Association offer was welcomed last night by the 104-strong Clerks' Association. But referring to the Minister's accusation that they had resumed their work-to-rule in September so as to disrupt the annual licensing session a spokesman de- clared : "We must again contradict this suggestion. The District Courts take summer vacation from August 1 and resume on September 1. Obviously if we resumed our work-to-rule in August the preparatory work for the session would have been hit." A strong protest was made at Nenagh Court yesterday by Mr. Michael O'Mara, a senior member of the Bar Association, for Tipperary, Laois and Offaly, over the delay in the efforts to settle the dispute. Mr. O'Mara said the Minister was himself a solicitor of more than twenty years standing and had a good knowledge of the difficulties they were all experiencing. They had a big list there that day and the cases of people attending court might not be reached. There had been untold delays and frustration because of this dispute. Irish Independent (5 October 1973) 209

scribed as his wife. She crashed the car and the repair bill came to £400. The British client was injured and he instructed members to pay the £400 at £10 per week out of damages which he would recover on a personal injury claim. As a result members gave an undertaking to the garage to pay the repair bill out of the damages. Later the British client wrote to members saying that the lady was not his wife and consequently he did not regard himself liable to her debt and he requested the solicitor to cancel the undertaking to the garage. The Council felt that the solicitor was bound by his under- taking. They felt that the question of whether the revocation of authority was binding is a question of law. They referred members to the previous statement of the Council in the Gazette, September/October 1972, page 233, which suggests that solicitors for their own safety should have their clients sign a form of irre- vocable retainer attached to the undertaking itself. Vendor to bear expense of Land Registry map Members wrote requesting further information on the Council's recommendation in Vol. 64 of the Gazette, September/October 1970, page 92, that a vendor should furnish an official Land Registry map as part of the title in Land Registry transfers. Members asked who should bear the expense of procuring the Land Registry map. The Council on a report from a committee recom- mended that the vendor should bear this expense. Every District Justice had discretion to extend or reduce the time appointed for lodging documents, the Minister for Justice said yesterday. Mr. Gooney was referring to statements by some District Justices regarding the "so- called work-to-rule" by provincial court clerks. These Justices, the Minister announced, were re- ported as saying that, because of the "work-to-rule" they could not deal with documents which had not been lodged in the court office within the prescribed time. "Without in any way wishing to interfere with the discharge of their judicial functions by these Justices, the Minister considers it his duty to point out that every District Justice has discretion to enlarge or abridge the time appointed for lodging documents" a Government Information Bureau statement announced. "It follows that members of the public with business in the court have the right to demand that documents be accepted in the court office and that they be placed before the Justice so that he may be enabled to exercise the discretion vested in him. That discretion has tradi- tionally been exercised in favour of the applicant where this does not adversely affect any other party interested in the proceedings." Mediation Offer The statement added that the Minister had informed the Council of the Dublin Solicitors' Bar Association, which had approached him with an offer to mediate in

Court Dispute: Minister's Advice to Justices