The Gazette 1980

GAZETTE

JUNE 1980

SOCIETY WELCOMES NEW UNIVERSITY COLLEGE GALWAY LAW PROSPECTUS The Society's Education Committee has welcomed the new prospectus issued by the Faculty of Law at University College Galway. Under the guidance of Professor Kevin Boyle legal studies in the College have been reorganised in recent years. To quote from the new prospectus "Law is not taught at U.C.G. with the traditional purpose of preparing students for careers in •egal practice as barristers and Solicitors. The objective of the recent reorganisation has been to both broaden the scope of legal study and the range of career outlets which graduates who have read legal subjects may take up. There may be a misconception that the only point to read- >ng law at university is to prepare the student for a career as a private practitioner of law. In fact the study of law can prove a valuable and enjoyable educational discipline in its own right, while also providing an excellent basic education for careers in a large number of fields in modern society. There is now considerable evidence that as a community we are educating a sufficient, if not an excessive number of people hoping to follow careers in the private practise of law. Students embarking on the study law in the Republic should be aware that the demand for Solicitors and barristers is likely to be limited for the forseeable future. As a society our present need for legally trained people lies in other directions including local and central government administration, industry and commerce and the international sectors of both govern- ment and industry. The programmes of legal study developed at Galway are based on an appreciation of these facts. But within this overall approach it remains possible at Galway to read the necessary subjects in law which will enable a student to prepare for entry to the solicitors or the barristers profession, or to use such professional qualifications for careers other than private practise." It is not perhaps surprising to find the newer or smaller institutions breaking free more easily from the traditional Pattern of the law schools of the Irish Universities as being simply conduit pipes through which under graduates passed on their way to the legal profession. In establishing this pattern the Irish Law Schools seem to have gone even farther than their U.K. counterparts where this pattern is discernible though less pervasive. The Law Faculty in a continental European university ,s often the largest faculty, — attracting students most of whom have no intention of ever practising law. The legal degree, which also includes an economics or history element is regarded as the appropriate grounding for eareers in administration, government or business. With the increasing importance of the E.E.C. — a community of legal rules — a legal education — if not necessarily a Professional qualification — will be of great benefit, arguably essential, for those in the public service or business whose work will be directly influenced by the E.E.C.

This move in U.C.G. and the Law Option in the European Studies degree offered by N.I.H.E. Limerick are very welcome. It is to be hoped that consideration will be given in the other three Law Schools to offering such courses to their students in the near future. The popularity of Law Faculties among prospective students may well fade if no efforts are made to ensure that career prospects for law graduates are improved. 1st July 1980. SOLICITORS' ACCOUNTS REGULATIONS Approved Authorised Depositories for Solicitors Funds at July, 1980. Agricultural Credit Corporation Limited; Algemene Bank Nederland (Ireland) Limited; Allied Irish Banks Limited; Bank of America; Bank of Ireland; Bank of Ireland Finance Limited; Bank of Nova Scotia; Banque Nationale De Paris (Ireland) Limited; Bowmaker (Ireland) Limited; Citibank N.A.; Chase & Bank of Ireland (International) Limited; Allied Irish Finance Company Limited; Allied Irish Investment Bank Limited; Ansbacher & Company Limited; City of Dublin Bank Limited; First National Bank of Chicago; Forward Trust (Ireland) Limited; Guinness & Mahon Limited; Hill Samuel & Company (Ireland) Limited; Industrial Credit Company Limited; Investment Bank of Ireland Limited; Irish Bank of Commerce Limited; Irish Intercontinental Bank Limited; Lombard & Ulster Banking (Ireland) Limited; Mercantile Credit Company of Ireland Limited; Northern Bank Limited; Northern Bank Finance Corporation Limited; Post Office Savings Bank; Royal Trust Bank (Ireland) Limited; Trinity Bank Limited; Trustee Savings Banks; Ulster Bank Limited; Ulster Investment Bank Limited; United Dominions Trust (Ireland) Limited.