The Gazette 1981

INCORPORATED LAW SOCIETY OF IRELAND GAZETTE Vol. 75, No. 10. December 1981

Comment . . .

In this issue

Comment

235

. . . Watch your language

The European Convention on Human Rights and the 'Closed Shop' Practice Note: Use of Vendor and Purchaser Act Summons Procedure 241 Minutes of Annual General Meeting 243 Commission Consultative des Barreaux de la Communauté Européenne 247 Section 84 Loans 247 Instant Dismissal Without Observing Natural Justice Unconstitutional ... 248 Land Registry — Folio Numbers .... 252 Declaration of Solvency 252 For Your Diary 252 Correspondence 252 Book Reviews 253 Professional Information 255 237

A S the International Year of Disabled Persons draws to a close, differing views are being expressed as to its success. It is true that none could claim that there has been a revolutionary improvement in the position of disabled persons in Irish society, but no such improvement could realistically be expected in such a short time. If, on the other hand, the year has led to a change in attitudes among hitherto unaffected and uncaring sections of our community, it will have achieved much. One positive example of such change would be a reduction in the use of those ugly phrases which are in such common use either to describe disabled people or to compare them with "normal" persons. What is most depressing is that our legislators, to whom the community is entitled to look for a lead in such matters, and our Department of Health have so recently combined in the perpetuation of a misdescription so fundamental as to put in doubt their depth of understanding of the position. The Mental Health Act of 1980 still makes no distinction between those who are mentally handicapped and those who are mentally disturbed. Many people who are mentally handicapped are not mentally disturbed. The Royal Society for Mentally Handicapped Children and Adults in Britain has been pressing for many years for the removal of mental handicap from the comparable English legislation, the Mental Health Act, and there are signs that in a proposed Bill the British Government is to recognise the distinction between the two groups. It is highly unsatisfactory, to say the least, that in the Republic of Ireland, in order to obtain benefits or hospitalisation, a mentally handicapped person must be treated as a mentally disturbed person. There are worrying suggestions that, as a result of the classification of mentally handicapped persons as mentally ill for the purposes of the Mental Health Act, such persons may be detained or subjected to treatment which is not appropriate to mere mental handicap. The least our legislators should do in 1982, to show that the year of disabled persons has had a lasting impact, would be to pass legislation dealing sensibly with the position of the mentally disabled as a category of persons different and distinct from those who are mentally disturbed. • 235

Executive Editor: Mary Buckley Editorial Board: Charles R. M. Meredith, Chairman John F. Buckley

Gary V. Byrne William Earley Michael V. O'Mahony Maxwell Sweeney

Advertising: Liam Ó hOisin, Telephone 305236 The views expressed in this publication, save where other- wise indicated, are the views of the contributors and not necessarily the views of the Council of the Society. Published at Blackhall Place, Dublin 7.