The Gazette 1991

april

1991

g a z e t t e

on-line Minitel system or through t he pu r chase of a s o f t wa re package. Minitel cons t i t u t es Ireland's introduction to high technology information systems through the use of a 'phone line and data network'. The Minitel service offers a commercial system for the delivery of non-voice electronically based services such as videotex, electronic mail and transactional services. It is a mass market service directed at bo th t he business and residential users and is modelled on the successful French Teletel service, which has been in operation since 1981. The Minitel service can be best envisaged as a non-voice telephone style service. The services are hosted on the system by third party service producers, such as the ITAZ database. The user, in this case the solicitor, gains access to the service by way of a Minitel set which is used instead of the normal telephone handpiece. The Minitel set is a small screen for viewing text and graphics, rather like a small television or computer screen, and a keyboard for inputting information. Among the services offered, or planned to be offered to users, include general information, trans-actional services interactive communication and computational services. Service providers, such as ITAZ database, develop a computer- ised se r v i ce wh i ch is t hen connected to the Telecom Eireann data network. There is no one central computer or database. Each provider puts together its own system which is then connected to the network. Users take out a separate sub- scription to the screenphone service from Minitel Communica- tions Limited. The billing for charges incurred is also separate. Users follow a log-on procedure and enter a simple access code to . obtain the desired service. The total cost of the Minitel service to the user consists of t wo components: the rental charge for the Minitel screen; which is £5 a month and the call costs for the services used. Users have the option to pur- chase the screenphone and avoid the rental charges, if they prefer. Call charges are based on the call duration and the tariff rate that

Minitel: Services for the Legal Profession

believed that at least eighty of those venues will be abolished soon. This will lead to a distribution of the territories of the abolished District Court sittings. As a result, a smaller number of District Court areas will cater for larger geographic territories. This will have major implications for solicitors in the areas of collection of unpaid monies to suppliers and wholesalers and the issue of civil proceedings. Once the change in territories comes into effect, it will be very difficult for solicitors to determine the correct district court area for the civil processes as no other person or organisation in Ireland has access to the information in the ITAZ database. The ITAZ database provides comprehensive information on each of 50,918 townlands and 4,000 towns and villages of Ireland. Each townland, t own and village is supported w i t h the f o l l ow i ng information: the district electoral division; the District Court areas, both summary and civil; barony, civil parish; Garda station serving the particular townland; and the ordnance survey map reference numbers. In respect of each District Court area, the following information is provided: District Court number; time of court sittings; day of month; month of the year; District Court clerk's name, address and telephone number; mode of service of court documents; and Circuit Court venue on appeal from the District Court. It is estimated that 75 per cent of all firms of solicitors use computers to some extent. It is now common for larger practices to have a systems partner who has responsibility for the application of c ompu t er t e c hno l ogy to t he business. Computerisation offers the legal profession more op- portunity to practise law instead of wasting time rooting through old and dusty files. Solicitors can gain access to the ITAZ database through the

The costs to solicitors of issuing a District Court Civil Process may be greatly reduced by the introduction of a computer based information system carried through the Minitel network. ITAZ Database provides compre- hensive up-to-date information on each of the 50,918 townlands and 4,000 towns and villages of Ireland. Access to t he i n f o rma t i on through Minitel enables solicitors to produce accurate documentation for debt collection purposes within five minutes. Without the use of the system, it can take an average of six telephone calls over two days to accumulate the necessary details for the issue of a district court civil process. Even then there is no guarantee t ha t t hese t i me c on s um i ng telephone calls have garnered the correct information. There is no current up-to-date index to the townlands of Ireland. The last such index p r i n t ed was t he 1901 Topographical Index to t he Townlands of Ireland. It has been out of print for almost f i f ty years and is something of a collector's item. The correctness of the address of the person to whom a District Court process is being sent is a pre- requisite if a firm of solicitors is to successfully sue for monies owed. The postal address is designed only for the delivery of mail by An Post. It cannot be relied upon to deter- mine the correct District Court Area for the issue of a civil process for the sitting of the District Court. Hence, the necessity for numerous phone calls to ascertain the correct address. Such information will become even more important when the Department of Justice completes its review of the existing structure of the 250 District Court venues throughout the country. Announcing the review in 1989, Gerry Collins, the then Minister for Justice, stated that the existence of 250 District Court venues could no longer be justified in the light of improved methods of travel. It is

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