The Gazette 1993

VOL. 87 NO. 2

JULY/AUGUST 1993

Judge Walsh noted that the Govern- ment's plea thai it was motivated by a wish to preserve public confidence in the independence of the judiciary was, in effect, to say that such confidence was to be maintained or achieved by not permitting them to have a role in the protection of the personal liberty of the arrested persons. The Judge noted that one would think that such a role was one which the public would expect the judges to have. He also noted that neither the UK Parliament nor the UK Government appears to have made any serious effort to rearrange the judicial procedure or jurisdiction, in spite of being advised to do so by the persons appointed to review the system to cater for the requirement of article 5.3 in cases of the type now under review. Judge Walsh considered that the UK Government had not convincingly shown, in a situation where the courts operate normally, why an arrested person could not be treated in accord- ance with article 5.3. He noted that the fact that out of 1,549 persons arrested in 1990, only 30 were subsequently charged. This indicated a paucity of proof rather than any deficiency in the operation of the judicial function. He stated it should not be beyond the ability of Parliament to legislate for a situation where the arrested person could be brought before a judge with liberty to grant an adjournment for up to a period of 5 or 7 days before the expiration of which the arrested person must be released or charged, where the arresting officer was prepared to swear that he had reasonable grounds for suspecting that the arrested person had been involved in or engaged in "acts of terrorism" within the meaning of the relevant legislation. Judge Walsh considered there had been a breach of article 5.3 of the Convention in respect of the detention of each of the applicants, and that there had been a breach of article 13 of the Convention, which requires that an effective remedy must be available before a national authority for everyone whose rights and freedoms as set forth in the Convention are violated. 1 Mr. McBride was later shot dead on February 4, 1992 by a policeman who ran amok and attacked Sinn Fein headquarters in Belfast.

The Solicitors' League Table

John Pritchard, a solicitor, and author of many books on the law including The Legal 500 has produced the 1993 edition of Law Firms in Europe. This hook is full of information including editorial comment based on the combined opinions of many lawyers interviewed in each jurisdiction. John Pritchard admits that the editorial is therefore a subjective view based on systematic research. In relation to Ireland, the book states that the average hourly rate for a partner is around £150. The big five firms dominate with expected gains for the middle tier firms not materialising. The league table in terms of numbers of lawyers employed in firms in Ireland is set out in Mr. Pritchard's book as follows:

Judge Brian Walsh. Prolonged and sustained interrogation . . .could well fall into the category of inhuman or degrading treatment. . . Article 5.3 of the European Convention of Human Rights relates to the bringing of an arrested or detained person promptly before a judge or other officer authorised by law to exercise judicial power. Article 15 relates to a derogation from obligations of the Convention in time of war or other public emergency threatening the life of the nation. The Court considered that the national authorities were, in principle, in a better position than the international judge to decide on the presence of an emergency and on the nature and scope of derogat- ions necessary to avert it. Accordingly, in that matter, a wide margin of appreci- ation should be left to the national auth- orities. The Court (by a majority) con- sidered that there could be no doubt that such an emergency existed at the relevant time. Mr. McBride had been arrested in January, 1989 under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1984 and removed to Castlereagh Interrogation Centre. He had been detained for a total period of 4 days, 6 hours and 25 minutes'. Mr. Brannigan had been brought to the Interrogation Centre at Gough Barracks, Armagh, and was detained for a total period of 6 judgement, stated that article 5.3 of the Convention was an essential safeguard against arbitrary executive arrest or detention, which the failure to observe could easily give rise to complaints under article 3 of the Convention, which cannot be the subject of derogation. Prolonged and sustained interrogation over periods of days, particularly without a judicial intervention, could well fall into the category of inhuman or degrading treatment in particular cases. days, 14 hours and 30 minutes. Judge Walsh, in his dissenting

The Largest Firms

Number of Lawyers* 94

Firms 1. A & L Goodbody

84 81 41 37 22 20 20

2. Arthur Cox

3. McCann FitzGerald

4. Matheson Ormsby Prentice

5. William Fry

6. Mason Hayes & Curran 7. Gerrard, Scallan & O'Brien 8. O'Flynn Exhams & Partners 9. Whitney, Moore & Keller

19 18 16 16 14 14 14 13 12 12 12 12

10. Eugene F. Collins 11. Murray Sweeney

12. Rory O'Donnell & Co

13. Dillon Eustace

14. Holmes O'Malley Sexton

15. JG O'Connor & Co 16. Ronan Daly Jermyn

17. Binchys

18. GJ Moloney & Co

19. Kenny Stephenson & Chapman 20. Reddy Charlton & McKnight

Law Firms in Europe is published by Legalease, 28/30 Cato Street, London, WIH 5HS, UK. *These numbers are as of date of publi- cation of the book. It must be stressed that many of these figures will have changed and that they are only a rough guide and should be treated by readers as such.

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