The Gazette 1993

GAZETTE

NOVEMBER 1993

Judicial Commission • The submission questions the

Government's decision to establish a Judicial Commission to examine the administration of the courts service and whether there is any need at this stage to inquire further into what needs to be done. Is this another stalling tactic or "escape hatch" for inactivity? If there is to be a Commission, it must be broadly representative, including the practising legal professions, and must be established immediately and be required to report within six j months. | Note: The full text of the submission is available to practitioners on request to Mary Kinsella at the Law Society. Copies of the Society's submission to Government on the proposal to cap awards for pain and suffering in personal injury cases are also available. A summary of this submission will be published in the December, 1993 issue , of the Gazette. n Incorporated Law Society of Ireland - Vacancy Solicitor The Professional Practice Directorate of the Law Society has a vacancy for a solicitor whose principal duties will include investigating complaints made by members of the public and, where appropriate, resolving disputes between clients and solicitors. It is anticipated that the solicitor appointed will also act as committee secretary to a number of the Society's standing committees. Reporting to the Senior Solicitor | (professional Practice), the ideal j candidate will have up to three years experience of general practice and possess excellent written and verbal communication skills. Written applications marked personal should be sent to the Senior | Solicitor (Professional Practice),

Wexford Circuit Court - the solicitors' and barristers' room.

additional judges - are needed if a reasonable service is to be provided to the public. The Law Society suggests the appointment of temporary part- time judges to the Circuit Court to clear the backlog of cases. (There is already power in law to do this.) An additional benefit would be that this could serve as a way of giving candidates for judicial appointment some experience of judicial office and enable an assessment to be made of their suitability for permanent appoint- ment. The Bar Council has reserva- tions about this and believes that the independence of judges could be undermined by such a development. There must be an immediate end to any embargo in relation to the recruitment of additional staff in the Circuit and High Courts and staff who retire or leave must be replaced. (Section 11) A New Management Structure • A lack of political commitment and political decision-making has meant that the management of the courts service to date has been poor. There has been a serious failure at political

• level to recognise that the courts are providing a much needed service to the public. That service requires expert management. The submission suggests that the courts are capable of being run in a businesslike manner

and shows that the civil side of court work could be made self- financing.

• The courts service should be established as an Executive Agency under the control of a director. This approach (first outlined in the Devlin Report in 1969) involves the separation of the execution of settled policy and the management of executive functions on the one hand, from the determination and review of policy on the other. The Minister would, of course, remain in overall control, would continue to be answerable to the Dail and to have responsibility for laying down policy but the Executive Agency, under the control of a Director, would be allowed to get on with the business of providing an efficient service in the

courts, free from the day-to-day constraints of the Civil Service. (Section 12)

Law Society, Blackhall Place, Dublin 7 by December 3, 1993.