The Gazette 1994

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GAZETTE

JULY 1994

Deba te on ' Capp i ng' Con t i nues

July said that the establishment of a personal injuries compensation board and a detailed grading system to assess pain and suffering awards were the main provisions of the forthcoming Bill. The article noted that critics of the legislation had said that the idea was fraught with legal and constitutional difficulties. The Irish Independent of 4 July reported that the Government had ruled out the option of introducing a fuel levy as an alternative to legislation to cap personal injury awards. On 21 July 1994 the Irish Times reported comments by Mr. Justice Costello in the High Court when he said that he would like the Comptroller and Auditor General to investigate the cost to the tax payer of having to pay for regular High Court motions where the State failed to lodge a defence to an action within the appropriate time. An article by Kieron Conway, j published in the Irish Times on 11 June, noted that although there were over 5,000 complaints about solicitors made to the Law Society in the past five years only a handful ended up in court. The journalist commented that there was greater transparency in the regulatory system for the profession as a result of a change in policy eighteen months ago by both the Law Society and the High Court and the article noted that since the beginning of 1993 the Law Society had published in its Gazette details of amounts paid out by the Compensation Fund and had also reported on all final determinations of the High Court on disciplinary matters. Cost of Delay Greater Transparency on Disciplinary Procedures

A press statement issued by the Law Society on 9 June, stating that the proposal by the Minister for Commerce and Technology, Seamus Brennan, TD, to introduce legislation to place a cap on the amount of compensation the courts could award in personal injury actions, amounted to a vote of no independent judges of the amount of compensation a person should get when they suffered personal injury through no fault of their own - was reported in the Irish Independent, Cork Examiner and Irish Press of 10 June and in the Limerick Leader on 15 June. An article in the Sunday Tribune of 12 June reported that the proposed legislation would include a major overhaul of the law relating to personal liability. The article quoted a spokesperson for the Law Society as saying that the Minister's proposed schedule for compensation awards would curtail judicial discretion in awarding damages for personal injuries and could be unconstitutional. It could mean that judges would be unable to take the personal circumstances of an injured party into account and that would lead to injustice. A feature article in the Irish Independent on 29 June reported that the "Brennan Bill" would include a new definition of the duty of care, would reform the law concerning occupiers' liability, would reform pre- trial procedures, would permit structured awards and would provide for a schedule of payments for a range of different injuries. The article quoted the President of the Law Society, Michael O'Mahony, as saying that the proposed schedule would almost certainly be unworkable and he also questioned whether the proposals would lead to a reduction in insurance costs. confidence in one of the most fundamental aspects of the legal system - the adjudication by

President Robinson to test the constitutionality of the Solicitors (Amendment) Bill, 1994 on the grounds that it proposed an unlawful restriction on the constitutional right to earn a livelihood. According to SADSI, section 37 of the Bill would have the effect of precluding a newly- qualified solicitor from setting up in practice for a period of three years after qualification. An article by Veronica Guerin in the Sunday Independent of 29 May, reported that the Irish Permanent Building Society was engaging in an internal investigation to establish how the purchase of 38 properties had been financed at a cost of £1.5m although they were expected to make a maximum of £900,000 at auction. The article noted that the Building Society had reported a number of solicitors involved in some of the transactions to the Law Society. In the ensuing weeks, a number of daily and Sunday newspapers noted that the Irish Permanent Building Society had lodged a claim of £500,000 on the Compensation Fund in relation to the mortgage transactions and had notified the Society of its intention to make a claim for a further £220,000. The evening papers on 23 June, and the Irish Independent of 25 June noted that, according to a European survey by the publishers of Law Firms in Europe Guide, Ireland had one lawyer for every 920 citizens, ranking sixth in the survey. On 26 June an article in the Sunday Tribune noted that a survey undertaken by the Law Society of students on the 30th Advanced Course had shown that 25 of 66 respondents believed that they had no prospect of employment following qualification. • Claim on the Compensation Fund Numbers

Solicitors Bill

The Sunday Business Post on 26 June reported that SADSI was calling on

An article in the Sunday Tribune of 3 232