The Gazette 1994

GAZETTEAUGUST/SEPTEMBER1994

GAZETTE

N E W

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P r o p o s a l t o ' C a p ' A w a r d s b e i ng M o n i t o r e d

D e p a r t m e n t C omp l e t es R e v i ew o f C i r c u i t C o u r t J u r i s d i c t i on

S t a n d a r d C o n t r a c t o n F e e s n e a r F i n a l i s a t i on Work on a two-page standard contract on fees is nearing finalisation, according to the Chairman of the Law Society's Costs Committee, Gerard Griffin, and it is hoped to place the proposed contract before the October meeting of the Council for approval.

The Law Society continues to monitor developments on the proposal by the Minister for Commerce and Technology, Seamus Brennan TD, to ! place a 'cap' on the amount of damages that could be awarded for I pain and suffering in personal injuries actions. The indications are that the Minister is examining the idea of promulgating in legislation a schedule of injuries with a 'points system' and a scale setting out the amounts to be awarded for the points allocated. It is also thought that while the Heads of a Bill have been drafted, they have not yet been submitted to Cabinet and that the Minister is, meanwhile, taking legal advice on the issue. To date, the Minister has not made a definitive public statement about his plans, despite calls by the Law Society and the insurance industry to do so. í The Society has had a number of meetings with officials in the ! Minister's Department, at which the Society has set out it objections in principle to the Minister's proposal and has pointed out the likely i Constitutional difficulties in giving | effect to the proposal. Í ' Further meetings with officials are envisaged and, in the meantime, S o l i c i t o r s B i l l g o e s t o S e a n a d The Solicitors (Amendment) Bill, | 1994 was passed by Dáil Eireann on j 13 June on a vote of 54 in favour to 32 against. The First and Second | Stages of the debate on the Bill were ; taken in the Seanad on 6 July and it is j thought likely that the Committee and i Report Stages will be dealt with at the ! end of October and that the Bill will j be enacted by the end of the year. • developments continue to be monitored closely by the Task Force, established by the Council of the Society in January 1994. •

; According to a recent communication to the Society, the Department of Justice has completed a review of activity levels in the Circuit Court. The | review, which assessed the altered I jurisdiction of the Circuit Court under the Courts Act, 1991, "will form the basis of proposals which the Minister for Justice will be bringing to the Government with a view to eliminating arrears in the Circuit Court", according to the Department. The information emerged in response to representations by the Society concerning the problem of delay generally and, in particular, the backlog of civil cases on the Carlow Circuit. According to Carlow Bar Association, criminal matters are receiving a disproportionate share of the time in : the Circuit Court and the number of criminal trials pending will prevent the Court from dealing with District Court I civil appeals, civil and matrimonial cases in forthcoming sessions. The Bar Association estimates that cases that were ready for hearing in June 1993 are unlikely to be reached until February 1995 at the earliest. The Circuit Court sits in Carlow for four weeks each year but only one week is allocated to non-criminal business. j representations to the Department of 1 Justice pointing out that a delay of this magnitude was unacceptable. The i Society reiterated the call by Carlow Bar Association for greater time to be • allocated to civil business, or for an | alternative solution such as the ; allocation of an additional judge to the I Carlow circuit to deal with the backlog j of civil work. While the announcement that the review has been completed is welcome, the Society has again asked the Department to take urgent action to j deal with the situation in Carlow. I At the request of Carlow Bar Association, the Society made

Gerry Griffin

The standard contract is intended to meet the requirements of section 68 of the Solicitors (Amendment) Bill, 1994, which will come into effect three months after the enactment of the Bill. The section will make it obligatory for solicitors to notify their clients in writing, at the commencement of a transaction, of the actual charges for the services to be provided to them, or an estimate of those charges, or the basis on which charges would be made. Reporting to the Council on the progress of the draft contract, the Chairman of the Cost Committee said that, in his view, section 68 of the Solicitors Bill would be of benefit to the profession as solicitors and their clients would have to address the issue of fees at the outset. ^ SPAIN We provide a comprehensive consultancy service to help you deal with any matters arising out of Spanish property or business transactions CONTACT FERRIS O'REILLY 045-66466

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