The Gazette 1994

GAZETTF

OCTOBER 1994

P R E S I D E N T ' S

M E S S A G E

A c c e s s t o L a w - C o n c e r n o f L a w y e r s W o r l d w i d e

"No man is an island alone unto himself' is the oft-quoted extract from John Donne's famous 17th century poem. This quotation can be appropriately applied to the on-going mutual relationship which the Law Society of Ireland has, not only with our neighbours, the Law Societies of Northern Ireland, England/Wales and Scotland, but also with similar Association (ABA) and the Canadian Bar Association (CBA). Unlike our neighbouring organisations, the ABA and the CBA do not perform regulatory functions (which are carried out at state or provincial level by separate statutory entities), but otherwise the professional support functions performed by all are broadly similar. At this year's ABA week-long conference in New Orleans in August (attended by some 12,000 US lawyers) there were more than 2,500 individual events or meetings. The CBA's week- long conference in Toronto, also in August, was somewhat smaller in scale (some 3,000 Canadian lawyers present) but still had a very varied programme. Despite their differences in scale relative to our own, it may be of interest to record that the major concerns of both the ABA and CBA organisations further afield, particularly the American Bar reflect many of our own current concerns - access to law, court facilities and delay problems, unemployment among new entrants, maintenance of standards and public image of the profession. During the ABA Conference I signed on behalf of the Society (subject to ratification by the Council which took place at its September meeting) the terms of reference for a protocol of co-operation between its signatories to be known as the International Access to Law

L-r: Michael V. O'Mahony, President, Law Society of Ireland with Cecilia I Johnstone, out-going President of the Canadian Bar Association and Frank Clarke, SC, Chairman of the Bar Council of Ireland. Consortium on Access to Law

believe the spirit and intent of the protocol is clear and it to be hoped that the mutual sharing of knowledge about improvements to the judicial system and the delivery of legal services as they occur in each jurisdiction will benefit the efforts of the Society and all those concerned with the Irish judicial system to bring about much needed improvements here. The primary force behind the ICAL protocol was the out-going President of the CBA, Cecilia I Johnstone QC, who was also a prime mover in bringing about changes in attitude and practice on the gender quality issue within the Canadian legal profession. The achievements of Cecilia during her year of office were appropriately recognised by the presence at the CBA Conference of our own President Mary Robinson (as part of her State visit to Canada) who delivered the opening keynote speech - a tour deforce address on the effects of the expansion of Europe, post-Berlin Wall.

(ICAL). In addition to ourselves and the Bar Council of Ireland, the initial participants (subject to ratification) will be the national lawyers organisations of Australia, Canada, England/Wales, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Scotland and the USA. The full text of the terms of reference for the ICAL are set out overleaf. As recorded therein, the ICAL "is founded on the common interest of its members to ensure that their legal and judicial systems are efficient, accessible and cost-effective". These objectives will be advanced by a sharing of "knowledge about improvements to the judicial system and the delivery of legal services". The text states that "lawyers and the legal profession have a key role in achieving these objectives" and that the protocol "provides the framework for future co- operation on these vital issues". Understandably for an international protocol intended to be applicable to so many diverse jurisdictions, the heads of its mandate are framed in general terms. Notwithstanding this, I

Court Facilities and Delay Problems

In this context, we know that we have major problems, as identified in the

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