The Gazette 1995

GAZETTE

DECEMBER 1995

Society's standards entrance examination pursuant to a regulation which was found invalid by the High Court; (ii) persons who had obtained a degree in law on or after 22 j September 1990 (i.e. within the last five years) from one of the recognised Universities in the Republic of Ireland which, if the exemption regulation had not : been found invalid, would have entitled them to an exemption from all or part of the FE-l but who had not have of been given such an exemption prior to 22 September 1995; (iii) persons who obtained a degree in j law on or after 22 September | 1990 from the Queens j University, Belfast, which would have entitled them to an | j

from the requirement to sit the Entrance Exam. The Director General J of the Law Society, Ken Murphy, said | that "the Society's decision was j designed to eliminate potential unfairness arising as a consequence of | the High Court Judgment." In the Irish 1 Times the press statement was covered in an article with the heading 'Law Society Modifies its Rules' on 3 November 1995. This article stated "that the Apprentice Solicitors Steering Committee expressed delight at the Law Society's decision. It means the 66 law graduates due to begin the course in three weeks will not have to sit the exams as many of them had feared." It was also reported that "a spokesman for the QUB law graduates who took the High Court action said they were "relatively happy" with the Law Society's decision but that it fell short of the intention of their case which was to secure exam exemptions for all QUB law graduates." The decision by the Council was the topic of the RTE 1 Radio News at 6.30 p.m. on 2 November. The item referred to the fact that a recent High Court decision removed the exemption from the Blackhall Place exams that all law graduates in the Republic had enjoyed since 1989. It was reported that "now the Society has restored the exemptions for people who have RTE 1 Radio News, 2 November

already received their law degrees here and extended it to Northern Ireland graduates but those still studying for degrees may not receive the same treatment." The item also reported that the Society has postponed a decision of students still in University until later this month and that this decision had angered the Union of Law Students of Ireland, Chairman, Loughlinn Deegan. Loughlinn Deegan was interviewed and said "while much as they might hide behind the various High Court decisions, I think, the simple motivation is numbers, they regard there as being too many solicitors in this country and they are very eager to try and cut down on the numbers of people entering the profession and this is providing them with the ideal opportunity to do that." Ken Murphy was interviewed in response to this and said "I think it very important to emphasise that this is not the attitude of the Law Society. It has always been a question of maintaining standards of people entering the legal profession and going on to practise law on the Irish public. We have a statutory obligation to maintain those standards and it is very interesting to read the High Court Judgment in that regard, in its finding that essentially the motivation that the Society had for making its decision in relation to the Queens graduates was standards and standards alone, not controlling the numbers entering the profession."

exemption from the FE-l if the Queens University, Belfast, had been one of the Universities listed in the invalid exemption regulation. An applicant who has obtained a degree in law from the Queens University, Belfast, will 'in any event be required to pass an examination in Constitutional Law to be set by the Society.

The graduates in the above categories must apply for an exemption to the Society by 1 March 1996. A notice was published in national newspapers 1 both in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland. See page 326 of this Gazette for notice. j The Society made no decision on 31 October in relation to law j undergraduates. It was stated in the press release that this would be considered at the next meeting of the Council of the Society on 24 November. The press statement was covered in I the Irish Independent on 3 November | 1995 under the heading 'Law Society ' Compromises over Exam | Exemptions'. It was reported that the I Society had modified its regulations so that the graduates who are affected can apply to the Society before March 1 1 next if they want to be exempted

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