MARCH 1999 CONTENTS 16 Cover Story First among equals? Irish language and the law REGULARS Irish lawyers are supposed to be competent in the use of the first official language of the State, but how many could honestly claim any useful knowledge of Irish? And can you really conduct a court case purely as gaeilge? Niamh Nic Shuibhne examines the constitutional position of the Irish language and its relationship President’s message 3 with the law Viewpoint 4 20 Salaried partners: easy targets? A salaried partnership in a law firm might seem to offer the best Letters 11 of both worlds: you get listed as a ‘partner’ on the letterhead but you run none of the risks usually associated with this status. News 13 But, as Michael Twomey explains, a recent case in England may suggest that salaried partners are Briefing 31 much more exposed than they thought Committee reports 31 Danger in the air Practice notes 31 24 Asbestos-related litigation is still in its Legislation update 32 infancy in Ireland, but the long gestation Personal injury period of illnesses linked to asbestos means judgments 35 that we could see an increasing number of cases over the coming years. Niall Hill outlines Relief for home loan what we know of the disease and highlights the interest: rules and legal issues it raises guidelines 37 ILT digest 41 27 On-line Eurlegal 45 opportunities knock Lawyers have rarely been the first to embrace People and new technology, but hopefully all that is set places 49 to change. In the second of three articles on member services, Claire O’Sullivan Book reviews 53 discusses how the Law Society’s new web site can help your practice and make Professional your professional life easier information 55 Editor: Conal O’Boyle MA The Law Society of Ireland can accept no responsibility for the accuracy of contributed Reporter: Barry O’Halloran articles or statements appearing in this magazine, and any views or opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Law Society’s Council, save where other- Designer: Nuala Redmond wise indicated. No responsibility for loss or distress occasioned to any person acting Editorial Secretaries: or refraining from acting as a result of the material in this publication can be accept- Andrea MacDermott, Catherine Kearney ed by the authors, contributors, editor or publishers. Professional legal Advertising: Seán Ó hOisín, tel/fax: 837 5018, mobile: 086 8117116, advice should always be sought in relation to any specific matter. E-mail: [email protected]. 10 Arran Road, Dublin 9 Editorial Board: Dr Eamonn Hall (Chairman), Conal O’Boyle Printing: Turners Printing Company Ltd, Longford (Secretary), Mary Keane, Pat Igoe, Ken Murphy, Michael V O’Mahony, Vincent Power Published at Blackhall Place, Dublin 7, tel: 01 672 4800, fax: 01 672 4801. E-mail: [email protected] Subscriptions: £45 Volume 93, number 2 MARCH 1999 LAW SOCIETY GAZETTE 1 LEGAL SERVICES LTD Are you paying too much for your Law Searching/Town Agency work? Change to Rochford Brady with our ‘one stop shop’ service (law searching and town agency under one roof) WE CUT YOUR COSTS OWNERSHIP/TITLEINQUIRYSPECIALISTS TOWN AGENTSLAWSEARCHERSSUMMONSSERVERS COMPANYFORMATION AGENTS If you are not with Rochford Brady, isn’t it time you changed? We offer monthly retainer fees for town agency work Fixed/maximum prices for closing searches Planning searches carried out in all counties For our brochure Phone: 1850 529732 (20 lines) Fax: 1850 762436 (5 lines) PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE The profession and EU law PIC: ROSLYN BYRNE PIC: ROSLYN s lawyers, we are increasingly up the challenge that European law offers. aware of the huge impact of Neither you nor your clients will be disap- EU law on domestic practice in pointed! Ireland. Some of the more sig- nificant examples include the Report of the National Crime ACompetition Acts, 1991–1996, which have Forum 1998 resulted in principles from EU competition law Our colleague, Professor Bryan McMahon of having a relevance for the way in which all Ennis, acted as Chairman of the National Crime businesses trade, whether corner shops or Forum which was established by the Minister for multi-nationals, and the Liability for Defective Justice, Equality and Law Reform, John Goods Act, 1991, which implemented the O’Donoghue, in February 1998. Product liability directive and introduced a The Forum’s brief was to canvas comments, strict liability regime for some product liability assessments and suggestions on crime and cases. Measures such as the Transfer of under- crime-related issues from the general public takings directive and the Working time directive and from national and international experts. have substantially supplanted Irish employ- The Forum was requested to prepare a report ment law. A similar phenomenon has occurred that would help clarify the issues that will need in environmental law. Conveyancers have also to be addressed in the forthcoming Government been affected through the impact of the Common Agriculture Policy, White Paper on crime and in the establishment of a crime council. specifically in area of milk quotas. And on 1 January 2002, the punt will While (in the words of the chairman) the report ‘presents the citi- be replaced with the euro. zens’ views on crime and crime-related issues’, it is an interesting doc- For those of our profession who have been educated and lived with ument which I commend you to read. Its ‘series of reflections’ are a tes- the certainties of the common law, the changes brought about by tament to all who took part – and particularly our solicitor colleagues European law may seem intimidating. It may appear to be an alien who are members of the Forum. implant – an incomprehensible and exotic transmutation of the civil law. There may be a temptation to ignore it and turn a blind eye to these Law reform initiatives exciting and potentially lucrative legal developments. In November 1997, the Council of the Law Society established the Law But there are many good reasons for wanting a knowledge of the sub- Reform Committee in order to identify and focus on specific areas of ject. European law has opened up whole new areas of practice. Some the law in this jurisdiction that need to be updated and reformed. It aims firms have benefited from navigating around the intricacies of milk quo- to contribute towards improving the quality, fairness and effectiveness tas and other similar agricultural regulations. And solicitors have of Irish legislation in a number of selected areas. Furthermore, it seeks advanced clients’ cases in the areas of gender, equality and employment to represent the views of the Society’s members in relation to a number using European legislation. It is my view that EU law has more signifi- of legislative initiatives and to enhance the Society’s contribution to the cantly advanced gender equality in this country in the last 25 years than development of law in Ireland. was achieved in the preceding 50 years. Members of the public are able This committee is currently consulting with – and making active to assert their rights under EU law only to the extent that solicitors are contributions to – the relevant Government departments on the issues of fully conversant and aware of them. domestic violence, mental health and adoption. A review of existing I know that the Law Society is committed to encouraging a greater legislation, and the development of new legislation, where necessary, is knowledge of European law through educating the profession. This is currently being prepared in each of these areas. The input of the pro- being done in a number of ways. For many years, the CLE programme fession is being considered before firm proposals are published. The of seminars has addressed specific legal developments such as the committee (in my view a worthwhile initiative by a profession that has Transfer of undertakings directive and the Competition Acts. a great deal to offer Irish society) considers it important that solicitors More recently, the Society’s EU and International Affairs Committee should take advantage of the opportunity to contribute to legislation of has put in place an annual ‘healthcheck’ to flag more important EU law such great social significance. I urge you to let the committee hear from developments in a number of different practice areas. you regularly on legislative changes that you feel are necessary. The very successful Diploma in applied European law, now entering its third year, is a more comprehensive educational programme run by Annual conference in May the Law School. This meets the twin objectives of giving a grounding in I am pleased that the Society has decided to hold its Annual Conference the subject to those who know little about it and also goes into consid- in the Ashford Castle Hotel, sited as it is in ‘Magical Mayo’. Gillian and erable depth in specialist subject areas. The Eurlegal section of the I hope to see as many of you there as possible. Gazette seeks to achieve much the same objectives. It takes courage to push yourself to places that you have never been Patrick O’Connor before, to test your limits, to break through barriers. I urge you to take President MARCH 1999 LAW SOCIETY GAZETTE 3 VIEWPOINT Solicitors to be superio ast month saw the publication ing, as does the entire report. with the following terms of refer- whether academic lawyers who Lof the Report of the working The origin of this report lies in ence: ‘To consider and make rec- do not otherwise qualify should group on qualifications for the debate on the Courts and ommendations to the Minister for be eligible for judicial appoint- appointment as judges of the Court Officers Bill, 1995, which Justice on the question of qualifi- ment.