asked the Minister for Justice whether in view of the hardship caused to members of the general public by the uncertain nature of the cost of legal proceedings of any kind he will investigate the possibility of the setting out of a scale of charges to be adhered to by members of the legal profession for normal legal transactions and proceedings.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Fees for Legal Proceedings.
125.
I do not accept that there is such uncertainty in the matter of legal costs as to cause hardship.
Costs in court proceedings are prescribed by the rules made by the rules committees of the various courts and, in general, refer to the costs which the unsuccessful party may be ordered to pay to the successful party. Except in the case of the district court, where the prescribed costs may not be exceeded, provision is made for allowing higher costs in exceptional cases. Any costs payable on a solicitor and client basis over and above the prescribed costs can be agreed between the solicitor and his client and in default of agreement may be taxed by a Taxing Master.
Solicitors' costs in non-contentious business are regulated by orders made under the Solicitors Remuneration Act, 1881 and, in relation to Land Registry business, by the Land Registration Rules.
Owing to the variety of circumstances affecting even normal legal transactions and proceedings it would be impossible to prepare standard scales.
The average person does not know what his costs are going to be. Surely the time is at hand when some scale should be publicised to enable the public to know to what they are committed in law courts and land conveyancing?
The Deputy will appreciate that there are several different matters involved. First of all, the question deals entirely with the cost of legal proceedings and the possibility of the setting out of a scale of charges to be adhered to by members of the legal profession. The Deputy will appreciate that is only one aspect. In so far as those charges are concerned, they are very well regulated, either by rules of court or otherwise. They are known or should be known and can be made known to prospective litigants. There are of course other factors which affect the cost of legal proceedings. Those factors, I may say, are not mentioned by the Deputy in his question but it is very difficult to make known in advance what the cost of any particular legal proceedings will be because one of the factors is the amount of time they will take. Having said all that, I want to inform the Deputy that the Programme of Law Reform in which my Department is engaged, and as set out in the White Paper published recently, envisages the setting up of a committee to investigate the procedure and practices in the courts, with the view to seeing whether or not the cost of litigation could be reduced for litigants. I hope that committee will be set up shortly and I think we can be reasonably hopeful that arising out of its work some reduction in legal costs generally may be able to be made.
There is a need for some sort of scale because I had a case where I got a bill for £40——
Perhaps the Deputy will put a question?
Is the Minister aware that I got a demand for £40 and when I went to the Taxing Master, it was reduced to £20? Not everyone is aware of the Taxing Master and therefore the simple people are taken advantage of.
Will the Minister indicate what action is to be taken by a person who feels he has been charged excessively for a particular legal business he has had, let it be a law case or a payment for the discharge of equities, title or any such incidental matters, the conveyancing of land or premises? What steps is he to take if the bill of costs frightens him, as in some cases it does, if he believes it is excessive? I should like the Minister to make a statement on that matter.
There are two main avenues of approach open to him, if he feels he has been charged in this way. Firstly, as Deputy Sherwin mentioned, there is the Taxing Master. A client can always ask to have his bill of costs taxed and there is a procedure set out for that and then the correct fees will be determined by the Taxing Master. Alternatively, if it is not a matter which comes within the ambit of the Taxing Master, one of the courses open to the client is to refer the matter to the Incorporated Law Society which has general jurisdiction over the behaviour of solicitors.
This is an important matter.
Question No. 126.
The public do not know anything about the Taxing Master.
That relates to the previous question. Question No. 126.
The Minister has just referred to the Taxing Master.