Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 June 2004
361 Mr. Costello asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if his attention has been drawn to the death of a person (details supplied) and the circumstances surrounding his death; if he has proposals to assist the victims of the legal profession; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19130/04]
View answerI am sure the Deputy will appreciate that I have no responsibility for the death of the person concerned nor the circumstances surrounding his death and it would, therefore, be inappropriate for me to comment.
I have received some correspondence from the Victims of the Legal Profession Society and in response to the correspondence, my office has outlined to it how persons who may feel aggrieved at the actions of members of the legal profession may have their complaints investigated. Several measures are in place to deal with complaints against solicitors. There are two committees which consider complaints against solicitors, the registrar's committee of the Law Society of Ireland and the disciplinary tribunal which is appointed by the President of the High Court under section 16 of the Solicitors (Amendment) Act 1994. The tribunal examines allegations of misconduct by solicitors and reports to the High Court. The registrar's committee may determine complaints lodged directly to it by members of the public. The Law Society has appointed an independent adjudicator to deal with complaints about the handling by the society of complaints against solicitors. He is Mr. Eamon Condon and his address for correspondence is 26-27, Upper Pembroke Street, Dublin 2.
The Solicitors (Amendment) Act 2002, the relevant provisions of which came into operation on 1 January 2003, strengthened the disciplinary regime for solicitors in a number of respects. It doubled the size of the tribunal to cater for an increased workload and the speedier processing of cases. The tribunal is also required to make a separate finding on each ground of alleged misconduct. In addition, regard must be had to previous findings of misconduct by a solicitor when imposing a sanction in a current case. The maximum amount which a solicitor, in respect of whom there has been a finding of misconduct, may be ordered to pay to an aggrieved party or to the Law Society's compensation fund has been increased from £5,000 to €15,000. There is a right of appeal to the High Court on all aspects of the tribunal's work. The Act also provides for remedies against solicitors who fail to co-operate with investigations.
In addition, the circumstances in which the Law Society may refuse to issue a practising certificate or impose conditions on a certificate are spelt out in more detail than before. The circumstances in which the society can send an investigator to inspect documents at a solicitor's office are also extended.
