asked the Minister for Justice if he is aware that solicitors practising in Dún Laoghaire are obliged to have a city practising certificate for certain legal business; that for other legal business it is necessary to have a town agent; and that this anomaly is peculiar to solicitors practising in Dún Laoghaire; and if he will take steps to have the matter remedied.
Ceisteanna—Questions (Resumed). - Solicitors Practising in Dún Laoghaire.
86.
The issue of practising certificates to solicitors, and determination of the fees to be charged therefor, are by statute matters for the Incorporated Law Society and I have no function in relation to them. At present, a solicitor who practises or carries on business in Dublin or within three miles thereof pays an annual fee of £6: elsewhere the fee is only £3.
The reason that certain solicitors must have a town agent stems from the Rules of the Superior Courts. These Rules provide for service of court documents on a solicitor personally or by leaving them at his registered place of business, which must be located within a radial distance of two miles from the Four Courts. This in effect means that a solicitor practising in Dún Laoghaire or anywhere else outside the two mile radius must have a town agent. In England, the corresponding Rules provide that documents may be sufficiently served by leaving them at the solicitor's address for service, which may be anywhere within the jurisdiction, or by sending them by registered post to that address. Adoption of similar rules here would avoid the necessity for town agents. In this connection, I should mention that service of Circuit and District Court documents by registered post is provided for in section 7 of the Courts Act, 1964, and that service of Land Registry notices by ordinary post is provided for in rules 203 and 204 of the Land Registration Rules, 1966.
I am asking the Committee on Court Practice and Procedure to examine the desirability of changing the existing law relating to the service of documents in the Superior Courts.
(Cavan): I take it that the Minister agrees that the time has long passed when the rules should be changed to provide for the service of these documents by registered post?
I agree. I am asking——
(Cavan): The present system seems to be totally out of date.
I have asked that the mechanics of the thing be examined.