ANY PERCEIVED reduction of the independence of the legal profession could have a negative impact on investment by multinational corporations, according to the president of the American Bar Association.
Proposals announced last week by Minister for Justice Alan Shatter in the Legal Services Bill, which is expected to be published today, have been criticised by lawyers’ representatives as potentially undermining the independence of the profession. Mr Shatter has insisted its independence will be fully upheld in the new Bill.
Bill Robinson III is in Dublin for the autumn meeting of the international law section of the 400,000-strong association.
He will address the conference this morning, and he told The Irish Times his first priority was to address the underfunding of the court system in the US and internationally, and to promote the independence of the profession.
“Law Day on May 1st, 2012, will have as its theme ‘No courts, no justice, no freedom’. That’s how fundamental it is to constitutional democracy,” he said.
“When multinational corporations move around the world they are looking for stability and predictability in the rule of law as well as operational manufacturing facilities.
“They have to be sure of independent counsel who are not controlled by government, not conflicted, not afraid of standing up to government when issues arise, as they will, for example with employment law, environmental law, tax law, immigration law.
“We are convinced, and history backs us up on this, that the rule of law is rooted in an independent judiciary supported by an independent legal profession.”
The regulation of the legal profession should be independent of government, which should not make the rules, he said.
Asked if he had a view on the proposed Legal Services Bill, he said: “Be careful the cure is not worse than the disease. Start with the diagnosis. Start with basic principles. As a matter of core constitutional democratic value do no harm to the independence of the profession, do no harm to the independence of the judiciary.”