A round-up of other law matters in brief...
Walking tour of Dublin's 'legal quarter'
Dublin’s historic legal quarter in the north inner city can be visited during a free walking tour next Saturday.
The tour, organised by Dublin City Council in collaboration with the Courts Service, will visit locations of historical importance.
It will be led by historian Pat Liddy and will take in seldom-visited buildings such as the King’s Inns and one of the oldest courts in Ireland, Green Street Courthouse, where Robert Emmet was tried in 1803.
The tour will culminate in a unique opportunity to visit the spectacular Round Hall of the Four Courts and attend a presentation and an address by Supreme Court Judge Mrs Justice Susan Denham.
Walkers should gather at the Courts Service headquarters (beside Smithfield Luas stop) at noon. Participation is free and all are welcome. Comfortable shoes are advised!
UK judge fired for being rude
The lord chancellor and the lord chief justice have executed the first judicial sacking in the UK for decades. District court judge Margaret Short was fired for “inappropriate, petulant and rude” as well as “intemperate and ill-judged” behaviour towards solicitors appearing before her in court. In addition to being rude, the judge had taken leave when instructed not to, made serious and untrue statements against support staff and refused to hand over documents to assist the investigation into her behaviour.
There had been what was described as a “history of complaints” against the judge and a judicial investigation was opened in 2006.
The last judge to have been sacked in the UK was Bruce Campbell in 1983. He had smuggled whisky into England from Guernsey. (From Flac’s PILN Bulletin)
Free legal aid by Filipino lawyers
From July 1st next, practising lawyers in the Philippines will be required to render free legal aid services in all cases (whether civil, criminal or administrative) involving marginalised and poor litigants where the assistance of a lawyer is needed.
Under the rule, other members of the legal profession will be duty-bound to support the legal aid programme of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines. Each practising lawyer will have a minimum of 60 hours of free legal aid work per year with a minimum of five hours each month.
The Philippines supreme court approved the rule and stated its aim as enhancing “the duty of lawyers to society as agents of social change and to the courts as officers thereof by helping improve access to justice by the less privileged members of society and expedite the resolution of cases involving them”. (From PILN Bulletin)