Solicitors and barristers are to consider whether new rules relating to High Court personal injuries cases are constitutional. The Law Society and the Bar Council will seek senior counsel's opinion about the rules, which came into effect on September 1st.
In an article in the Law Society's Gazette, the society's president, Mr Frank Daly, describes the rules as "an attack on the legal privilege of thousands of citizens who have cases pending before the courts".
He says the provision that non-compliance with the rules could mean personal liability would be imposed on a solicitor. No such rules, "indeed no court rules at all", should be introduced "without the fullest consultation with the legal profession," he says.
A meeting of the society's council decided that if it was advised that there a "constitutional frailty" in the rules a legal challenge would be mounted.