PART II

Disciplinary Provisions in Relation to Solicitors

6. —(1) The President of the High Court shall, from time to time as occasion requires, appoint, from amongst the members of the Council and such former members of the Council as are practising as solicitors, a disciplinary committee (in this Act referred to as the Disciplinary Committee) consisting of not less than seven and not more than ten persons.

(2) A member of the Disciplinary Committee may resign his office by letter sent by registered post to the President of the High Court and his resignation shall take effect on the date on which the letter is delivered.

(3) The President of the High Court may remove a member of the Disciplinary Committee, may fill a vacancy therein and, subject to the limits stated in subsection (1) of this section, may increase or reduce the number of persons thereon.

(4) The Disciplinary Committee may act notwithstanding one or more than one vacancy in their membership.

(5) The Society shall defray any costs or expenses incurred by the Disciplinary Committee.

(6) The quorum of the Disciplinary Committee shall be three.

(7) A member of the Disciplinary Committee, who was a member of the Council at the date of his appointment, may act on the Disciplinary Committee notwithstanding the fact that he has ceased to be a member of the Council.

7. —(1) An application by another person or by the Society for an inquiry into the conduct of a solicitor on the ground of alleged misconduct shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, be made to and heard by the Disciplinary Committee in accordance with rules made under section 16 of this Act.

(2) Where an application in relation to a solicitor is duly made under this section and the Disciplinary Committee, after consideration of the application, are of opinion that there is no prima facie case for inquiry, they shall so inform the applicant in writing and shall take no further action in relation to the application.

(3) Where an application in relation to a solicitor is duly made under this section and the Disciplinary Committee, after consideration of the application, are of opinion that there is a prima facie case for inquiry, the following provisions shall have effect—

(a) they shall proceed to hold an inquiry;

(b) on completion of the inquiry, the Disciplinary Committee shall embody their findings in a report to the High Court, specifying therein the nature of the application and the evidence laid before them and any other matters in relation to the solicitor which they may think fit to report, including their opinion as to the fitness or otherwise of the solicitor to be a member of the solicitors' profession having regard to the contents of the report;

(c) if the Disciplinary Committee find that there has been misconduct on the part of the solicitor in respect of any matter complained of in the application or that the solicitor has not answered satisfactorily the allegations against him, the Society shall bring the report before the High Court.

(4) Where an application is made under this section, the Disciplinary Committee may, at any stage of the proceedings in relation to the application and before making a report to the High Court, postpone the taking of any steps or further steps in the matter for a specified period and, if they do so, then, if before the expiration of that period the applicant applies to the Disciplinary Committee for leave to withdraw the application, the Disciplinary Committee may, if they think fit, allow the application to be withdrawn and, if they do so, no further action shall be taken by them in relation to the application.

(5) The Society—

(a) shall be entitled to make an application to the Disciplinary Committee in accordance with the provisions of this section, notwithstanding that any other person may be entitled to make such an application, and

(b) may authorise any person on their behalf to do all such things and acts as may be necessary for the purposes of such application.

8. —(1) Where the Disciplinary Committee, after holding an inquiry into the conduct of a solicitor, make, under section 7 of this Act, to the High Court a report which is brought before the High Court by the Society under the said section 7, the following provisions shall have effect—

(a) the High Court, after consideration of the report—

(i) may by order

(I) strike the name of the solicitor off the roll,

(II) suspend the solicitor from practice for such period as the High Court may fix, or

(III) censure the solicitor or censure him and require him to pay a money penalty,

(ii) may make such order as to the costs incurred in the proceedings before it and the Disciplinary Committee as it thinks fit,

(iii) may make any ancillary order in relation to the case which the High Court may think fit,

(b) the High Court may, if it thinks fit, on special grounds, remit the case to the Disciplinary Committee to take further evidence for submission to it and make to it a supplementary report, and the Court may adjourn the hearing of the case pending the submission to it of such further evidence and the making of such supplementary report,

(c) in addition to doing any of the things specified in the foregoing paragraphs of this subsection, the High Court may also by order do any one or more of the following things—

(i) direct the solicitor to make such restitution to any aggrieved party as the High Court thinks fit,

(ii) on the application of the Society, direct the delivery to any person appointed by the Society of all or any documents in the possession or control of the solicitor or his firm or relating to any trust of which the solicitor is or was the sole trustee or of which the trustees are or were the solicitor with a partner, clerk or servant of his or with more than one of such persons,

(iii) direct either—

(I) that no banking company shall, without leave of the High Court, make any payment out of a banking account in the name of the solicitor or his firm, or

(II) that a specified banking company shall not, without leave of the High Court, make any payment out of a banking account in the name of the solicitor or his firm.

(2) (a) Where an order with respect to documents is made by the High Court under subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of this section, the Society may make inquiries to ascertain the person or persons to whom the documents belong and may deal with the documents in accordance with the direction of such person or persons.

(b) For the purposes of paragraph (a) of this subsection, the provisions set out in the Second Schedule to this Act shall have effect.

(3) Where the High Court by an order under subsection (1) of this section requires a solicitor to pay a money penalty, the order shall operate as a judgment against the solicitor in favour of the Society, and the money penalty, when recovered, shall be paid into the Compensation Fund.

(4) If any person acts as agent or nominee of a solicitor or his firm so as to render nugatory an order made by the High Court under subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of this section, such person shall be guilty of an offence under this subsection and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

9. —(1) An application by a solicitor to have his name removed from the roll shall be made to and heard by the Disciplinary Committee in accordance with rules made under section 16 of this Act.

(2) Where an application is made by a solicitor under this section, the Disciplinary Committee shall consider the application, and thereupon the following provisions shall have effect—

(a) if they are of opinion that the application should be granted without making a report to the High Court, they shall order accordingly,

(b) if not of that opinion—

(i) they shall make a report on the application to the High Court,

(ii) the Society shall bring the report before the High Court,

(iii) the High Court, after consideration of the application and the report, may make an order either refusing the application or granting it and as to the payment of costs.

10. —(1) The High Court shall have power to order that the name of a solicitor, whose name has been struck off the roll by an order made by the High Court under section 8 of this Act or under the said section 8 as applied by section 11 of this Act or whose name has been removed from the roll under section 9 of this Act, shall be restored to the roll.

(2) A person seeking to have his name restored to the roll under this section may apply to the High Court and shall give notice of his intended application to the Society, who shall be entitled to appear and be heard on any such application.

(3) On the hearing of an application under this section the High Court may refuse the application or may order that the name of the applicant be restored to the roll and may order the payment by the applicant of the costs and expenses of the Society in relation to the application.

11. —Where, before the passing of this Act, the former Disciplinary Committee made, in purported exercise of powers purported to have been conferred on them by section 18 (repealed by this Act) of the Principal Act, an order providing for the striking off the roll of the name of a solicitor, the Society may, on notice to the solicitor, apply by notice of motion (of not less than ten days' duration) to the High Court for an order striking off the roll the name of the solicitor, and, if the Society so apply, then the following provisions shall have effect—

(a) all available affidavits and other available documentary evidence which were before the former Disciplinary Committee and all available transcripts of evidence given before them shall be admissible as evidence on the consideration of the application by the High Court,

(b) the High Court, after reading those affidavits, other documentary evidence and transcripts, receiving any additional evidence tendered by the Society or the solicitor and taking into consideration any other matters in relation to the solicitor brought to its notice by the Society, shall deal with the application as if it were a report in relation to the solicitor made to the High Court by the Disciplinary Committee and brought before the High Court by the Society under section 7 of this Act, and section 8 of this Act shall apply accordingly.

12. —(1) Subject to subsection (2) of this section, an order of the High Court under section 8 of this Act, under that section as applied by section 11 of this Act or under section 9 or section 10 of this Act shall be final and not appealable.

(2) By leave of the High Court, an appeal, by the Society or the section 8 of this Act, under that section as applied by section 11 of this Act or under section 9 or section 10 of this Act shall lie to the Supreme Court on a specified question of law.

13. —The jurisdiction vested in the High Court by section 8 , 9 , 10 or 11 of this Act shall be exercised by the President of the High Court or, if and wherever the President of the High Court so directs, by an ordinary judge of the High Court for the time being assigned in that behalf by the President of the High Court.

14. —The following—

(a) the doing, before the passing of this Act, by the former Disciplinary Committee or the registrar, in purported exercise of the powers purported to have been conferred on them or him by section 18 or 21 of the Principal Act, of any act, being an act purported to have been authorised to be done by such section,

(b) the making to the High Court by the Disciplinary Committee of a report under section 7 or 9 of this Act or a supplemental report under paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 8 of this Act,

(c) the bringing by the Society of a report before the High Court under section 7 or 9 of this Act,

(d) the publishing, in accordance with section 17 of this Act, of any notice authorised by the said section 17,

(e) the making, before the passing of this Act, of an application to the former Disciplinary Committee under section 14 of the Principal Act or the giving of any information in connection with such an application, and

(f) the making of an application under section 7 of this Act or the giving of any information in connection with such application,

shall be absolutely privileged and shall, in respect of the doing of any act specified in paragraph (a) or (e) of this section, be deemed always to have been absolutely privileged.

15. —(1) The Disciplinary Committee shall, for the purposes of any inquiry held by them under section 7 of this Act or the consideration of an application under section 9 of this Act, or the taking of further evidence under paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 8 of this Act, have the powers, rights and privileges, vested in the High Court or a judge thereof on the hearing of an action, in respect of—

(a) the enforcement of the attendance of witnesses and their examination on oath or otherwise, and

(b) the compelling of the production of documents,

and a summons signed by a member of the Disciplinary Committee may be substituted for and shall be equivalent to any formal procedure capable of being issued in an action for enforcing the attendance of witnesses and compelling the production of documents.

(2) Where—

(a) a person on being duly summoned to attend before the Disciplinary Committee makes default in attending, or

(b) a person, being in attendance as a witness before the Disciplinary Committee, refuses to take an oath lawfully required by the Disciplinary Committee to be taken, or to produce any document in his power or control lawfully required by the Disciplinary Committee to be produced by him or to answer any question to which the Disciplinary Committee may lawfully require an answer, or

(c) a person, being in attendance before the Disciplinary Committee, does anything which, if the Disciplinary Committee were a court of law having power to commit for contempt, would be contempt of court,

the offence of that person may, by certificate, signed by two members of the Disciplinary Committee, be certified to the High Court and the High Court may thereupon inquire into the alleged offence and, after hearing any witnesses who may be produced against or on behalf of the person charged with the offence and any statements that may be offered in defence, punish or take steps for the punishment of that person in like manner as if he had been guilty of contempt of the High Court.

(3) A witness before the Disciplinary Committee shall be entitled to the same immunities and privileges as if he were a witness before the High Court.

16. —(1) The Disciplinary Committee, with the concurrence of the President of the High Court, may make rules (not inconsistent with this Act) regulating—

(a) the making of applications to the Disciplinary Committee under this Act,

(b) the proceedings of the Disciplinary Committee under this Act,

and generally as to procedure in relation to those matters.

(2) Rules under this section may provide in particular for extending the period for furnishing any affidavit or document or for receiving an application or document notwithstanding any irregularity in its form where it appears to the Disciplinary Committee to be just to do so.

17. —(1) The following—

(a) a copy of every order made by the High Court under this Act, and

(b) any order made by the Disciplinary Committee under section 9 of this Act,

shall be filed by the Disciplinary Committee with the registrar.

(2) Where an order striking the name of a solicitor off the roll or suspending a solicitor from practice is made by the High Court under section 8 of this Act or under the said section 8 as applied by section 11 of this Act, the registrar shall forthwith cause a notice stating the effect of the operative part of the order to be published in Iris Oifigiúil and shall also cause the notice to be published in such other manner as the Disciplinary Committee may direct.

(3) The registrar shall maintain separate files on which all orders made under this Act by the High Court or the Disciplinary Committee shall be entered in the following manner—

(a) on a file to be termed File A, there shall be entered each order striking the name of a solicitor off the roll or suspending a solicitor from practice made by the High Court under section 8 of this Act or under the said section 8 as applied by section 11 of this Act,

(b) on a file to be termed File B, there shall be entered any other order made under this Act by the High Court and any order made under section 9 of this Act by the Disciplinary Committee.

(4) The registrar shall furnish a copy of an entry on File A or File B to a person who applies in writing for such copy.

(5) Notwithstanding subsection (4) of this section, where—

(a) application is made for a copy of an entry on File A or File B being an entry which is earlier than two years before the date of the application, or

(b) application is made for a copy of an entry on File A or File B, being an entry in respect of which the Disciplinary Committee have directed the insertion of a note that the furnishing thereof might cause injustice,

a copy of the entry shall (save where the copy is furnished by order of a court) be furnished only by permission in writing of the Society.

18. —An application to or an inquiry or other proceeding before the Disciplinary Committee under this Act shall be a legal proceeding within the meaning of that expression as used in the Bankers' Books Evidence Acts, 1879 and 1959.