Marie Moloney (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Government Amendment No. 50:

In page 41, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: “PART 5

COMPLAINTS AND DISCIPLINARY HEARINGS IN RESPECT OF LEGAL PRACTITIONERSConstruction (Part 5)

40. (1) In this Part—

“barrister” means, in relation to a person who is the subject of a complaint under this Part—

(a) a practising barrister, or

(b) a person who, at the time of the act or omission to which the complaint relates, was a practising barrister; “solicitor” means, in relation to a person who is the subject of a complaint under this

Part—(a) a practising solicitor, or

(b) a person who, at the time of the act or omission to which the complaint relates, was a practising solicitor.(2) For the purposes of this Part—(a) the legal services provided to a person by a legal practitioner shall be considered as being of an inadequate standard where, by act or omission of the legal practitioner, the legal services actually provided by him or her—

(i) where the legal practitioner is a barrister, were inadequate in any material respect and were not of the quality that could reasonably be expected of him as a barrister, and

(ii) where the legal practitioner is a solicitor, were inadequate in any material respect and were not of the quality that could reasonably be expected of him or her as a solicitor,

(b) a reference to an amount of costs sought by a legal practitioner in respect of the provision of legal services means an amount of costs specified in a bill of costs issued by the legal practitioner concerned, and

(c) a reference to the resolution of a matter in an informal manner includes a reference to the referral of the dispute concerned to mediation or other appropriate form of dispute resolution.”.