S.I. No. 360/1992:

THE SOLICITORS' ACTS 1954 AND 1960 (APPRENTICESHIP AND EDUCATION) (AMENDMENT NO. 2) REGULATIONS, 1992.

THE SOLICITORS' ACTS 1954 AND 1960 (APPRENTICESHIP AND EDUCATION) (AMENDMENT NO. 2) REGULATIONS, 1992.

The Incorporated Law Society of Ireland in exercise of the powers conferred on it by Sections 4 , 5 and 40 of the Solicitors Act, 1954 , hereby makes the following Regulations:--

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Solicitors Acts, 1954 and 1960 (Apprenticeship and Education) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations, 1992 and shall come into operation on the first day of March 1994.

2. In these Regulations "the Principal Regulations" means the Solicitors Acts, 1954 and 1960 (Apprenticeship and Education) Regulations, 1991 ( S.I. No. 9 of 1991 ).

3. In Regulation 3 of the Principal Regulations the following shall be inserted in its alphabetical order.

"Section 1" means the first section of the Final Examination -- First Part referred to in Regulation 14 (a) and comprising the subjects specified in Regulation 14 (b).

"Section 2" means the second section of the Final Examination -- First Part referred to in Regulation 14 (a) and comprising the subjects specified in Regulation 14 (c).

4. The Principal Regulations are hereby amended by the substitution of the following for Regulation 14:

"14. ( a ) The Final Examination -- First Part shall be comprised of examinations divided into a first section to be referred to as "Section 1" and a second section to be referred to as "Section 2".

( b ) Section I shall comprise an examination in:

(i) the law of contract;

(ii) the law of torts;

(iii) the law of property; and,

(iv) the law of equity;

( c ) Section 2 shall comprise an examination in:

(i) constitutional law;

(ii) the law of the European Communities;

(iii) company law; and,

(iv) criminal law.

( d ) If the Committee so decides, the examination in any subject in Section I may be combined with any other subject in Section I and the examination in any subject in Section 2 may be combined with any other subject in Section 2, provided that the mark obtained in any such combined examination shall be deemed to be the mark obtained in each of the subjects so combined.

( e ) Commencing in the year 1994, Section 1 and Section 2 shall each be held at least once every year at a time or times to be designated by the Committee.

( f ) A person may sit the Final Examination -- First Part if he has satisfied the requirements of Regulation 8 (a).

( g ) A person may sit Section 1 and Section 2 in the same year or in different years and may sit Section 2 or part thereof before sitting Section I or part thereof.

( h ) Subject to Clause (i) of this Regulation, the pass mark shall be 50 out of 100 marks in each subject in the Final Examination -- First Part.

( i ) A person who takes all four subjects in Section I at one sitting or all four subjects in Section 2 at one sitting shall be declared by the Committee to have passed Section 1 or Section 2, as the case may be, if he achieves:--

(i) a total mark of 200 or more; and,

(ii) a mark of 50 or more out of 100 marks in each of three subjects; and,

(iii) a mark of 40 or more out of 100 marks in the remaining subject."

5. The Principal Regulations are hereby amended by the substitution of the following for Regulation 15:

"15. ( a ) Subject to Regulation 16 (a), a person may, at the discretion of the Committee, be exempted from the Final Examination -- First Part, if such a person has achieved a standard specified by the Committee in a degree in law granted by one of the following universities, namely:

(i) the University of Dublin;

(ii) the National University of Ireland, through one of the following constituent colleges, University College, Cork, University College, Dublin, or University College, Galway;

(iii) the University of Limerick; or,

(iv) Dublin City University,

AND has, as part of that law degree course and prior to the granting of that degree in law, passed the university examinations in each of the subjects specified in Section 1 and Section 2 and has achieved, in passing each of those examinations, such a standard as may be specified by the Committee.

( b ) Subject to Regulation 16 (a), a person who has achieved a standard specified by the Committee in a degree in law granted by a university named in Clause (a) of this Regulation, and has passed (and in so doing has achieved such a standard as may be specified by the Committee), as part of that law degree course (and prior to the granting of that degree in law), university examinations in each of not less than five of the eight subjects specified in Section 1 and Section 2, may, at the discretion of the Committee, be exempted from taking in the Final Examination -- First Part the subjects thus passed; and shall be required to take any outstanding subjects as part of the Final Examination -- First Part. In the event that two or three of the subjects specified in Section 1 or Section 2 have to be taken by that person, it will not be necessary to pass each of those subjects at one sitting.

( c ) A person, who is not fully or partially exempted from the Final Examination -- First Part pursuant to Clause (a) or Clause (b) of this Regulation shall be required to take at one sitting all subjects specified in Section 1 and at one sitting all subjects specified in Section 2, provided that if such a person has secured a mark of at least 50 out of 100 marks in each of three subjects in Section 1 and a mark of at least 25 out of 100 marks in the remaining subject in Section I or a mark of at least 50 out of 100 marks in each of three subjects in Section 2 and a mark of at least 25 out of 100 marks in the remaining subject in Section 2, such a person shall be exempted from each of those subjects in which he has achieved a mark of at least 50 out of 100 marks in any subsequent sitting of Section 1 or Section 2, as the case may be.

( d ) The Committee may from time to time review the subjects or any one or more of the subjects specified in Section 1 and Section 2 as covered in a university law degree course taken or to be taken by a person seeking to avail of the provisions of Clause (a) or Clause (b) of this Regulation. If the Committee determines that those subjects or any one or more of those subjects have not been or are not being adequately covered in a university law degree course provided by any one or more of the universities named in Clause (a) of this Regulation, the Committee, after due consultation with the university of universities concerned, may decide that those subjects or any one or more of those subjects passed as part of a law degree course in such university or universities shall not be subject to an exemption pursuant to the provisions of Clause (a) or Clause (b) of this Regulation."

6. ( a ) A person who, before the coming into operation of these Regulations, secured exemptions in one or more subjects in the Final Examination -- First Part pursuant to Regulation 15 of the Principal Regulations, must sit the remaining subject or subjects whether specified in Section 1 or Section 2.

( b ) If a person is obliged, pursuant to Clause (a) of this Regulation, to take fewer than all four subjects specified in Section 1 or fewer than all four subjects specified in Section 2, such a person must achieve at one sitting of Section 1 or Section 2, as the case may be, a mark of at least 50 out of 100 marks in each subject taken.

7. Regulation 16 of the Principal Regulations is hereby amended as follows:

( a ) By the substitution of the following for Clause (d) thereof;

"( d ) A person who, pursuant to Regulation 15 (b), is required to take one or two or three of the total of the subjects specified in Section 1 and Section 2 must pass that subject or those subjects within a period of five years from the first day of October in the year in which a person obtained a degree in law granted by one of the universities named in Regulation 15 (a)."

Dated this 30th day of November, 1992

Signed on behalf of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland

RAYMOND T. MONAHAN,

President of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.