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US situation ‘worrying’ – High Court President

Newly qualified solicitors have been urged not to take the rule of law, and the conditions under which they will work in Ireland, for granted. 

They also heard the President of the High Court, Mr Justice David Barniville, express concern about what he described as “very worrying” developments in the US. 

The comments were made at a parchment ceremony in Blackhall Place (12 June), where more than 50 graduates were welcomed into the profession.

‘Jeopardy’ 

Speaking at the event, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Marion Berry described the rule of law as “the connective tissue for a functioning body politic”. 

“It is absolutely startling how much you might take that for granted, because it’s not very far away where it’s in jeopardy,” she stated, referring to a recent visit to Hungary for an event involving the heads of European prosecution agencies. 

The new solicitors also heard the President of the High Court Mr Justice David Barniville express concern about the Trump administration’s attacks on lawyers and judges in the US. 

“Judges and lawyers really should appreciate the comparatively privileged conditions in which we work, compared to the conditions in which our equivalents have to work in other countries,” he stated. 

Vigilant 

He cited a recent edition of the Gazette, in which the ‘Endangered Lawyers’ section featured US lawyer Elizabeth Oyer, who was dismissed earlier this year from her post as US pardoning attorney, whose role is to advise the US president on applications for pardon. 

She lost her job after refusing to restore actor Mel Gibson’s gun rights, which had been removed after a domestic-violence conviction. 

“As lawyers and judges, most of us are looking aghast at recent and current developments across the Atlantic,” the High Court President told the ceremony. 

Although it was not his role to make political points, he said, it was important to recognise what was going on in the US. 

He cited attacks on judges from members of the administration, as well as calls for court orders to be ignored. Mr Justice Barniville also referred to the targeting of law firms that had represented political adversaries of President Trump. 

Describing developments in the US as “very worrying”, he told graduates that they also highlighted how important it was to be vigilant in defence of the rule of law in Ireland. 

Lawyers 'get a hard time’ 

Berry told the newly qualified solicitors that lawyers sometimes “get a hard time”, but she added that “the navigation of life’s journeys would be really, really difficult without us”. 

Quoting from The Bramble Bush, a book on law by Karl Llewellyn, who said that society was “honeycombed by disputes”, she said that it was “the doing something about disputes, and the doing of it reasonably, which is the business of the law”. 

“What we all do as officials of the law is the law itself,” she concluded, wishing the new solicitors the very best in their contributions to that important task. 

The graduates also heard from the President of the Law Society Eamon Harrington, who urged them to get involved with the Law Society and to contribute to the profession. 

He said that a career as a solicitor was demanding, and becoming increasingly so, but added that “there is no more interesting job”. 

In addition to the parchments, two graduates received prizes at the ceremony: 

• Criminal Law Prize (2021) Final Examination First Part: Miah Phelan Sweeney (A&L Goodbody LLP), and
• Law Society Skills Prize 2023 prize for PPC II: Sana Sanai (A&L Goodbody LLP).