The Society of the King's Inns has rejected most of the recommendations of the Competition Authority for reform of entry to the profession of barrister, The Irish Times has learned.
Earlier this year the authority published its report on the legal professions, recommending, among other things, the creation of a legal services commission comparable to the Medical Council for doctors. It also recommended the ending of the King's Inns' and Law Society's monopoly on legal professional training. It asked for submissions in response to its recommendations.
The King's Inns submission rejects the need for a legal services commission to oversee the provision of legal education and the regulation of the profession.
It states this would be an interference by the executive with the independence of the legal profession.
It stresses the level of judicial involvement with the King's Inns and suggests the creation of a legal services commission would jeopardise the separation of powers between the executive and judiciary, as laid down by the Constitution.
The submission notes various international instruments that underline the importance of the independence and self-regulation of the legal profession.
It also rejects the authority's recommendation that it license other educational institutions to provide barrister-at-law degrees. It states the authority produced no evidence to demonstrate the King's Inns' monopoly of professional training had any undesirable results, and stressed it was a non-profit-making institution.
It said its fees compared favourably with other professional postgraduate courses, such as the MBA in both Trinity and UCD. It also pointed out it received no State subsidy for the education of barristers.
The submission also pointed out that the King's Inns' professional training course involves members of the judiciary and practising barristers who, respectively, participate in mock trials and teach the necessary practical skills. This would not be possible for other institutions to achieve, it states.
Referring to the necessity for non-law graduates to take its own two-year, postgraduate diploma course, it says it is considering recognising a diploma in legal studies from another institution.
It stresses there is no restriction on entry into the course, apart from the need to have an academic legal qualification, and states the numbers entering the course have more than matched the general expansion of the professions in Ireland.