Solicitors Acts, 1954 To 1994 (Apprenticeship and Education) Regulations, 2001

• Statutory Instrument No.: 546/2001

The Law Society of Ireland in exercise of the powers conferred on them by Part IV (as amended by Part V of the Solicitors (Amendment) Act, 1994 ) of the Solicitors Act, 1954 HEREBY MAKE the following Regulations:
	Citation and commencement.	1. (a) These Regulations may be cited as the Solicitors Acts, 1954 to 1994 (Apprenticeship and Education) Regulations, 2001.
(b) These Regulations shall come into operation on the first day of January 2002 and thenceforth, subject to sub-clause (c) of this Regulation, The Solicitors Acts, 1954 to 1994 (Apprenticeship and Education) Regulations, 1997 ( S.I. No. 287 of 1997 ) shall stand revoked.
(c) Regulation 26 of The Solicitors Acts, 1954 and 1960 (Apprenticeship and Education) Regulations, 1991 ( S.I. No. 9 of 1991 ) and Regulation 25 of The Solicitors Acts, 1954 to 1994 (Apprenticeship and Education) Regulations, 1997 ( S.I. No. 287 of 1997 ) shall, in respect of any person who prior to the date of coming into operation of these Regulations became the subject matter of a complaint of alleged misconduct made pursuant to either the said Regulation 26 or the said Regulation 25 which is continuing, remain in full force and effect.
	Definitions.	2. (a) In these Regulations—
“Act” means the Solicitors Act, 1954 (No. 36 of 1954);
“Act of 1960” means the Solicitors (Amendment) Act, 1960 (No. 37 of 1960);
“Act of 1994” means the Solicitors (Amendment) Act, 1994 (No. 27 of 1994);
“annual general meeting” means the general meeting of the Society held each year in the month of November;
“applicant” has the meaning assigned to it in Regulation 6 (a);
“apprentice” means a trainee solicitor;
“Board of Examiners” has the meaning assigned to it in Regulation 13(d)(i);
“candidate” for the purposes of Regulations 12, 18 and 21 means a person sitting the Final Examination or an examination or examinations in a subject (or combination of subjects) forming part of the Final Examination or any part thereof;
“commencement date” means, in relation to a person who is required pursuant to Part IV of the Act (as amended by Part V of the Act of 1994) to be bound by indentures of apprenticeship to a practising solicitor, the date that is fourteen days after the date on which the later of the following occurs, namely-
(i) such person duly completing the Professional Practice Course I or such part of the Professional Practice Part I as he or she has not been duly exempted from by the Committee; and
(ii) such person sitting the last of the individual examinations comprising the Final Examination - Second Part as he or she is required to sit and has not been duly exempted from by the Committee;
“Committee” means the education committee appointed pursuant to Regulation 4;
“Council” means the Council of the Society;
“Director of Education” means the director of education appointed pursuant to Regulation 15 and, for the purposes of Regulation 24, includes the Deputy Director of Education or such other person who, in the absence of the Director of Education and the Deputy Director of Education, may be authorised by the Committee to carry out the functions of the Director of Education; AND “Deputy Director of Education” means the deputy director of education appointed pursuant to Regulation 15, who, in the absence of the Director of Education, shall be entitled to carry out the functions of the Director of Education;
“Disciplinary Tribunal” means the disciplinary tribunal established pursuant to section 6 (as substituted by section 16 of the Act of 1994) of the Act of 1960;
“Final Examination” means the examination, comprising three parts, referred to in Regulation 11(a);
“Final Examination - First Part” means the first part of the Final Examination provided for in Regulation 11(a);
“Final Examination - Second Part” means the second part of the Final Examination provided for in Regulation 11(a);
“Final Examination - Third Part” means the third part of the Final Examination provided for in Regulation 11(a);
“Finance Committee” means the finance committee appointed annually by the Council to supervise the financial affairs of the Society;
“First Irish Examination” means the first examination in the Irish language provided for in Regulation 9(a);
“indentures of apprenticeship” means indentures of apprenticeship in the form set forth in Form 3 in the Schedule to these Regulations, or an assignment of such indentures of apprenticeship in the form set forth in Form 5 in the Schedule to these Regulations, which have been registered in the Register of Trainee Solicitors;
“Law School” means the law school continued and maintained by the Society pursuant to Regulation 15;
“member of the Council” means a serving member of the Council, whether serving as an elected member of the Council or as an elected provincial delegate or as an appointed extraordinary member of the Council;
“pass mark” for the purposes of Regulations 12, 18 and 21 means the achievement by a candidate in an individual examination of a mark of at least 50%;
“period of in-office training” has the meaning assigned to it in Regulation 8;
“practising solicitor” has the meaning assigned to it in section 29 (as substituted by section 44 of the Act of 1994) of the Act;
“Preliminary Examination” means the preliminary examination provided for in Regulation 10;
“prescribed fees” means the fees prescribed by regulations made pursuant to section 82 of the Act;
“Professional Practice Course I” has the meaning assigned to it in Regulation 17(a) and may also be referred to in common usage as “PPC I”;
“Professional Practice Course II” has the meaning assigned to it in Regulation 20(a) and may also be referred to in common usage as “PPC II”;
“recognised degree” means a degree from any of the universities of Ireland, England, Scotland or Wales or a degree conferred or recognised by the National Council for Educational Awards under section 3 of the National Council for Educational Awards Act, 1979 or recognised by any such other body as may be established by law in the State to assume the functions of the National Council for Educational Awards;
“Register of Trainee Solicitors” means the register of apprentices maintained by the Registrar pursuant to section 28(1) of the Act in which the Registrar causes to be entered particulars of indentures of apprenticeship or assignments of indentures of apprenticeship duly produced to the Registrar pursuant to Regulation 6 or Regulation 7;
“Registrar” means the holder of the office of registrar of solicitors appointed by the Society pursuant to section 8 of the Act;
“Regulation” means a regulation in these Regulations;
“Rule” and “Rules” have the meanings respectively assigned to them in Regulation 12(c);
“Second Irish Examination” means the second examination in the Irish language provided for in Regulation 9(a);
“Society” means the Law Society of Ireland;
“Society examination” means any examination conducted by the Society pursuant to these Regulations or the Act or the Act of 1994;
“trainee solicitor” means an apprentice and includes a person whose name has been entered in the Register of Trainee Solicitors, whether or not he or she has commenced his or her period of in-office training, and includes a person who has completed his or her period of in-office training but who has not yet been admitted as a solicitor; AND, for the purposes of Regulation 24, has the meaning assigned to it in Regulation 24 (a);
“training solicitor” means a practising solicitor to whom a trainee solicitor has been bound by indentures of apprenticeship (which have been registered in the Register of Trainee Solicitors) to serve as a trainee solicitor for a period of in-office training and where the period of in-office training has commenced; AND “intended training solicitor” means a practising solicitor with whom a person has executed indentures of apprenticeship (which have been registered in the Register of Trainee Solicitors) to serve as a trainee solicitor for a period of in-office training but where the period of in-office training has not yet commenced; AND “proposed training solicitor” has the meaning assigned to it in Regulation 6(a); and “other proposed training solicitor” has the meaning assigned to it in Regulation 7(a);
(b) Other words and phrases in these Regulations shall have the meanings assigned to them by the Solicitors Acts, 1954 to 1994.
(c) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, the singular includes the plural.
	Interpretation.	3. The Interpretation Acts, 1937 to 1997 shall apply for the purpose of the interpretation of these Regulations as they apply for the purposes of the interpretation of an Act of the Oireachtas, except insofar as they may be inconsistent with the Act, the Act of 1960 or the Act of 1994 or any other Act that amends or extends the Solicitors Acts, 1954 to 1994.
	Education Committee.	4. (a) At the first meeting of the Council to be held after the annual general meeting of the Society each year, the Council shall appoint an education committee consisting of not more than twelve members, of whom at least eight shall be members of the Council (including the president, the senior vice-president and the junior vice-president for the time being elected by the Council) and of whom up to four may be solicitors who are not members of the Council or persons who are not solicitors.
(b) The members of the Committee shall take office immediately upon appointment and shall hold office until the appointment of their successors; with outgoing members being eligible for reappointment and with the quorum of the Committee being three.
(c) A vacancy arising on the Committee may be filled by the Council at any time and a member appointed to fill a vacancy shall hold office until the first meeting of the Council to be held after the next following annual general meeting of the Society.
(d)...