The Solicitors’ Accounts Regulations No. 2 of 1984

JurisdictionIreland
CitationIR SI 304/1984

S.I. No. 304 of 1984.

THE SOLICITORS' ACCOUNTS REGULATIONS No. 2 OF 1984.

The Incorporated Law Society of Ireland in exercise of the powers conferred on it by Sections 4, 5, 66 and 71 of the Solicitors' Act, 1954, and of every other power enabling it and with the concurrence of the President of the High Court hereby make the following Regulations.

PART I—PRELIMINARY

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Solicitors' Accounts Regulations No. 2 of 1984 and shall come into operation on the 1st day of January 1985.

Accountant's Reports under the Second Schedule will apply to accounting periods ending on or after the 1st day of January, 1985 whereupon the Solicitors' Accounts regulations 1967-1977 and the Solicitors' Accounts Regulations 1984 ( S.I. No. 204 of 1984 ) shall cease to have effect.

2. (1) "Accountant" has the meaning given to it by Part V 21 (3) of these Regulations;

"Accountant's Certificate" has the meaning given to it by Part V 21 (1) of these Regulations;

"Accounting Date" means the date in each year selected by a solicitor and notified by him to the Society pursuant to Part V 21 (2) of these Regulations;

"Accounting Period" means the period of one year ending on the accounting date, subject to the provisions of Regulations 21 (2), 25 and 26 (1);

"Act" shall mean the Solicitors' Acts 1954 and 1960;

"Associated Firms" shall mean where the two or more firms have one or more partners in common;

"Bank" shall mean a branch situated in the Republic of Ireland of a bank listed in the First Schedule or any other bank licensed under the Central Bank Acts as the Society may from time to time approve;

"Client" shall mean any person on whose account a solicitor holds or receives client's money;

"Client Account" shall mean a current or deposit account in the name of the solicitor and in the title of which account the word "client" shall appear, at;

( a ) a bank; or

( b ) any other financial institution authorised by the client in writing;

"Client's Money" shall mean money held or received by a solicitor on behalf of a person for whom he is acting in relation to the holding or receipt of such money either as a solicitor or, in connection with his practice as a solicitor, as agent, stakeholder or in any other capacity; provided that the expression "client's money" shall not include—

( a ) money held or received on behalf of the trustees of a trust of which the solicitor is a solicitor-trustee;

( b ) money to which the only person entitled is the solicitor himself or, in the case of a firm of solicitors, one or more of the partners in the firm;

( c ) monies placed on joint deposit receipt except where the payees are all members of the same practice;

"Reporting Date" shall mean—

(i) the date expiring six months after the commencement of the accounting period; and

(ii) the date of the last day of the accounting period;

"Solicitor" shall mean a solicitor of the Courts of Justice and shall include a firm of solicitors;

"Solicitor-Trustee" shall mean a solicitor who is a sole trustee or executor or who is co-trustee or co-executor only with a partner, clerk or servant of his or with more than one of such persons;

"Trust Bank Account" shall mean a current or deposit account in the title of which the word "trustee" or "executor" appears, or which is otherwise clearly designated as a trust account, kept at a bank and kept solely for money subject to a particular trust of which the solicitor is a solicitor-trustee;

"Trust Money" shall mean money held or received by a solicitor which is not client's money and which is subject to a trust of which the solicitor is a trustee whether or not he is a solicitor-trustee of such trust.

(2) Other expressions in these Regulations shall, except where otherwise stated, have the meanings assigned to them by the Act.

(3) The Interpretation Act 1937 applies to these regulations in the same manner as it applies to an Act of the Oireachtas except in so far as it may be inconsistent with the Act or these Regulations.

PART II—CLIENT ACCOUNT

3. Subject to the provisions of Regulation 6 hereof, every solicitor who holds or receives client's money or money which under Regulation 4 hereof he is permitted and elects to pay into a client account, shall without delay pay such money into a client account. Any solicitor may keep one client account or as many such accounts as he thinks fit.

4. There may be paid into a client account—

( a ) trust money;

( b ) such money belonging to the solicitor as may be necessary for the purpose of opening or maintaining the account;

( c ) money to replace any sum which for any reason may have been drawn from the account in contravention of paragraph (2) of Regulation 8 of these Regulations;

( d ) a cheque or draft received by the solicitor which under paragraph (b) of Regulation 5 of these Regulations he is entitled to split but which he does not split;

( e ) other money belonging to the solicitor.

5. Where a solicitor holds or receives a cheque or draft which includes client's money or trust money of one or more trusts—

( a ) he may, where practicable, split such cheque or draft and, if he does so, he shall deal with each part thereof as if he had received a separate cheque or draft in respect of that part; or

( b ) if he does not split the cheque or draft, he shall, if any part thereof consists of client's money, and may, in any other case, pay the cheque or draft into a client account.

6. (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of these Regulations, a solicitor shall not be under obligation to pay into a client account client's money held or received by him—

( a ) which is received by him in the form of cash and is without delay paid in cash in the ordinary course of business to the client or on his behalf to a third party; or

( b ) which is received by him in the form of a cheque or draft which is endorsed over without delay in the ordinary course of business to the client or on his behalf to a third party and is not passed by the solicitor through a bank account; or

( c ) which he pays into a separate bank account in the name of the client or of some person designated by the client in writing.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of these Regulations but subject to paragraph (3) a solicitor shall not pay into a client account money held or received by him which the client for his own convenience requests the solicitor to withhold from such account, such request being in writing from the client.

(3) Where a cheque or draft includes client's money other than money of the nature described in paragraph (2) as well as money of that nature such cheque or draft shall be dealt with in accordance with Regulation 5 of these Regulations.

(4) Notwithstanding the provisions of these Regulations the Council may upon application made to it by a solicitor specifically authorise him in writing to withhold any client's money from a client account.

7. There may be drawn from a client account—

( a ) in the case of client's money—

(i) money properly required for a payment to or on behalf of that client;

(ii) money properly required for or towards payment of a debt due to the solicitor from the client whose money has been paid into that account or in reimbursement of money expended by the solicitor on behalf of the client;

(iii) money drawn on the client's authority;

(iv) money properly required for or towards payment of the solicitor's costs where there has been delivered to the client a bill of costs or other written intimation of the amount of the costs incurred and it has thereby or otherwise in writing been made clear to the client that money held for him is being or will be applied towards or in satisfaction of such costs; and

(v) money which is thereby transferred into another client account;

( b ) in the case of trust money—

(i) money properly required for a payment in the execution of the particular trust; and

(ii) money to be transferred into a separate bank account kept solely for the money of the particular trust;

( c ) such money, not being money to which either paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of this Regulation applies, as may have been paid into the account under paragraph (b) or (e) of Regulation 4 or paragraph (b) of Regulation 5 of these Regulations; and

( d ) money which for any reason may have been paid into the account by mistake;

provided that in any case under paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of this Regulation the money so drawn shall not exceed the total of the money held for the time being in such account on behalf of such client or trust.

8. (1) No money drawn from a client account under Regulation 7 (a) (ii), 7 (a) (iv) or 7 (d) shall be drawn except by—

( a ) a cheque drawn in favour of the solicitor; or

( b ) a transfer to a bank account in the name of the solicitor not being a client account.

(2) No money other than money permitted by Regulation 7 to be drawn from a client account shall be so drawn unless the Council upon an application made to it by the solicitor specifically authorises in writing its withdrawal.

9. No sum shall be transferred from the ledger account of one client to that of another except in circumstances in which it would have been permissible under these Regulations to have withdrawn from a client account the sum transferred from the first client and to have paid into a client account the sum so transferred to the second client.

10. (1) Every solicitor shall at all times keep proper books of account—

( a ) to show all his dealings with—

(i) client's money received, held or paid by him; and

(ii) any other money dealt with by him through a client account; and

( b ) to distinguish separately—

(i) in respect of each client all money of the category specified in sub-paragraph (a) of this paragraph which is received, held or paid by him on behalf of that client; and

(ii) all...

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