THE Law Society has passed a resolution allowing law graduates from Queen's University Belfast, who took a legal action, to be deemed to have passed its entrance examination without sitting it, the Supreme Court heard yesterday.
The court heard an appeal by 35 QUB students against the High Court dismissal of their claims that they were being discriminated against as they did not have the same exemption status for entrance examinations as graduates in the State.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court declared legislation under which the exemptions were granted was invalid. The court ruled that Regulation 15 of the Law Society Education Regulations 1991, was invalid under the Treaty of Rome.
However the Law Society had passed a resolution allowing the students to be deemed to have passed the final examination, part one, and being exempted therefrom. This would be subject to them taking constitutional law provided they applied by the end of February.
The plaintiffs, the 35 QUB students, and the State had settled matters regarding costs. On costs for the Supreme Court and High Court hearings, the Supreme Court allowed the students the costs of the High Court hearing but limited them to eight days as the High Court hearing was unduly protracted. (The case took 17 days.)
On Supreme Court costs, the Chief Justice, Mr Justice Hamilton, said the Supreme Court allowed the QUB students half the costs of the appeal but disallowed the costs of their submission as the court felt parts of the submission should not have been made in the intemperate language used in the documents and did not have the hallmark of propriety expected by the court.
At the opening of yesterday's appeal hearing, the court rejected an application by Dr Michael Forde SC, on behalf of about 300 law students in universities in the State, that they should be represented.
In the High Court last September, Miss Justice Laffoy dismissed the claims by the Belfast group, which was against the Law Society and the State, and also toppled the entire regime as it had applied to all law graduates.
It was held that the Belfast graduates had been discriminated against under EU law and legislation under which the exemptions were granted was invalid.
She said that, having found that the legislation of Regulation 15 of the society was ultra vires (outside the powers) of the society and invalid in that it contravened the prohibition on discrimination on nationality grounds contained in Article 6 of the Treaty of Rome, the court ordered that no further declaration be made in respect of the Law Society regulations.
The Belfast group alleged that the Law Society was refusing to recognise a Queen's University degree for gaining an exemption from sitting a society entrance examination.
The Law Society had denied it was guilty of malicious abuse of its powers or malice towards the QUB students or that the students were victims of discrimination. The State had denied failing to vindicate the rights of the students.