Following submissions from a number of voluntary bodies, the Law Society will be proposing law reform in areas where injustices and anomalies have been identified.
The process began when the society advertised in its publications for submissions from members on problems which they had encountered with present legislation. This was extended to writing to many voluntary organisations, asking them to make submissions on problems with the law.
The society was overwhelmed by the response, according to Mr James MacGuill, chairman of the society's law reform committee. Some 100 responses came from their members, mainly of a technical nature. A similar number came from the voluntary organisations, which were of a more general nature, and tended to highlight specific legal gaps and problems.
The problems highlighted were in areas such as the treatment of victims of crime, family law, domestic violence and the law relating to people with disabilities.
Mr MacGuill said a number of the proposals from groups representing victims of crime were also made at the Crime Forum, at which the society was represented. The committee would have no problem with suggestions like keeping victims informed of the progress of a case, involving them more in the trial and obtaining compensation.
He said the submissions identified gaps in the legislation on domestic violence, where certain categories of people were not protected. On family law, the legislation relating to adoptive parents and adopted children had not kept pace with developments.
Submissions had also identified areas where the rights of people with disabilities were not adequately protected. Those suffering from mental health problems were "practically criminalised".
Another category of people not adequately protected was the homeless, according to Mr MacGuill. "The law never got beyond the concept of vagrancy."
A strand which ran through a number of submissions was that people had a difficulty, yet did not realise a law existed which could deal with it. This raised the question of how well the Government publicised the law.
The evolution of legislation meant that there were various laws relating to the one subject which had never been consolidated or codified. However, this was a vast area and one which went beyond the immediate plans of the Law Society.
The next task of the law reform committee, said Mr MacGuill, was to sort out the submissions according to their importance and feasibility, and then pick a few projects to work on in the short term.
It is not intended that the Law Society's proposals will have any significant implication for Exchequer spending.