About the ICLR for Ireland
The Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for Ireland, a legal charity established by the Irish legal profession, publishes the Irish Reports and Digests and other materials intended to help promote the best practice of Irish law. Today, the Chief Justice, the President of the High Court, the Attorney General, the Chief Executive Officer of the Courts Service and the Director General of the Law Society of Ireland are ex officio members of the Council. Seven members of the Inner Bar (Senior Counsel), five of the Outer Bar (Junior Counsel) and three representatives of the Law Society of Ireland comprise the elected members of the Council.
History
A committee was appointed by the Irish bar in the Law Library, Four Courts, Dublin on Saturday, 26th May 1866 to examine the issue of law reporting in Ireland. The committee was very conscious of the deficiency in law reporting that had been articulated by many jurists around that time. Subsequently, on 25th June 1866, the committee of members of the Irish Bar proposed a scheme which was adopted unanimously.
The essence of the scheme was that law reporting in Ireland was to be placed under the control and management of a council consisting of 16 members, of whom the Attorney General and Solicitor General for the time being were to be ex officio members, 12 members to be elected by the Bar, seven to be Queen’s Counsel, 5 to be members of the Outer Bar (Junior Counsel) and 2 to be nominated by the Incorporated Society of Attorneys and Solicitors (subsequently to be known as the Law Society of Ireland). The first part of the Irish Reports was published by the recently formed Council of Law Reporting in Ireland on 1st March 1867. The Reports were published in two series, the Equity series and the Common Law series.
By late 1867, the Irish Chancery and Common Law Reports and the Irish Jurist had been discontinued. The Irish Reports were then the only authorised publication reporting the decisions of the superior courts of Ireland. In 1891, the Irish Council of Law Reporting became incorporated under the style of “The Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for Ireland”. In effect, the Law Reporting Council is a joint venture composed of the judiciary, the senior law officers, senior counsel, junior counsel and solicitors.