LAW SOCIETY COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE: WALES AND SOUTH WEST SEATS AND QUADRENNIAL CONSTITUENCY BOUNDARY REVIEW-- Wales and South West seatsThe Council membership committee was established under the by-laws to oversee the representative nature of the Council.Key tasks include advising the Council on the type of solicitor who should fill the non-constituency seats and keeping under review the size of the Council and the constituency boundaries.In order to ensure that the committee itself is properly representative, members are drawn from geographical regions and from the main Law Society groups.There are currently vacancies for the Wales and South West seats on the committee.The term of appointment would be three years and traditionally the time commitment required has not been very high.However, the committee is about to undertake its quadrennial constituency boundary review and a wider review of Council membership and consequently, the number of meetings is likely to increase to approximately 4-6 per Council year.Nominations to the South West and Wales seats are invited from solicitors in those geographical areas.Nominations should be addressed to Lisa Pepper, Secretariat, Corporate Planning and Administration, The Law Society, 113 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1PL.

LDE 56.

Tel: 020 7316 5660; Direct Fax: 020 7320 5759.The closing date for nominations is Friday, 18 February 2000.-- Quadrennial constituency boundary reviewIn accordance with the by-laws, the Council Membership Committee is obliged to keep under review the boundary descriptions of the geographical Council constituencies and the number of Council members allocated to each constituency.

This review is to be conducted every four years and next falls due in the year 2000.In order to assist it in this task, the Committee would welcome representations from members as to the boundary descriptions and the allocation of Council members to each constituency.

Specific invitations to comment will be sent to local law societies and regional associations.Comments and enquiries should be addressed to Lisa Pepper, (contact details as above) by 31 January 2000.PRELIMINARY NOTICE OF LAW SOCIETY COUNCIL ELECTIONPreliminary notice is hereby given under By-law 56 that with effect from 20 January 2000 there will be a vacancy in the office of a Council member for the following constituency:Constituency No 27 -- Manchester, Salford, Stockport and District.This vacancy has arisen following the resignation of Philip Hodson, MA, FCIArb.Mr Hodson is one of two Council members representing the constituency.

The other is Derek Sands.The Council has fixed 6 April 2000 as the election date for filling this vacancy.

The successful candidate will serve the unexpired portion of Mr Hodson's term of office, that is, until the conclusion of the 2000 AGM, and will be eligible for re-elec tion thereafter.Nominations should be received by the Secretary-General, The Law Society, The Law Society's Hall, 113 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1PL (LDE 56) not later than 23 February 2000.RULE CHANGES FOLLOWING THE ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT 1999The Council of the Law Society has implemented the provisions of schedule 7 to the Access to Justice Act 1999.

The Master of the Rolls concurred on 6 January 2000 and, as from that date, the following changes became effective:-- A new practice rule 16C (Powers of the Law Society) enables the Society to check for compliance with the rules, codes or guidance made or issued by the Council of the Law Society;-- Solicitors who use building society accounts for their client accounts may now use building society share accounts as well as deposit accounts;-- An amendment to the accounts rules clarifies that the Society is entitled to inspect office bank and building society accounts;-- Similar amendments have been made to the overseas practice rules.

Copies of the changes are available from Professional Ethics, telephone: 0870 606 2577.THE PRINCIPAL REGISTRY OF THE FAMILY DIVISION FAMILY LAW ACT 1996Attendance of arresting officerUnder section 47(7) of the Family Law Act 1996, a person arrested under a power of arrest attached to a non-molestation order or occupation order must be brought before a judge, district judge or magistrates' court ('the relevant judicial authority') within the period of 24 hours beginning at the time of the arrest.When the arrested person is brought before the relevant judicial authority, the attendance of the arresting officer will not be necessary, unless the arrest itself is in issue.A written statement from the arresting officer as to the circumstances of the arrest should normally be sufficient.In those cases where the arresting officer was also a witness to the events leading to the arrest, and his evidence regarding those events is required, arrangements should be made for the officer to attend at a subsequent hearing to give evidence.This notice has been issued with the approval and concurrence of the Lord Chancellor.INHERITANCE TAX: INLAND REVENUE ACCOUNT FORM IHT200A new account for inheritance tax, form IHT200, will be launched on 14 February.The form comprises an eight-page 'core account' and a number of supplementary pages that only need to be completed if the aspect is relevant to the estate.The guidance notes have also been extensively re-written and are available to practitioners in one volume.CTO will be sending out an initial supply of the forms and associated guidance to around 5,000 firms of solicitors, executor banks and other such organisations.If you have not received an initial supply by the end of, you may order the forms from CTO in Nottingham on the numbers below.The forms will also be available on the Internet from 14 February at: www.inland.revenue.gov.uk/ctoCTO will continue to accept accounts submitted on existing forms for estates in progress at 14 February.But the new account should be used for all estates from 2 May 2000.

For the stationery orderline, telephone: 0845 234 1000; order fax: 0845 234 1010.