The Gazette 1973

next issue of the Gazette will be published at the beginning of February 1974, and will be an enlarged issue of at least 40 pages to cover the months of January and February 1974. The following issues will appear according to the circumstances prevailing in the power crisis at the time. Arrangements will be made to issue the monthly CGazette regularly every month, as soon as the restrictions arising from the present power crisis are lifted. The Index to Volume 67 (1973) of the Gazette will he inserted in the January-February 1974 issue of the Gazette. mittee with wide powers of drafting composed of Judges, legal practitioners and academic lawyers, has been established, although the President of the High Court does preside over an advisory Committee with arrangements for specified lawyers to present reports. It lias already been pointed out that the Sheridan Report on Northern Ireland Land Law drafted a bill to bring the Northern Ireland land legislation up to date, and that this bill could be adapted in the Repub- lic with very few modifications. It is amazing that the Minister has not appointed a Committee of Con- veyancing Experts to draft the necessary amend- ments, and to introduce the Bill without delay in the Oireachtas, as the kudos he would receive as a result of introducing this measure would make him famous for a long time to come. In the same way it would un- doubtedly he of great benefit to the legal profession if such English measures as the Misrepresentation Act 1967, the Resale Prices Act 1964, the Trade Descrip- tions. Act 1968, the Employers Liability (Defective Equipment) Act 1969, the Animals Act 1971, the Occupiers Liability Act 1957, and the Perpetuities and Accumulations Act 1964 were re-enacted with modifica- tions into Irish law. It will be seen that there is ample work to be undertaken by a properly constituted Committee of Law Reform.

PRELIMINARY NOTICE It is regretted that this issue of the Gazette has been unavoidably delayed due to the numerous electricity cuts arising out of the current power crisis in the printers works. It is not anticipated that the situation will improve, and consequently it is regretted that many issues of the 1974 Gazette will unavoidably appear late. In the circumstances, it has been decided that the

EDITORIAL

LAW REFORM When the membership of the new Executive of the Assembly of Northern Ireland was announced recently, Mr. Gooper of the Alliance Party was appointed Mem- ber for Law Reform; at first sight, this sounded most promising, but it is understood that since Mr. Alfred Donaldson's premature retirement, there is no staff at the moment. This was essentially due to the fact that absurd and totally unwarranted restrictions were placed upon Mr. Donaldson, and as a result of which he was completely unable to carry out his functions properly. The position is thankfully more hopeful in the Republic, as Mr. Charles Haughev, when he was Minister for Justice, actually published a programme of law reform. Unfortunately, the succeeding Ministers for Justice— despite the Irish Title of the Ministry, which places substantive Law before the enforcement of law—have concentrated to an undue extent upon the problem of enforcement, and have almost neglected the positive problems of law reforms. It is an open secret that Mr. Justice Gavan Duffy, before he became a Judge, was willing to become Minister for Justice as a Senator for one year only, for the sole purpose of carrying through extensive law reforms. It is disappointing to note that despite several appeals, no official Law Reform Com- THE SOCIETY Proceedings of the 18th OCTOBER 1973 Present : W. B. Allen, Walter Beatty, Bruce St. J. Blake, John F. Buckley, John Carrigan, Anthony Col- lins, Gerard M. Doyle, Joseph L. Dundon, Gerald Hickey, Christopher Hogan, Michael P. Houlihan, Thomas Jackson, Jnr., John B. Jermyn, John Maher, Eunan McCarron, Patrick McEntee, Brendan A. Mc- Grath, John J. Nash, George A. Nolan, John C. O'Carroll, Peter E. O'Conneli, James W. O'Donovan, William A. Osborne, David R. Pigot, Moya Quinlan, Ralph J. Walker.

Council Practice certificate contributions 1974/75

The Council decided that the overall contributions paid by each Solicitor in respect of taking out a practising certificate for the year 1974/75 should re- main the same as before, but that the contribution payable to the Compensation Fund should be reduced from £30 to £20 whereas contribution payable to the Society should be increased from £31 to £41. Purchaser paying vendor's fees and outlay Members wrote to the Society complaining of the practice of certain builders of charging a fee for pre- paring a book of title together with outlay for archi-

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