The Gazette 1979

GAZETTE

JULY-AUGUST 1979

Printing or Publication of Newspapers Mergers, Take-overs and Monopolies (Control) Act 1978 The attention of members is drawn to the fact that by virtue of the Mergers, Take-overs and Monopolies (Newspapers) Order 1979 (Statutory Instrument No. 17 of 1979) the Mergers, Take-overs and Monopolies (Control) Act 1978 applies to any merger or take-over involving enterprises at least one of which is engaged in the printing or publication of newspapers regardless of the turnover or gross assets of either of the enterprises concerned. It should be noted that 'Newspaper' means any periodical consisting substantially of news and comment on current affairs, excluding newspapers intended for circulation only to members of a particular trade, profession or occupation. The effect of the very wide ranging provisions of the Order is to bring within the ambit of the Mergers Act a merger or take-over involving any enterprises, no matter how small and regardless of turnover or asset thresholds, engaged in the printing or publication of newspapers. Accordingly under Section 5 of the Act it is necessary to notify the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Energy of any proposed merger or take-over involving an enterprise engaged in the printing or publication of a newspaper. Under Section 3 of the Act the title to any shares or assets concerned in the proposed merger or take-over shall not pass until the Minister has indicated that he does not propose to prohibit it, or that he has made an order prohibiting it except on specified conditions or a period of three months from date of notification has elapsed without him having made an order prohibiting it.

upset the complicated balance, by shifting the onus of proof, or by removing the right not to incriminate oneself, that we may upset the entire mechanism of this delicate balance which is favouring the criminal now but which operated in the other direction in the 18th century. No one wants that but, let us look at this delicate balance. In 1968 the persons responsible for committing 8,877 indictable crimes went 'Scot-Free' without ever reaching a Court hearing. Indeed most of them did not reach the stage of being invited to a Garda Station. In 1971 the number of crimes for which the culprits went 'Scot'Free' more than doubled to 20,263. In 1975 it increased to 27,367 and in 1977 it escalated to 38,507 and none of these figures include acquittals in Court, which averaged about 6%. Lest you think, as I'm sure many of you are thinking, that this is due to a deterioration in Garda efficiency I must hasten to point out that last year the Garda detected 25,281 crimes, that is 2,117 more crimes then were committed altogether in 1968. No, the balance is not delicate, it is critically ill.

THE INCORPORATED LAW SOCIETY OF IRELAND DINNER DANCE

in

THE LAW SOCIETY,

I NCOR P ORAT ED LAW SOCI ETY OF I RELAND The Succession Act 1965 by William J. McGuire The above book was published by the Society in 1968 and has been out of print for some time. The Society now proposes publishing a 2nd revised edition. Applications would be welcomed for the position of Associate Editor of the revised edition and should be addressed to:— The Director General, The Incorporated Law Society of Ireland, Blackhall Place, Dublin 7.

BLACKHALL PLACE

FRIDAY, 23rd NOVEMBER,

1979

ft Dinner: 8.30 p.m. ft Buffet forStudents: 10.00p.m.-12.00midnight. ft Dancing: 10.00 p.m. - 2.00 a.m.

Tickets and Table Reservations available from: The Law Society Office, Blackhall Place

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