The Gazette 1981

GAZETTE

SEPTEMBER 1981

Law Reporting and Statute Law

edition to cover the volumes from 1922 to 1973. The Association ipust have been gratified by the large attendance of non-members of the Association and it is to be hoped that this will encourage the Association in further ventures not wholly directed at its own membership. •

The first venture of the Irish Association of Law Teachers outside its own ranks was a very successful Summer meeting on Law Reporting and the Publication of Statute Law held at University College, Dublin. The paper on Law Reporting prepared by Professor Kevin Boyle of University College, Galway included a brief history of Law Reporting in Ireland and went on to review the present unsatisfactory position — unsatisfactory not because of any lack of effort on the part of the official body charged with Law Reporting, whose Editor has made great strides in what is a most difficult task, namely to catch up arrears in a periodical publication, but for other reasons. The increase in the number (and, dare it be said, of some Judges, the length) of written judgments in the High and Supreme Court is one reason; the disappearance of the old Irish Jurist Reports and the decline in the Irish Law Times Reports is another, while the small number of subscribers (the solicitors' profession in Ireland is notably at fault here) to the Irish Reports is yet a further reason. During the discussion on the paper, the need to improve Circuit Court reporting following the introduction of the new jurisdiction under the Courts Act, 1981, was noted and the Association was asked to set up a Sub-Committee to suggest ways of improving law reporting. Mr. Bart Daly of Irish Academic Press drew the attention of the meeting to his company's projected Irish Law Monthly Reports which were scheduled to commence publication in October 1981. Professor Desmond Greer of Queens University presented a paper on Statute Law and began by reminding his audience of the difficulty, for historical reasons, of ascertaining precisely what Statutes still apply in Ireland; he then commented on the delay in publishing the bound annual volumes of the Acts of the Oireachtas due, it was understood, largely to delays in translating the English version into Irish. The production of an annual volume of English language only texts from 1980 onwards was to be welcomed. Unfortunately, the Republic has never had an equivalent of the Northern Ireland "Statutes Revised" — the complete text of all Statutes affecting Northern Ireland, from whatever legislature. This was first published in 1956 and a new edition is in course of preparation but, for reasons of cost, will exclude United Kingdom Acts. It appeared that tables of Statutes were printed triennially in Northern Ireland (and are only 15 months in arrears!). The particular difficulties attaching to the problem of Statutory Instruments was also noted in Professor Greer's paper. During the discussion, considerable attention was paid to the problem of the piece-meal coming into force of certain parts of recent legislation and some suggested guidelines were mentioned. The Law Society representative indicated that the Society proposed to reprint the Acts of the Oireachtas in a monolingual

Independent Actuarial Advice regarding Interests in Settled Property and Claims for Damages BACON & WOODROW

Consulting Actuaries 58 Fitzwllliam Square Dublin 2 (Telephone 7 6 2Q3 1)

PHOTO-COPIERS INTERNATIONAL CO. LTD.

I'd like to know more about the right type of Photocopying Machine to suit my profession

SPEED-O-PRINT

OLIVETTI NASHUA REGMA MINOLTA CANNON MITA

Please have a salesman call with more information

AD Machines Guaranteed for One Full Year — Parts aid Labour

Title

Sales and Service Throughout Ireland

Member of the European Copier Council

Tel. No Photo-Copiers International Co. 66 Ecdes St., Dublin 7 Phone: 304211 — 301154 — 307191

2 1 3