The Gazette 1983

MARCH 1983

GAZETTE

Commercial Matters, new rules will be introduced giving courts of other Member States jurisdiction over Irish companies, and judgments against' Irish companies obtained anywhere in the Community will be immediately and automatically enforceable in Ireland. This is probably the most important single legal change, from a practical standpoint, resulting from the Community. Indeed, it is so important that I seriously considered devoting the whole of this lecture to it. • Footnotes 1. Chubb, The Constitution and Constitutional Change in Ireland (1978) 80 says the reception of Community law into Irish law has been "dragged out" by transitional arrangements, derogations and "simple inertia" and on p. 85 he says "the impact of Community law upon Irish law and the actions of the Irish government is considerable though, as yet, largely unrecognised". He quotes the 55th Report of the Joint Committee on the Secondary Legislation of the European Communities, p. 9. At p. 88 Chubb says "most Irish lawyers are still in the process of becoming familiar with a large body of new law. So far, most are not accustomed to look at it or invoke it: it is only a matter of time before they do." See also Senator Robinson, How EEC Law affects you, Society of Young Solicitors, 1982. 2. Irish patent agents, who find themselves in an analogous situation as a result of the European Patent Convention, were quick to see the possible undesirable consequences for themselves. 3. Kahn-Freund, Common Law and Civil Law Imaginary and Real Obstacles to Assimilation, in Capeletti (ed.) New Perspectives for a Common Law of Europe (1978) 137 at p. 138,149,150,151,152, 153-154, 156, 158, 160. Tunc, a French Lawyer looks at British pany Law, 45 Modem Law Rev. (1982) 1, at pp. 7-8: Scarman, English Law — The New Dimension (1974) pp. 25-26. ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS IN IRELAND The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland is a privately owned Institution founded in 1784. It has responsibility for postgraduate education of surgeons, radiologists, anaesthetists, dentists and nurses. The College manages an International Medical School for the training of doctors, many of whom come from Third World countries where there is a great demand and need for doctors. Research in the College includes work on cancer, thrombosis, high blood pressure, heart and blood vessel disease, blindness, mental handicap, birth defects and many other human ailments. The College being an independent institution is financed largely through gifts and donations. Your donation, covenant or legacy, will help to keep the College in the forefront of medical research and medical education. The College is officially recognised as a Charity by the Revenue Commissioners. All contributions will be gratefully received. Enquiries to: The Registrar, Royal College of Surgeons, in Ireland, St. Stephen's Green, Dublin 2.

These differences in methods of legal education . . . produce, or contribute to, the instinctive inclination of lawyers to argue "from principle" or "from precedent.. ."The need for lawyers in . . .(Ireland) to adjust to the style of continental legislative texts and — even more difficult — judgments, is very great." He also wrote: "The reason why I consider the legislative style to be a more formidable obstacle than the judicial style is that this difference in styles reflects differences in interpretation, and the differences in interpretation reflect differences in judicial attitudes towards the purposes and functions of legislation . . . " He went on later: "The doctrinal distinction between "public" and "private" law . . . is . . . apt to create a real obstacle (because) it reflects a difference in the role of the courts . . . the use of private law concepts for the analysis of public law relationships... has until very recently been a characteristic of English law . . . This is by far the most important contrast between the "common law" and the "civil law". 3 The Community lawyer needs a knowledge of civil law, of administrative law and of private international law as well as Community law. If he has not got this knowledge, he is at a disadvantage in comparison with lawyers who have. This is not as bad as it may seem. "Bíonn gach tosnú lag" — The principles of economics are similar in all countries: the underlying principles of economic law are surprisingly similar. Because so much of the pleading before the Court is in writing, the lawyer has time to look up points raised by the other parties. There is a convention (not always observed) that cases from other jurisdictions are not cited without warning to one's adversary. An increasing number of rules of Irish law are already derived from Community law. This proportion is increasing, and will continue to increase. An increasing proportion of Irish lawyers have studied civil law, private international law, administrative law and, of course, Community law. Irish judges, when the occasion arose, have dealt with questions of Community law very readily and incisively. Just as there is no Community Bar, there are no "European" law schools in the way that there are "national" law schools in the United States. Community law is, and can be, studied in ordinary universities. But it demands a greater effort than it has received so far here. It demands the kind of imagination and breadth of vision which the new Constitution demanded in 1937 — and received only later. But, with Community law, Irish lawyers cannot afford to wait. A conservative approach to the Irish Constitution could not cause Irish lawyers to lose business to foreign lawyers. A conservative approach by Irish lawyers to Community law will certainly do so. Irish lawyers were able largely to avoid questions of private international law for many years: they are not in a position to avoid questions of Community law now. For example, as a result of the Convention on Jurisdiction and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and

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