The Gazette 1989

GAZETTE

JULY 1989

Book Review

include experts from outside the Commission. A working group was established in relation to the legal, admi n i s t r a t i ve and practical problems which are hampering the efficient collection of debts; follow- ing consultations with this working group, a report on the law relating to sheriffs was submitted to the Attorney General in September, 1988. The progress of the working group on Conveyancing and Land Law in the context of identifying anomalies in the law and proposals for improvement are also docu- mented in the Tenth Report. Another working group is examin- ing issues relating to "retention of title" clauses. It has been stated that a great hindrance to law reform is indol- ence. Many become accustomed to existing rules and dislike the mental e f f o rt wh i ch change entails. Lawyers need to be more cour- ageous and must strive to convince our rulers that law reform is worth the effort. Eamonn G. Hall REVIEW OF EUROPEAN COMMUN I TY LAW IN IRELAND By B. McMahon & F. Murphy Published by Butterworths. Price IR£49.50 It is now ten years since I went to work as a Stagiaire in the legal service of the EC Commission in Brussels. How much easier it would have been if I had had the benefit of this book then. Not only was I trying to come to terms with a foreign language but also with a foreign legal system. The European Community legal system is a new one and an intimidating prospect for Irish Lawyers educated in the traditional mould. The community system has its origins and concepts firmly based in the continental civil law system. Of course, fear of the un- known can be overcome simply by coming to terms with the subject and by becoming familiar with its terminology and concepts. This is what "European Community Law in Ireland" by McMahon & Murphy clearly seeks to achieve. Why could such a book not have been written before? The answer is

simple, EEC Community Law is only about thirty years old. The book was written in an attempt to introduce the Irish Lawyer to the community's legal system. It also traces and outlines the impact which the community's legal system has had on our national system and it focuses on the adjustments and the responses that were required of Ireland because of its accession to the community. Finally, it outlines the substantive law on the major areas such as The Free Movement of Goods, Persons, Services and Capital. Even in a substantial work such as this book, which runs into over 500 pages, it is impossible to cover everything. Therefore, the authors have had to be somewhat selective and only give a passing mention to the European Coal & Steel Commun i ty and t he Law of Euratom. However, it is worth bearing in mind t hat simply because the topic is not covered in the present edition of the book does not mean that it lacks significance oi importance and hopefully some of the topics omitted from this edition will be covered in the future. It was particularly exciting to see chapters dealing with the Common Ag r i cu l t u r al Policy and the Common Fisheries Policies, both of which are areas of great signifi- cance to Irish citizens. I was particularly pleased w i t h the section on Competition Law as this is certainly an area that Irish Lawyers need to become more familiar wi th and to use more extensively. The Arthur Cox Foundation was once more positively used in assisting the publication of this excellent book. John Schutte BM Secretarial Services Typing Service Specialising in Legal Work W.P., Dictaphone and Copy Typing etc. Efficient Service and Confidentiality Guaranteed.

T H E LAW R E F ORM C O M M I S S I O N , T E N T H REPORT ( 1988) 16 pages. £1.50 Edward Gibbon in his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire describes the attitude of the Locrians to their legal system. If any member of that community sought to propose an amendment in the law, he was obliged to stand forth in the assembly wi th a noose around his neck. " If the law was rejected", stated Gibbon, " t he innovator was instantly strangled". Your reviewer does not recommend strangulation as a punishment but would not object to a law which would im- pose a financial levy on any member of the Cabinet who failed to bring forward draft legislative measures reforming the law within a stipulated period. The most powerful source of law reform is that of general public opinion. There is also the powerful force of the vocal lobbyists. How- ever, t he layman and many politicians are not interested in lawyers' law. The words of Costello J. in a recent valuation case Pfizer Chemical Corporation (Irish Independent May 11, 1989), where he described the valuation code as " a confusing mosaic of partly re- pealed and imperfectly drafted Victorian statutes encrusted with a century and a half's judicial decisions", could be applied to much of our law - particularly lawyers' law - law that badly needs to be reformed. The Law Reform Commission in its Tenth Report sets out the fruits of the year's work in relation to many branches of the law. The year's work is divided into research carried out and proposals for reform in relation to rape, malicious damage, debt collection (the law relating to sheriffs), the rule against hearsay in civil cases, child sexual abuse, conveyancing and land law, dishonesty, seizure of the proceeds of crime, retention of title and representation at the Hague Con- ference on Private International Law. An interesting feature of the recent work of the Commission has been t he es t ab l i shment of specialised working groups which

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