The Gazette 1989

FEBRUARY

1989

GAZETTE

Book Review A Dictionary of Irish Law by Henry Murdoch. Published by It must be at least thirty years ago that your reviewer discovered, during a rare office clear-out, three large, dusty, coverless and dilapidated legal tomes. Being naturally reluctant to throw out anything of potential usefulness or value, he consulted the Society's then librarian, Colum Gavan Duffy. That mine of bookish information was enthusiastic! The three volumes were the complete set of Stroud's Judicial Dictionary, 2nd Edition. Valuable? Not very - there was a later edition. Useful? Extremely. Get the set re-bound and see. He was absolutely correct. Stroud remained a consistently useful provider of answers to many random problems. In fact, before turning to Halsbury, a quick look at this Judicial Dictionary often saved lengthier research. More recently, other legal dictionaries have come on the market, together with a relatively new edition of Stroud - well worth having, but expensive. All these are based on UK law and the need has increasingly been apparent for a publication taking note of the ever enlarging body of Irish statute and case law, in which words and phrases have received judicial definition or consideration. This, literally, mind-bending task has now been undertaken by Henry Murdoch B.E. C.Eng., FIEI, MBA, Barrister, whose Dictionary of Irish Law was published by Topaz Publications of Dun Laoghaire on 29 November, 1988. The book is excellently produced, in both hardback and paperback, at £38.00 and £25.00 respectively. Sadly, the publishers have sent only the paperback for review! Nevertheless, even the paperback edition made light work of a pre- Christmas boat trip from Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead, as this is a book every bit as enjoyable to browse through as to call upon for solving instant problems. One can but marvel at Mr. Murdoch's industry. How much easier it would have been merely to have up-dated a previously existing work. But Mr. Murdoch has started Topaz Publications, 1988. £25.00 PB, £38.00 HB.

from scratch and has produced a 570 page work - in what must be the truest sense of the word - which is in fact more than a mere 'dictionary'; while a great many words or phrases are given simple and straightforward definitions or explanations, many are dealt with discursively, to which extent the book may be regarded as a mini- Halsbury and very much less expensive! In addition to words which have been defined statutorily or judicially, Mr. Murdoch has included a very fine selection of those Latin Tags, so much beloved by our legal forefathers. These are not without their usefulness even today. On receiving an enquiry from a friend as to the quality of the pint in a certain hostelry, one would argu- able be negligent if one failed to qualify a recommendation with the observation Simplex commendatio non ob/igat, especially if, non cepit modo et forma. Although a defence could perhaps be raised on the principle of nemo contra factum suum proporiem venire potest. Arguably, the time-worn ex- pression "this is a book no practitioner should be without" has tended, over years of repetition, to have lost its impact. For once, however, the words are wholly appropriate. Despite a few typo- graphical errors - apparently impossible to avoid through late- twentieth century technology - this excellently produced book really is a "mus t" Buy the hardback edition - it will receive constant handling - and accept a further piece of advice: don't just put the book on your shelf and forget it - browse through it at length, as I have done; enjoy it for what it is and, at the same time, discover just how much is in it and how it works. There is much more in it than you would ever imagine. Mr. Murdoch deserves our heartiest congratulations. But of course, simplex commendatio non obligat! Charles R.M. Meredith

A DICTIONARY OF IRISH LAW By Henry Murdoch BL "This dictionary provides an excellent tool in hands of lawyers both experienced and those less experienced as well" ... The Hon. Thomas A. Finlay, Chief Justice, writing in the forward. Now Available Post FreePrice IR£25 Paperback - IR£38 Hardback Direct from the publishers: TOPAZ PUBLICATIONS 64, Upper Georges Street, Dun Leogheire, Co. Dublin ... or from leading booksellers WORDPLEX EQUIPMENT FOR SALE IDEALLY SU I TED TO A LEGAL PRACT ICE Contact Marion Quinn at: Craig Gardner & Co. Telephone: 6 0 6 7 0 0

SOURCES OF EUROPEAN COMMUN I TY LAW Contd. from page 23. Convention referred to the European Court by national courts. These cases are reported in the European Court Reports and the Common Market Law Reports. The Digest also includes extracts of selected decisions of national courts - in the language of the court - on the Convention. The D series of the Digest is up-to-date to 1984. •

GAZETTE BINDERS Price £5.14 (incl. VAT) + 87p postage

31