The Gazette 1992

JUNE 1992

GAZETTE

A merit of the work is that the law is stated as it stands after the new Act of 1990 (according to the preface, as at 1 July, 1991). The reader might have been referred to decisions on the Industrial Relations Act, 1990 given before publication. Section 9(2) was invoked in Iarnrod Eireann -v- Darby and O'Connor (High Court, 22 March, 1991); Michael McNamara & Co Ltd. -v- Lacken (High Court, 12 January, 1991) and in the important Westman Holdings Ltd. -v- McCormack (High A book like this will enjoy a wide audience including trade unionists, personnel managers, and the like. A common misconception (among non- lawyers in particular) is that once industrial action is "in contemplation or furtherance of a trade dispute", the action, no matter what form it takes, is immune from civil proceedings. The statute is seen as a definitive statement of what is permissible; the immunities as rights. To correct this perspective, I believe it is crucial, when strike and industrial action are being analysed, to deal with the growing jurisprudence on liability for industrial action first. Then, as a sub-set, the statutory immunities. Dr. Forde arranges his material in the reverse way. The book will be a useful addition to the growing literature on Irish collective labour law. Mary Redmond Constitutional Adjudication in European Community and National Law (Essays for The Hon. Mr Justice T F O'Higgins). Edited by Deirdre Curtin and David O'Keeffe. [Dublin, Butterworth (Ireland) Ltd, 1992 xxxi + 307 pp, IR£30 hardback.] Judges determining constitutional issues must be thinkers, and more particularly, legal philosophers. Judge Learned Hand believed that it was as important for a judge called upon to pass judgment on a Court, 19 April, 1991; Supreme Court, 14 May, 1991, see [1991] ILRM 833.

question of constitutional law to have at least a bowing acquaintance with Acton and Maitland, with Thucydides, Gibbon and Carlyle, with Homer, Dante, Shakespeare and Milton, with Machiavelli, Montaigne and Rabelais, with Plato, Bacon, Hume and Kant, as with the legal literature which had been specifically written on the subject. Sometimes we expect too much from our judges. In their introduction, the editors write that the ideas for this book came from a desire to pay tribute to a remarkable person, Mr Justice T F O'Higgins, who has held office in the highest Irish and European Community judicial forums, on the occasion of his retirement from the Bench in October, 1991. The editors are distinguished legal academics. Professor Deirdre Curtin is professor of the law of International Organisations in the University of Utrecht and a former Legal Secretary to Mr Justice O'Higgins. Professor David O'Keeffe is Allen and Overy Professor of European Law, Head of the Law School in the University of Durham, and is also a former Legal Secretary to Mr Justice O'Higgins. The book is graced with a preface by Her Excellency, Mrs Robinson, President of Ireland. She notes that Mr Justice O'Higgins brought a treasury of insight and practical expression of the common law and Irish constitutional law to a forum of European law where academic training and legal specialisation are more often the norm. President Robinson is joined by a distinguished array of scholars who have contributed essays on the theme of constitutional adjudication. It would be difficult in this short notice to do justice to the contributions in this book. The contributors include Judge Ole Due, President of the Court of Justice of the European Communities, who writes on the issue of a constitutional court for the European Communities, Judge Davie Edward who considers the public/private law distinction in

The scope, sensitivity and subtlety of Patrick Hannon's text cannot be captured in a review. Apart from those who will be professionally interested, I would like to think his book could be read by everyone of voting age in Ireland. It is certainly a must for all involved in decision- making in this country, however remotely. Christians cherish a feeling of deep solidarity with the human race and its history ( Gaudium et Spes ): [the Christian voter] has his own assignment in this mission of the whole People of God ( Decree on the Apostolate of Lay People). This book will be invaluable, above all, in helping the voter to shape that assignment. Industrial Relations Law by Michael Forde (The Round Hall Press, 1991. 326 pp, £39.00 hardback.) Lawyers will not be surprised to receive another book from Dr. Forde; nor will they be disappointed by its contents. This time the topic is Industrial Relations Law. The book is about collective labour law as distinct from individual employment protection (a future volume on the last mentioned is promised). It provides some insight into Irish industrial relations law from a comparative point of view although the reader will know to tread carefully when using comparative analogies in this area. Following an introductory chapter, the author maps out the following topics: Employers and Workers' Associations; Underpinning Bargaining; Collective Agreements; the Right to take Industrial Action; Liability for Industrial Action; the Public Sector; other Methods in Industrial Relations; Internal Union Affairs; and in an Appendix he details provisions in twelve statutes relevant to his topic. The index, a vital part of any law book for the practitioner, runs to two pages. Too short: it does not do justice to the text. Mary Redmond

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