The Gazette 1992

SEPTEMBER 1992

GAZETTE

Inevitably, this raises the question as to whether it is time for the General Council of the Bar of Ireland to consider compiling a similiar directory in Ireland in addition to their entry in the Law Directory published by the Law Society. At £85.00 stg, Havers' Companion to the Bar would be an expensive purchase for the average Irish solicitor except for one who does business regularly with firms in England and Wales and would like to cross check on their choice of counsel. Irish Journal of European Law (Incorporating the Journal of the Irish Society for European Law). Edited by James O'Reilly and Anthony M. Collins IThe Round Hall Press, 1992 £45 (postage included)]. The 1992 volume of the newly published Irish Journal of European Law contains a number of valuable articles and reports of decisions of the Irish courts in which points of European law have arisen. The Law Reports section of the Journal is divided into two sections. Section one contains cases from 1984-1989, previously unreported in a series of Irish Law Reports, while section two contains head notes of 1989 cases previously reported in a series of Irish Law Reports. • Application in Ireland of the Directives on Public Procurement by Mary Robinson (the article was written prior to her election as President of Ireland); • Fiscal Harmonisation in Ireland by Nuala Butler; • Irish Competition Law and Concentration of Undertakings Control by Jeremy Maher; • The application of Community Law in Ireland 1973-1989 by Barbara Cahalane The following articles are published in the Journal:-

Anthony M. Collins and James O'Reilly; • The Availability of Interim Relief in National Courts to Uphold Community Law Rights by Anthony M. Collins; and • Procedure and Practice and the Judgements Convention: Some Further Developments by Ge r a rd Hogan. The first three of the above articles on public procurement, fiscal harmonisation and competition constitute the Irish National Reports prepared for the 14th Congress of FIDE (Fedération Internationale pour le Droit Européen), held in 1990. The article on public procurement details the application in Ireland of EC Directives relating to public works contracts and public supply contracts and highlights the unsatisfactory nature of implementing EC Directives by way of administrative circular. The article on fiscal harmonisation describes progress to June 1991 towards harmonisation of indirect taxes at EC level and the legal basis for same. Jeremy Maher's article presents a concise exposition of competition law in Ireland prior to entry into force of the Competition Act, 1991. Anthony M. Collins and James O'Reilly's article on the application of Community law in Ireland 1973-1989 commences by summarising the historical background of the Constitution and then proceeds to examine the application of Community law under three headings, namely; the incorporation of Community law into Irish Law, access to and availability of Community law and compliance by the State with Community law. In describing the availability of interim relief to uphold Community law rights and in particular the power of national courts to put a stay on the execution of a national Act implementing a Community

Regulation, Anthony M. Collins' article highlights the importance of lawyers being aware of the potential application of Community law to any given set of facts. Gerard Hogan's article considers the implications of decisions in three demonstrates the need for greater uniformity in approach in resolving procedural issues under the Convention. In general all articles are well written and will serve as useful sources of reference to students and practitioners alike. (LRC 41-1991 £4.00 20pp, paperback). Of the three discussion papers published by the Law Reform Commission during 1991 examining the law of defamation and contempt, the paper on the crime of libel attracted the least public attention and response. In their final Report on the Crime of Libel, the Law Reform Commissioners note that the National Newspapers of Ireland was the only body to furnish written submissions on the consultation paper. The Commissioners comment that this is not particularly surprising since the subject is of small practical importance today and would hardly have merited such extensive examination had it not been included in the then Attorney General's request. Notwithstanding objections advanced by the National Newspapers of Ireland, the Law Reform Commission has stood by its principal provisional recommendation that the common law offence of defamatory libel should be retained, albeit in a more confined form. The Commissioners 269 important cases dealing with procedural issues under the Judgements Convention and DonncadhWoods Law Reform Commission Report on the Crime of Libel