The Gazette 1994

JULY 1994

GAZETTE

B O O K

R E V I E W S

relationship with the Statute of Limitations (Amendment) Act, 1991 ("The 1991 Act") and expresses views on current Irish authoritative texts. Chapter 3 provides a full analysis of the 1991 Act and its effect on limitation periods in respect of personal injury claims in particular. It comments in detail on the problems which pre-dated the introduction of the 1991 Act, the case law which prompted it and the effect of the Act. This chapter is necessarily significantly larger than that in the first edition. The section dealing with economic loss has also been expanded which is all to the good in the light of the increasing number of these type of actions. Chapter 4 dealing with actions for the recovery of land has also been expanded significantly in relation to the subject of adverse possession and the effect of the running of time in relation to such actions. Chapters 5 and 6 include an expanded analysis of recent case law and there is a particularly good section concerning the effect of fraud on the Statute. Chapter 7 deals with various miscellaneous matters and refers to the most recent legislation in certain areas which assures the reader that the authors have thoroughly researched this work. This work is an essential guide for all practitioners who wish either to engage in or, alternatively, to avoid litigation. One matter which I would like the authors to consider for their next edition is expanding the contents index at the front of the book as the seven chapter headings in fact encompass an enormous amount of detailed material and it would assist the reader in locating the relevant text to have details in the contents index itself about what is contained in each individual chapter.

Butterworth (Ireland) Companies Acts 1963 - 1990

The Limitation of Actions

Second edition, by James C Brady and Tony Kerr, published by the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland, 1994, 257pp, Hardback, £32:50 + £2.40 p+p. Any book on the Statute of Limitations will not ordinarily qualify for bedside reading as the subject matter is both technical and specific rather than of general application. The first edition of this work was published in 1984 and this second edition has followed in January, 1994. The new edition contains a substantially enlarged text due to the inclusion of an abundance of case law handed down over the last decade, including quite detailed references to UK and international precedent, which illustrate the comprehensiveness with which the authors have conducted their research. Included is relevant coverage of the Rules of the Superior Courts 1986 together with limitation periods arising from legislation introduced since 1984. The authors have also expanded their commentary generally in some areas which is very useful for the provision of a complete overview on the subject in question. The first chapter dealing with history and general principles has been considerably expanded and introduces a new heading entitled "Want of Prosecution" which has given rise to a number of reported applications to the court in recent years. This chapter contains a large amount of useful and specific information on a wide variety of points of law and should be read by practitioners purely for general knowledge if nothing else. Chapter two dealing with contract identifies the changes in the law introduced by the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act, 1980 and its inter

Edited by Lyndon MacCann, Butterworth (Ireland) Limited, Dublin, 1993,1,256 pp, £60.00 paperback. Mr. Justice Ronan Keane, one of the most eminent judges of our time, in his foreword to Mr. MacCann's text states that when he joined the Law Library nearly forty years ago, the acknowledged expert on company law was an elderly senior counsel named Henry Moloney. The Judge recounts that, according to legend, the senior counsel was in the habit of referring to the "new Act" by which he meant the 1908 Act. The Judge states that this was understandable since in Mr. Moloney's young days, he had been a lecturer in company law in one of the Royal University colleges "at a time when that slim and graceful example of Edwardian legislation was merely a twinkle in the eye of the young Winston Churchill ." The Judge observes - and we all echo the phrase - "How times have changed." The Judge notes that we now have Acts "bursting with endless complex sections and stuffed with enormous schedules, statutory instruments, European Community Directives and a daunting array of judicial decisions, many unreported and, for some at least, inaccessible". Many readers who encounter intellectual difficulties with company law should take heart at the Judge's words. The foreword to Mr. MacCann's book, which emphasises the book's importance, is written in such a style which makes it eligible for inclusion in any compendium of the wit and wisdom associated with the law of Ireland. Mr. Justice Keane notes that Alexis FitzGerald, Solicitor, liked to recall that the 1908 Act and the 1963 Act both became law on April 1.

Michael Tyrrell

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