The Gazette 1995

DECEMBER 1995

GAZETTE

Reporting the Words of the High Priests

by Dr. Eamonn G. Hall

Judges have an unique influence on Irish life. One learned jurist noted that the "earliest judge was a ruler who uttered the divine command and was king and priest combined". Professor Robert Heuston , the doyen of judicial biographers considered that the judge "belongs to a priesthood for ever". To-day, of course, the word "priest" includes a priestess - the female judges of our courts. May judges leave literary legacies to posterity. Barristers and others are paid to report the decisions of the judges oflhe Superior Courts to ensure the survival of the doctrine of precedent. Regular law reporting in Ireland can be traced back to 1615, to the reports of Sir John Davies, then Attorney General for Ireland. Little was published subsequently until the middle of the eighteenth century. But many early series of reports were inaccurate. Chief Baron Pollock remarked about Espinasse's Reports: "Mr. Espinasse was deaf. He heard one half of a case and reported the other." In Hodgins v Hanrock (1845) M & W 120 at 123, the same Chief Baron proclaimed "You may find I authority in the modern reports for many propositions that are not law". In the previous century, Chief Justice Holt ejaculated: "See the , inconveniences of these scrambling reports: they will make us appear to posterity for a parcel of blockheads." [Slater v May (1704) Ld. Ray m. 1071 at 10721.

Photographed at the recent launch of The Irish Digest 1989 - 1993 at the King's Inns are l-r: julitta Clancy, editor and compiler; Chief justice Liam Hamilton; Carroll Moran, Editor, The Irish Reporting and Michael McDowell, SC, TD, Chairman of the Law Reporting Council.

Michael V. O'Mahony, Mr. Michael Staines, Mr. Ken Murphy, Director General and Mr. Terence McCrann. The writer, has also been associated with the Council for some time. The present chairman is Mr. Michael McDowell, S.C., T.D. and the Editor of the Reports is Mr. Carroll Moran, B.L. The Law Reporting Council publishes The Irish Reports, digests of cases and other legal publications. One of the most scathing attacks on The Irish Reports emanated from Lord Justice Christian, a most unusual man who had "a belief in his own superiority both in conscientiousness and intellect" which often brought him into conflict with his brother judges. The Lord Justice Christian in The Irish Law Times and Solicitors' Journal (1887) 11 ILT SJ 358 noted that The Irish Reports were "utter nonsense", that the pages were filled with "dry, bald, disjointed twaddle" and that "this miserable little pamphlet" was replete 303

Reporting Council") is a body charged with reporting the decisions of the judges of the Superior Courts in Ireland. The Law Reporting Council is now in its 129th year of continuous service. A formal council was established in 1866. The Solicitor- General for Ireland, Sir. H.E. Chatterton, the eldest son of a Cork solicitor, played a leading role in establishing the Council and chaired the early meetings. members of the judiciary, the Attorney General, the Inner Bar (Senior Counsel) the Outer Bar (Junior Counsel) members of the Law Society, and the Department of Justice. Many solicitors have played a significant role as members of the Council. In recent times these include Mr. John F. Buckley, Mr. Peter Prentice, Mr. Fergus Armstrong, Mr. M. Tyrrell, Mr. William Earlev, Mr. The Law Reporting Council may be described as a joint venture between

The Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for Ireland ("the Law