The Gazette 1995

GAZETTE

DECEMBER 1995

modified in the manner which met with some approval by the fraud committee in Ireland. 3. It is virtually impossible to have illegally obtained evidence excluded in the United Kingdom whereas, in Ireland, it is the most fertile ground of argument in a criminal trial that might lead to an acquittal of the accused. This book contains a superb analysis of the Criminal Evidence Act, 1898 which is mirrored by the Criminal Justice (Evidence) Act of 1922 in this jurisdiction. The distinction between "original" and "hearsay" evidence is explained in the masterly fashion in the chapter on the exceptions to the rule against hearsay. The common law rules on confession are usefully found in chapter 10 but then, stray into the waters of the 1984 Act which submerges any relevance that the treatment may have to Ireland. The question of privilege remains within the realm of the common law but the exceptions grafted onto it in Ireland, by reason of the fundamental constitutional right of access to the court, have led to a situation which would be unthinkable in the United Kingdom whereby original Garda reports furnished to the Director of Public Prosecutions in a criminal case can be subsequently discovered by an accused who takes civil proceedings in respect of an alleged wrongful conviction (Breathnach, 1991). Similarly, we have our own individualised rules in relation to identification which do not depend on a statutory basis as in the United Kingdom. Video link evidence is admitted in similar circumstances to those obtaining in the Criminal Evidence Act of 1992. There is no rule whatsoever which corresponds to that set out in The People (AG) v O'Brien (1966). This rule requires the exclusion of evidence taken in deliberate breach of an accused's constitutional rights; ignorance of the law does not excuse such conduct and the question is therefore often only one related to a technical breach of a prisoner's rights. This led in 1992 to the acquittal of one Elizabeth Yamanoah notwithstanding marks on her body which a jury subsequently regarded as linking her

beyond reasonable doubt with packets of cocaine found in the possession of another individual in the car park of the hotel where she was staying. This book is extremely well written and logically set out. It gives enough information in relation to every aspect of the United Kingdom law of evidence to allow a practitioner ready access to the materials needed to formulate an argument. Its emphasis is on modern legislation and modern decisions and its bias is clearly in favour of the practical application of the rules, as opposed to their academic discussion. However, with the exception of the sections which relate to the conduct of a trial in court, corroboration, similar fact evidence, hearsay (to some extent) and the character of the accused it is probably somewhat outside the scope of what is so relevant as to require purchase. Those sections that are of relevance, however, and the sections which mirror the statutory modification introduced by the Criminal Evidence Act of 1992 are so well done as to offer a ready guideline as to the manner in which the law might be argued, and so developed, in this jurisdiction. by Philip Smyth and Peter Leach, Published byBlackwater Press; 226pp., Paperback; Price: £9.95 The Family Business published by Simpson Xavier is a study by Philip Smyth and Peter Leach of the structure of family business in Ireland. This Irish edition was published by Blackwater Press. The first edition was published in the UK in 1991. Family businesses in Ireland and elsewhere have been much in the news in recent times as boardroom rows even in the most private of family businesses and companies have become headline news. When these rows have progressed to litigation there is then the spectacle of the personal idiosyncrasies of family members being laid bare to the curious Peter Charleton The Family Business in Ireland

and unsympathetic gaze of members of the public, with obvious distressing results to the family members. Mr Smyth and Mr Leach in these ten chapters attempt to study the strengths and weaknesses of family firms and explore the problems which will arise j just because they are family firms and i gives at the end of each section j interesting short case histories of various family firms. They do not pretend that their solutions apply to every case and stress the need for flexibility. They endeavour to give advice. I did at one point feel that not only was that advice on the basis of a business level but almost ventured into Marriage Guidance Counselling! I don't believe it was intended that they stray into this area, but it was an interesting aspect of their perception of family businesses. j One minor criticism would be that the book was slightly disjointed in places and did on occasions give contra- advice, but perhaps this would be inevitable in a book contributed to by more than one person. This book also explores the expansion i of the business into the next generation j and does in my view give very good advice on dealing with passing on to j the next generation which makes it essential reading for all - even solicitors - whose sons and daughters may be qualified as solicitors and are hoping to enter the family practice. Quinn who makes the point that while j our Constitution exalts the family as a unit, our laws both fiscal and economic j have tended to ignore the importance of | the family business. | In the small print the book discreetly j recommends that anyone who wishes to ! pursue seriously any of the courses : outlined, should contact their personal ! advisers or Simpson Xavier. The cartoons, attributed to Sandy Peters, were in my view brilliant, very much to the point - sometimes to the point of cruelty. There is a foreword by Sir John Harvey-Jones MBE and a most interesting commentary by Fergal

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