The Gazette 1973

Book Reviews

Cole (J.S.R.)—Irish Cases on Evidence. 8vo; pp. xii plus 206. This volume has been published under the auspices of the Arthur Cox Foundations, two of whose trustees are Mr. Justice Kenny and the Society. Dr. Cole has per- formed an invaluable service to Irish legal practitioners by listing under their distinctive exacting headings the more important cases on the Irish law of evidence, and has added useful notes. The author has also included a useful unreported judgment such as People v. Murray (1971), although it would seem that such unreported decisions such as Shan Mohangi (new trial ordered because irrelevant evidence admitted, 23 July 1961), Henry Gleeson (every Judge is entitled to change the jury in the manner that seems best to him—conviction for murder dismissed—7 April 1941), R. V. Christie (1914) applied, William Coleman. Improper imputations against character of prosecution witnesses—conviction upheld—14 June 1945. Francis Cox (admission of state- ments valid), 20 December 1949, and William Hopkins (epilepsy as form of insanity rejected—conviction up- held—20 April 1953). In view of the title of the book, it would seem that, insofar as the same or identical law was applicable, reported and unreported Northern Ire- land cases on evidence, some of which are occasionally mentioned in the notes, might have been included. It is unfortunate that the Table of Cases does not contain the full citation of the cases: in the view of this reviewer, this economy was unnecessary : the sections of the Irish Statutes since 1922 could also have been inserted as the 1951 edition of A. Sandes' book on Criminal Procedure in Eire which itself was incomplete, has been out of print for a long time. Dr. Cole has performed a valuable service in selecting from the different Irish law cases reported on evidence which will be of inestimable advantage particularly to practi- tioners who cannot lay their hands easily on Irish law reports. If the minor blemishes previously mentioned were corrected in a subsequent edition, this learned work would receive the well-justified encomium of Irish practitioners. Ryan (Edward F.), ed.—Digest of Cases decided by the Superior and other Courts in Ireland and Northern Ireland reported from 1959-1970. 8vo; pp. lxxxviii (88), columns 744; Dublin, Incorporated Council of Law Reporting, 1972; £12.50. Practitioners who possess the previous Digest of Irish Cases, will appreciate how invaluable such a work is, particularly when it has been extended to cover twelve years to 1970. We had already been indebted to Professor Ryan, of University College, Cork, for two most useful summaries of Irish cases from 1949 to 1968. In view of the knowledge of Irish cases which the learned author already possessed, it was a happy choice that he should edit this Digest. In accordance with tradition, the Digest first contains an Alphabetical Table of Cases with full references, a list of cases followed overruled, a detailed Table of Statutes with appropriate annotated sections, first of the United Kingdom, then of Ireland since 1922, then of Northern Ireland since 1921, which have been

judicially interpreted. Finally there is the usual Digest of Cases in columns by alphabetical subject matter. It need hardly be said that this volume is an absolute must for practitioners who wish to follow the trend of Irish decisions. Unfortunately in order to defray the high cost of printing, the Incorporated Council were compelled to charge the sum of £12.50 for this volume. Rideout (Roger)—The Practice and Procedure of the National Industrial Relations Court. 8vo; pp. xvi plus 94; London, Sweet & Maxwell, 1973; £1.75 paper-back. We are already indebted to Dr. Rideout for a valuable volume on Trade Union Law. Inasmuch as the proce- dure of the Industrial Relations Court is only being gradually formulated, the learned author has performed a most useful task. Unfortunately there is little hope that a similar Court may ever be established in Ireland owing to trade union insistence on out of date collective bargaining procedures. The most valuable sanction of this Court is the fact that the fines imposed on unions for breaches of the Act may be executed by means of sequestration of property. This would be most valuable if an Industrial Court was ever established. Copinger (C.W.A.) and Skone (E.P.)—James: The Law of Copyright and of International Copyright. 11 th edi- tion; 8vo; pp. xlviii plus 920; London, Sweet & Max- well, 1971; £13. The editors of this centenary edition of this learned work, which first appeared in 1870, had already ex- panded the ninth edition (1958) to 917 pages, and it is remarkable that, despite the signing of the Stockholm Copyright Convention of 1967, and the intervening English case law, on the subject, they have been able to confine themselves within this space. The excellence of this work is well known to practitioners who have prob- lems in connection with copyright and has been well maintained, and there are relatively few Irish decisions on this subject. As the English Act of 1956 and the Irish Act of 1963 are somewhat similar, the Irish practitioner will have much to gain from a study of this learned work particularly in relation to such matters as original work, assignment and infringement. The author has divided the work into numbered paragraphs which facilitate reading. The Common Market regulations may introduce changes, but these will doubtless not be implemented for some time. Copyright is a fascinating study for those who have time to specialise in it. E. R. Hardy Ivamy (ed.)—Paynes: Carriage of Goods by Sea. 9th edition; 8vo; pp. xlviii plus 780; London, Butterworth, 1972; £2.80 paperback. The first edition of this work was published as long ago as 1914. The fifth edition, published in 1949 contained 184 pages, and the first edition edited by Professor Ivamy, the seventh, contained 214 pages. It has thus been necessary to extend this edition by more than 64 pages to contain the up-to-date material. The English Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, 1971, has now replaced the Act of 1924, and contains new limitations propo- 69