The Gazette 1992

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which would otherwise require significant research in numerous authorities.

Cross Border Practice Compendium - CCBE - Law Books in Europe by Donal Little, (Kluwer) - US$79.00. This compendium prepared by the European Lawyers Institute for the CCBE - The Council of European Bars and Law Societies - is intended to provide a handy guide to the legal structures and professions of EC countries and other countries with observer status with the CCBE. the Legal Landscape of Europe, the CCBE itself, Legal Ethics in Europe, the CCBE Code of Conduct, Freedom of Movement of Lawyers, Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications and the Single European Act. Detailed sections covering Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Austria then follow, each section dealing with the nature of the basic law of the State, the structure and organisation of the legal profession and the courts and rights of audience. The sources of law in the legal profession, financial protection of clients, regulation of fees and professional ethics and discipline are then dealt with. Finally topics such as legal aid and advice schemes, arbitration, cross border activities, further reading and addresses of appropriate professional bodies and local bars follow. There is no doubt that even in its present incomplete version with the contributions from Greece,' Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of the EC countries still awaited, it does provide within one volume a significant amount of information The general section of the work includes chapters on:-

John Buckley

Laying Down the Law — A Practical Guide by Olive Brennan. Oak Tree Press 165 pp £5.99

The title to this guide is very apt.

It is written by Olive Brennan BA Barrister-at-Law who is a qualified teacher and therefore is eminently suitable to pen such a guide. The book contains a forward by Judge Liam Devally, a judge of the Circuit Court, who refers to it as essential reading, not only for a prospective litigant but also for practitioners. Much in the book will be familiar to practitioners, but reading this book made me realize that the courts and the courts system may be totally awesome for a non- lawyer. The client may be in court only once in his lifetime and reading the guide has certainly made me more conscious of explaining procedures to my client and I think I will end up with a happier and more satisfied client. There are some factual areas where I might disagree with the author which are not worth mentioning. However, I am concerned about her reference to the National Register of Wills and Tfestaments which I feel is misleading as it suggests that this is a government/statutory body, which it is not, and therefore, it has no statutory function. As this organisation has no status, I think the reference to it in relation to wills is misleading. The chapter on Probate and Wills, otherwise is extremely informative and it deals very extensively with

Olive Brennan taking out a grant of letters of administration or probate and also deals with inheritance tax and its calculations. The topics chosen by the author for the Guide are interesting and up to the minute and while there is a chapter on going to court with much practical advice, the book also contains chapters on dealing with the ruined holiday and its subsequent arbitration and has very good practical advice for people who might be in a "lotto syndicate". The author goes into quite a lot of detail in relation to planning permission and building bye-law approval and gives dire warnings to the readers against putting up the "little extension" which, as we all know, can in the long term cause endless problems in the event of a sale. There is a long and detailed chapter on family affairs which basically deals with separation and marriage break up, barring orders and recognition of foreign divorce, all contained in the one chapter which is most useful and informative.

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