The Gazette 1981

I INCORPORATED LAW SOCIETY OF IRELAND ^ GAZETTE É Vol. 75, No. 8. In this issue October 1981

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Comment Tinkering with The Constitution C O N C E RN must be expressed at what appears to be a well orchestrated campaign for the review of our entire Constitution. There may be a case for examining the provisions of a very small number of articles of a particularly political nature whose application may no longer seem entirely satisfactory. Many lawyers, for instance, would favour a review of the provision in Article 4 1 . 3 .3 that governs the refusal of our State to recognise certain divorce decrees granted by Courts in other jurisdictions. This has led to a most unhappy situation in which many Irish people, frequently the non-moving party in a foreign divorce, are not aware or are unable to obtain confident advice as to what their present marital status is. Such an alteration would, of course, leave unaffected the principal provision of Article 4 1 . 3 .2 that "no law shall be enacted providing for the grant of a dissolution of marriage." If a Constitution is to be of lasting value to a State, it must be capable of being interpreted and re-interpreted in the light of contemporary mores and social situation. Our Constitution, like many others in the Common Law world, has as its fount the United States' Constitution. It is important to appreciate that this document, prepared, with its succeeding Bill of Rights, almost 2 0 0 years ago, has acquired only 16 amendments in the following 2 0 0 years, one of which was, of course, the repeal of the disastrous 18th Amendment, which introduced Prohibition. Whether the qualities of the United States' Constitution are to be attributed to the great legal skills of Madison and Hamilton or to the c ommon sense of the farmers and merchants who made up the majority of the Constitutional Convention is of less significance than the fact that their product has proved a sufficiently flexible instrument as to require such little amendment. Our Courts have interpreted our present Constitution in ways which might not necessarily have pleased its begetters and, on occasion, have restrained our legislators from excesses by invoking the Constitution as a shield against the supremacy of Parliament. Thus our Constitution has served us well. There should be no question of altering those provisions of the Constitution which have already been the subject of profound judicial consideration and interpretation over the past forty years. A Constitution is neither a toy for politicans to play with nor a scapegoat for political failure. Our people have twice rejected an attempt to deprive them of what they rightly believed to be as fair an electoral system as exists in the world. It is to be hoped that they would similarly reject un necessary tinkering with our present workable document. There are more urgent tasks facing our political leaders. • 183

Comment

183

The Entitlement of the Mentally Disabled

185

The Legal Problems of Ageing

191

International Bar Association

194

Conveyancing Notes

195

Computerisation of the Land Registry 195 Time Limits in Rent Review Clauses in Leases 197 Mr. Justice Gerald Harris — Kenya 199

For Your Diary

199

Companies Registration Office

200

Book Review

202

Special Services

202

Professional Information

203

Executive Editor: Mary Buckley Editorial Board: Charles R. M. Meredith, Chairman John F. Buckley William Earley Michael V. O'Mahony Maxwell Sweeney Advertising: Liam Ó hOisin, Telephone 3 0 5 2 36 The views expressed in this publication, save where other- wise indicated, are the views of the contributors and not necessarily the views of the Council of the Society. Published at Blackhall Place, Dublin 7.