The Gazette 1971

even if a Minister had full and unfettered discretion under the Act, he was bound to exercise it lawfully, i.e. not to misdirect himself in law, nor to take into account irrelevant matters, nor to omit relevant matters from consideration. If a complaint against a Minister was substantial and genuine, the reasons of the Minister for not referring the matter to the statutory Committee of Investigation—such as—that the complaint raised wide issues—and that his discretion was unfettered— were not good reasons in law, and showed that he was not exercising his discretion properly. The fact that a Minister gave no reasons for his decision as to whether he should exercise a statutory discretion would not pre- vent the Court from reaching a conclusion granting certiorari or mandamus against a Minister in a proper case. These recent decisions tend to show that the House of Lords now fully appreciates that these diffi- culties have to be overcome. In The Sunday Independent of 10th March 1968 Professor Kelly has propounded the theory that, apart from the official text of the Constitution, there is also a second nefarious "hidden Constitution", by which Ministers and civil servants are henceforth granted powers of decision as regards for instance town plan- ning and social welfare, which were formerly confided to Judges or to independent bodies; this naturally leaves the administrators open to unworthy suspicions. While it would be admirable to have an independent judicial body similar to for instance the Land Commission to examine applications relating to town planning, it might not, it is suggested, be always practical to appoint Jud- ges to supervise such bodies, as for instance many of the more important cases in the Supreme Court require to be determined by no less than five Judges; but it might be deemed more practical to appoint, for instance, an experienced senior counsel as full-time chairman of such a body. It would then follow that if a Minister or civil servant were shown to have reached a decision as a result of some dubious procedure, a Judge or tribunal would not normally hesitate to reverse such a decision and to grant a declaration which would have the effect of quashing such an order; it would of course be neces- sary that all documents be freely made available to the tribunal. Article 29, Section 6 At present this Section provides that "no international agreement shall be part of the domestic law of the State, save as may be determined by the Oireachtas". On the The Finance Bill The following provisions in this Bill as introduced are of interest to practitioners Income Tax Section 1 imposes income tax and sur-tax for the year 1971-72 at percentage rates corresponding to the rates in force for the year 1970-71. Section 2 terminates for 1971-72 and subsequent years the reduced rate relief whereby the first £100 of an individual's taxable income was charged at two- thirds of the standard rate of tax. Section 3 provides that where, in the case of a cessa- tion of a trade or profession, the aggregate of the actual

basis of that exceptionally restrictive wording, the Supreme Court held that Lawless (1960) I.R. 16, was not entitled to rely on the European Convention of Human Rights, as the Convention had not been specifically enacted as Irish law by an Act of the Oireachtas. It will be necessary in due course to consider further inter- national agreements from a broader point of view, as compulsory legislation to validate international agree- ments would seem to be unduly restrictive. This applies particularly to the Treaty of Rome of 1957 relating to the establishment of the European Economic Com - munity and, in order to provide for entry without complications when the time comes, it is submitted that Article 29, Section 6, should be amended on the follow- ing basis: "Unless the Oireachtas specifically deter- mines otherwise, multilateral international agreements to which Ireland is a party shall be deemed to be incor- porated in the municipal law of Ireland". This would have the effect of putting Ireland on the same basis as Federal Germany, Belgium and Holland, and would aid considerably in the judicial interpretation of inter- national agreements by international Courts. Article 31 The Council of State has met so rarely that it is inevit- ably considered to be of little importance. In order to enhance its status, provision could be made, without any amendment, that in practice it should be summoned by the President say at least once every two years to review the general political and economic situation of the country. These meetings of the Council of State should be held automatically, regardless of the special occasions when the President is compelled to summon this Council by virtue of the Constitution. Article 34, Section 4, Subsection 6 This subsection at present provides that "the decision of the Supreme Court shall in all cases be final and con- clusive". In the event of our entering the European Community, as appears likely, cognisance will have to be taken that all questions of interpretation of the Treaty of Rome of March 1957 must be determined by the Court of the European Community, whose decisions are absolutely binding on all members. Under Article 177 of the Treaty, the Supreme Court would have no alter- native but to refer any question of interpretation relating to the Treaty of Rome to the Court of the European Community. An amendment would seem to be necessary for this contingency. 1 9 7 1 profits for the two years of assesment preceding that in which the cessation takes place exceeds the aggregate of the profits charged for those two years the assessment for each of the two years will be adjusted to the actual amount of the profits. The section will not apply to cessations occurring before 6th April 1972. Exporting Overdrafts Section 4 prevents a person ordinarily resident in the State, but whose foreign income is chargeable to tax on the basis of the amounts remitted to this country, avoiding tax by arranging that his foreign income is applied abroad in satisfaction of loans enjoyed in the State. The section secures, in the case of any such 81