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PRELIMINARY NOTICE
It is regretted that this issue of the Gazette has been
unavoidably delayed due to the numerous electricity
cuts arising out of the current power crisis in the
printers works. It is not anticipated that the situation
will improve, and consequently it is regretted that many
issues of the 1974 Gazette will unavoidably appear
late. In the circumstances, it has been decided that the
LAW REFORM
When the membership of the new Executive of the
Assembly of Northern Ireland was announced recently,
Mr. Gooper of the Alliance Party was appointed Mem-
ber for Law Reform; at first sight, this sounded most
promising, but it is understood that since Mr. Alfred
Donaldson's premature retirement, there is no staff at
the moment. This was essentially due to the fact that
absurd and totally unwarranted restrictions were placed
upon Mr. Donaldson, and as a result of which he was
completely unable to carry out his functions properly.
The position is thankfully more hopeful in the Republic,
as Mr. Charles Haughev, when he was Minister for
Justice, actually published a programme of law reform.
Unfortunately, the succeeding Ministers for Justice—
despite the Irish Title of the Ministry, which places
substantive Law before the enforcement of law—have
concentrated to an undue extent upon the problem of
enforcement, and have almost neglected the positive
problems of law reforms. It is an open secret that Mr.
Justice Gavan Duffy, before he became a Judge, was
willing to become Minister for Justice as a Senator for
one year only, for the sole purpose of carrying through
extensive law reforms. It is disappointing to note that
despite several appeals, no official Law Reform Com-
THE SOCIETY
Proceedings of the
18th OCTOBER 1973
Present
: W. B. Allen, Walter Beatty, Bruce St. J.
Blake, John F. Buckley, John Carrigan, Anthony Col-
lins, Gerard M. Doyle, Joseph L. Dundon, Gerald
Hickey, Christopher Hogan, Michael P. Houlihan,
Thomas Jackson, Jnr., John B. Jermyn, John Maher,
Eunan McCarron, Patrick McEntee, Brendan A. Mc-
Grath, John J. Nash, George A. Nolan, John C.
O'Carroll, Peter E. O'Conneli, James W. O'Donovan,
William A. Osborne, David R. Pigot, Moya Quinlan,
Ralph J. Walker.
next issue of the Gazette will be published at the
beginning of February 1974, and will be an enlarged
issue of at least 40 pages to cover the months of
January and February 1974. The following issues will
appear according to the circumstances prevailing in the
power crisis at the time. Arrangements will be made
to issue the monthly CGazette regularly every month, as
soon as the restrictions arising from the present power
crisis are lifted.
The Index to Volume 67 (1973) of the Gazette will
he inserted in the January-February 1974 issue of the
Gazette.
mittee with wide powers of drafting composed of
Judges, legal practitioners and academic lawyers, has
been established, although the President of the High
Court does preside over an advisory Committee with
arrangements for specified lawyers to present reports.
It lias already been pointed out that the Sheridan
Report on Northern Ireland Land Law drafted a bill
to bring the Northern Ireland land legislation up to
date, and that this bill could be adapted in the Repub-
lic with very few modifications. It is amazing that the
Minister has not appointed a Committee of Con-
veyancing Experts to draft the necessary amend-
ments, and to introduce the Bill without delay in the
Oireachtas, as the kudos he would receive as a result of
introducing this measure would make him famous for
a long time to come. In the same way it would un-
doubtedly he of great benefit to the legal profession if
such English measures as the Misrepresentation Act
1967, the Resale Prices Act 1964, the Trade Descrip-
tions. Act 1968, the Employers Liability (Defective
Equipment) Act 1969, the Animals Act 1971, the
Occupiers Liability Act 1957, and the Perpetuities and
Accumulations Act 1964 were re-enacted with modifica-
tions into Irish law. It will be seen that there is ample
work to be undertaken by a properly constituted
Committee of Law Reform.
Council
Practice certificate contributions 1974/75
The Council decided that the overall contributions
paid by each Solicitor in respect of taking out a
practising certificate for the year 1974/75 should re-
main the same as before, but that the contribution
payable to the Compensation Fund should be reduced
from £30 to £20 whereas contribution payable to the
Society should be increased from £31 to £41.
Purchaser paying vendor's fees and outlay
Members wrote to the Society complaining of the
practice of certain builders of charging a fee for pre-
paring a book of title together with outlay for archi-
EDITORIAL
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