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be entirely at sea; that all law was continuously evolv-
ing nothing could be done before the 1st January
seemed to me to be avoiding the issue. Last month I
was sent the explanatory memorandum to which was
attached a list of the secondary legislation of the
European Community comprising some 123 pages of
Regulations and Directives and an Appendix of some
4 pages giving a list of the principal enactments of
Irish legislation affected thereby. Some of these give
the relevant sections of the existing Acts affected, but
give no clue whatever as to where the amending pro-
visions of the Community are to be found. In other
cases, as in the Land Act of 1963, we are baldly told
this Act is affected by Community provisions regarding
right of establishment in land in certain limited cases.
So all you have to do is to wade through the 123
pages of regulations and directives until you find what
you hope is the relevant one and then come to our
library here and satisfy yourself that that is the actual
regulation and the only one affecting our own laws on
the subject. In my address to you last May I expressed
the hope that we would not find ourselves on the 1st
January next groping blindly in a muddle of conflicting
laws and regulations. Our application to join the Com-
munity was made a very long time ago and one would
think that our Government would have had ample
opportunity in the intervening years to study and, on
our entry, to publish in precise detail the effect that the
legislation enacted to date by the Community would
have on our own domestic laws. That has not been
done and the Government must accept responsibility
for the muddle of conflicting laws and regulations—
that I hoped would not occur—but which I now fear
is inevitable for both the Public and our profession on
the 1st January next.
Library of European Community Law
Orignally, we thought that the status of a Deposi-
tory Library might be conferred on us by the Com-
mission, but it now seems reasonably certain that that
status will be reserved for the National Library—
where all E.E.C. publications would be received. But
what will be needed by all those concerned with the
practice and teaching of the law is one central library
where would be housed
not
alone the laws directives
and regulations of the European Community but also
its law reports and all text-books and other material
relative to Community law. In addition, facilities would
have to be available to enable those seeking to know
the domestic laws of our eight partners to lay their
hands on it. To provide adequate accommodation for
such a library is a major problem; to provide trained
personnel to process, catalogue and adequately staff
this library is another, but the cost involved is the
biggest headache of all. Talks have recently taken place
between representatives of this Society, the Bar and
the Universities with a view to dealing with this pro-
blem and expert advice is now being sought as to the
number and cost of the books that would basically be
required to start this library. With that information at
our command, it will be up to us, the Bar and the
Universities to see if from their joint resources the co:i
involved can be met. It would seem to me howeve:
that either the Department of Justice or the Depart-
ment of Foreign Affairs or both may eventually have to
make a large contribution to the cost of equipping and
maintaining this central law library unless the teaching
and functioning of the lav/ in this country is not io lx>
gravely impaired.
Lectures on Community Law
Meanwhile, the Society has arranged with Dr. Alfred
Gleiss and Dr. Helm of Stuttgart to lecture to our
members at the end of January next on a Survey of the
Law of Restrictive Practices within the E.E.C., the
control of Company mergers, and the manner in which
patents and trade marks are operated under Com-
munity Law governing restrictive practices. Both men
are eminent in their respective subjects and it is hoped
that as many of our members who can do so will avail
of the opportunity being afforded to them to learn
something about Laws that will be as relevant
us
next January as the Prices (Amendment) Act is to us
to-day.
In the development of future Community Law, our
Country must play an active part. Existing Com-
munity legislation we may have to accept, but we can-
not afford to adopt a passive role in the years ahead
unless we are prepared to see what is good in our
Common Law gradually eroded by the Civil Law pre-
vailing in all but one of the Community Countries.
We too, have something to contribute, and it is time
that we woke up to the fact. For far too long, we, as a
Nation, have been bedevilled by the thought that any
Nation bigger than ourselves must necessarily be able to
think better, work better and possess a structure of
Society superior in all respects to our own. What we
need is a speedy realization of the fact that while we
have a lot to learn from our new partners, they, too,
can learn something from us, but the benefits that may
accrue from any such reciprocity cannot and will not
be achieved unless we decide now that the role we
intend to play in the Common Market is going to be
worthwhile and constructive and not one of mere passive
acceptance.
Law Reform
With so many difficult and pressing problems to cope
with, we admit it is not an easy matter for the Minister
for Justice or his Department to find time to devise the
necessary legislation that will bring up to date the
many aspects of our Law which are badly in need of
reform. One of the most urgent of these is that which
relates to deprived and neglected children. Too often
has our attention been drawn to the fundamental rights
of children as guaranteed not only by our own Consti-
tution, but also by the United Nations Declaration of
1959. Psychologists, Psychiatrists and dedicated Social
Workers, all concerned with individual, family and
social stresses and breakdowns, have repeatedly warned
us that unless the child in its formative years exper-
iences the security, love and care that a stable home,
accompanied by adequate educational facilities, pro-
vide, a confident and responsible adult is unlikely to
emerge. And yet we find that in 1970 the Irish Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children dealt with
almost 2,000 cases, involving some 6,500 children, half
of whom were classified under the heading of "neglect".
Two years earlier, we find over 1,000 illegitimate
children being adopted under the provisions of our
Adoption Act, while in the same year, over 2,000
children were committed to our Industrial Schools by
parents, guardians or the Local Health Authorities or
committed to these Schools through the Courts for
6