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BOOK REVIEWS
European Business Law by G. A. Zaphiriou, LL.M.
(Lond.); Sweet & Maxwell, London, 1970; 8vo.; £3.75.
T he compulsory approximation of some business laws
within the framework of the European Community
entitles the author to call this book "
European
Business
Law".
The work deals with a variety of legal rules irrespec-
tive of their nature. They include those which relate
to contract and tort, private and administrative law,
and rules which fall within the sphere of internal,
community and international law. The connection is
not systematic but organic, as they all relate to business
and trading in Europe.
The author does not confine himself to the broad
expanse of European business law so called, but also
includes references to the impact and cross-fertilisation
°f other European legal entities, such as
Ctomecon.
Amongst the various jurisdictions other than those of
the EEC countries drawn upon for material are
Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Norway,
Roumania, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.S.A. and the
U.S.S.R. The breadth of the writer's learning is im-
pressive, particularly when one considers that he has
covered all this ground in the short space of only 264
Pages.
However, in order to keep the book as close to
practical realities as possible, its scope is inevitably
limited to general principles affecting business enter-
prises trading with or within the European Community.
This must of course limit its usefulness to the practi-
tioner. An interesting feature is that material updating
this book will be published regularly in the
Journal of
Business Law,
in a section entitled
European Business
Law,
of which Mr. Zaphiriou is Co-Editor.
Unfortunately, many of the topics covered, e.g., the
taxation of enterprises, or anti-trust law, are by nature
not interesting reading and the writer's style does not
help. The book is quite boring to read.
This small criticism alone should not deter anyone
With an interest in the EEC from investing in a copy.
Indeed, the preliminary chapters provide an excellent
introduction to the law of the EEC generally for those
who have little knowledge of the Community's legal
structure.
GRAHAM GOLDING
J. Charlesworth: The Law of Negligence (fifth
edition) by R. A. Percy; Sweet & Maxwell, London,
1971; 8vo, pp. cii+802; £9.50.
9
r
- Charlesworth, who was a County Court Judge, is
rightly known for his learned work on the law and
principles of negligence. The first edition was published
m 1938, and contained 576 pages including a compre-
hensive index of more than thirty pages. Dr. Charles-
worth subsequently edited the second edition in 1947
a
nd the third edition in 1956. Mr. Percy, the present
e
ditor, took over the editorship of the fourth edition in
1962, when this famous book became part of Sweet &
Maxwell's well-known Common Law Library. This
fourth edition had been extended to 666 pages, including
642 of text. In the intervening years, no less than seven
cumulative supplements had appeared.
It was thus time for Mr. Percy to prepare a new
edition, a task which he has most successfully accom-
plished. There have inevitably been so many inter-
vening developments in the law of negligence that it
has been necessary to extend the text to 802 pages,
including 780 pages of text.
If one compares the 1938 chapter headings with the
1971 chapter headings, one will find that headings such
as "Causation and Remoteness of Damage"; "Persons
Professing some Special Skill"; "Parties to the Action
and Vicarious Liability"; appear as new. On the other
hand, such matters as gas, electricity, explosives, and
poison together with nuclear installations, are now
inserted amongst "Dangerous Things". Lord Camp-
bell's Act has naturally become the "Fatal Accidents
Act". "Negligence Committed Abroad" is specially
covered. The net effect is that the original thirty chap-
ters are reduced in a more orderly way to nineteen, of
which no less than ten have required substantial re-
organisation.
A very convenient method of having paragraph num-
bers at the beginning of each heading has been success-
fully maintained. Mr. Percy is to be congratulated on
achieving a task which would have seemed well-nigh
insuperable save to an expert in his chosen subject;
unfortunately a spot check in the index of cases appears
to reveal that he has not taken cognisance of some of
our vital Irish Supreme Court decisions, nor does there
appear to be any mention of the vital Civil Liability
Act, 1961. If future editions are to be useful to Irish
practitioners, it is vital for Mr. Percy to realise that this
is a grave lacuna. However, on the whole English law
is sufficiently close to Irish law now for one to be in a
position to recommend whole-heartedly this valuable
textbook.
The printing is, as usual, excellent, and, as the work
contains more than 900 pages, the price is not unduly
high.
CGD
Lindley (Hon. Nathaniel): The Law of Partnership
(thirteenth edition) by Ernest H. Scammell; Sweet &
Maxwell, London, 1971; 8vo; pp. cliii+950; £15.
The Hon. Nathaniel Lindley, subsequently Master of
the Rolls and Law Lord, published the first edition of
his famous work on partnership, as long ago as 1860.
The Partnership Act, 1890, and the Limited Partner-
ship Act, 1907, had been so well drafted, that, despite
many subsequent changes in other aspects of law, they
have remained substantially unaltered and authorita-
tive to the present day. Lord Lindley published the first
five editions of this work up to 1893, the next five
editions up to 1935 were published by his son, Judge
Lindley. Mr. Salt, K.C., published the eleventh edition
in 1950, while the present editor, Mr. Ernest Scammell,
is responsible for the twelfth edition, 1962, as well as
the present one.
Mr. Scammell must be congratulated upon being able
to incorporate all modern decisions, and yet managing
to reduce the volume by some 300 pages. The eighth
edition, published by Judge Lindley in 1912, contained
a text of 1015 pages and a minutely prepared index of
more than 200 pages, which is a masterpiece in the art
of indexing.
Contd. on page 24
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