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GAZETTE
B
K
I E W
m
AR
ch
1992
Cross Border Practice Compendium
- CCBE - Law Books in Europe
by Donal Little, (Kluwer) -
US$79.00.
This compendium prepared by the
European Lawyers Institute for the
CCBE - The Council of European
Bars and Law Societies - is
intended to provide a handy guide to
the legal structures and professions
of EC countries and other countries
with observer status with the
CCBE.
The general section of the work
includes chapters on:-
the Legal Landscape of Europe,
the CCBE itself, Legal Ethics in
Europe, the CCBE Code of
Conduct, Freedom of Movement
of Lawyers, Mutual Recognition
of Professional Qualifications and
the Single European Act.
Detailed sections covering Belgium,
Denmark, France, Germany, the
Netherlands and Austria then follow,
each section dealing with the nature
of the basic law of the State, the
structure and organisation of the
legal profession and the courts and
rights of audience.
The sources of law in the legal
profession, financial protection of
clients, regulation of fees and
professional ethics and discipline are
then dealt with. Finally topics such
as legal aid and advice schemes,
arbitration, cross border activities,
further reading and addresses of
appropriate professional bodies and
local bars follow.
There is no doubt that even in its
present incomplete version with the
contributions from Greece,' Ireland,
Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain
and the United Kingdom of the EC
countries still awaited, it does
provide within one volume a
significant amount of information
which would otherwise require
significant research in numerous
authorities.
John Buckley
Laying Down the Law — A
Practical Guide
by Olive Brennan. Oak Tree Press
165 pp £5.99
The title to this guide is very apt.
It is written by
Olive Brennan
BA
Barrister-at-Law who is a qualified
teacher and therefore is eminently
suitable to pen such a guide.
The book contains a forward by
Judge
Liam Devally,
a judge of the
Circuit Court, who refers to it as
essential reading, not only for a
prospective litigant but also for
practitioners. Much in the book will
be familiar to practitioners, but
reading this book made me realize
that the courts and the courts system
may be totally awesome for a non-
lawyer. The client may be in court
only once in his lifetime and reading
the guide has certainly made me
more conscious of explaining
procedures to my client and I think I
will end up with a happier and more
satisfied client.
There are some factual areas where I
might disagree with the author which
are not worth mentioning. However, I
am concerned about her reference to
the National Register of Wills and
Tfestaments which I feel is misleading
as it suggests that this is a
government/statutory body, which it is
not, and therefore, it has no statutory
function. As this organisation has no
status, I think the reference to it in
relation to wills is misleading.
The chapter on Probate and Wills,
otherwise is extremely informative
and it deals very extensively with
Olive Brennan
taking out a grant of letters of
administration or probate and also
deals with inheritance tax and its
calculations.
The topics chosen by the author for
the Guide are interesting and up to
the minute and while there is a
chapter on going to court with much
practical advice, the book also
contains chapters on dealing with the
ruined holiday and its subsequent
arbitration and has very good
practical advice for people who
might be in a "lotto syndicate".
The author goes into quite a lot of
detail in relation to planning
permission and building bye-law
approval and gives dire warnings to
the readers against putting up the
"little extension" which, as we all
know, can in the long term cause
endless problems in the event of a
sale.
There is a long and detailed chapter
on family affairs which basically
deals with separation and marriage
break up, barring orders and
recognition of foreign divorce, all
contained in the one chapter which
is most useful and informative.
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