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GAZETTE
B
K
W
SEPTEMBER 1992
Guide to the Irish Companies Acts,
1990
By Michael P. Phelan (Gill &
Macmillan, 395pp £29.99 paperback).
Michael P Phelan has produced a
hardback guide to the two Company
Law Acts of 1990 priced at £29.99.
The two statutes concerned, the
Companies Act, 1990 and the
Companies (Amendment) Act, 1990
introduced major changes into Irish
law, including extending the duties
and liabilities of directors,
introducing the notion of insider
dealings, imposing new requirements
on directors to disclose interests in
shares and loans and introducing
court protection for companies in
financial difficulties.
The Companies Act, 1990, which is
the main Act, comprises 13 Parts
with a total of 299 sections. Mr.
Phelan uses a fairly simple formula
- he devotes a chapter to each of
the 13 Parts and commences each
chapter with a very short summary
describing the intent of the relevant
Part. He reproduces the text of each
section of that Part in full. He then
sets out the definitions of the terms
in that section by reference to
definitions contained in the
legislation. This is followed by a
summary of each section and
subsection - essentially simplifying
the language of the draftsmen.
Mr. Phelan, however, writes from the
perspective of a business consultant
and, therefore, this is not a detailed
book on company law.
I do not feel that this format is of
particular use to lawyers who are
used to reading legislation and do
not need a simultaneous translation
of the passage into plain English.
Practitioners who are not familiar
with the detailed provisions of the
legislation would perhaps be more
interested in an overview or a
summary of the various Parts of the
Act. There is very little reference to
case law throughout the book - Mr.
Phelan refers to eight company law
cases in all.
The Companies Act of 1990 does
not in itself follow a logical sequence
and for practitioners who require to
read the provisions of the Act in
their general context a book such as
"Company Law in the Republic of
Ireland" by Judge Ronan Keane is
likely to be of more relevance.
In general, therefore I feel the book
is unlikely to gain a substantial
following amongst general
practitioners, particularly those who
only occasionally encounter company
law problems. Mr. Phelan's
treatment requires an overall
knowledge of the provisions of
earlier legislation and of the general
company law structure as a whole.
Practitioners who are company law
specialists will require more detail
than the summaries presented by Mr.
Phelan. However, the book may be
helpful as a quick reference to
particular sections of the Act,
although, I personally would prefer
to refer to the Irish Current Law
Statutes Annotated.
Anne Neary
Havers' Companion to The Bar
(1992 edition) (Sweet & Maxwell 1514
pp, £85.00, Hardback).
Compiling a directory is a thankless
task as the writer of this notice well
knows. For, no sooner is the
directory published, than the
information in it begins to date.
People change their employment,
move premises or their telephone
numbers acquire extra digits. The
compilation of Havers' Companion
to the Bar was undoubtedly a
mammoth task, made commerically
viable by the fact that, in addition
to solicitors, members of some 31
professional organisations in England
and Wales are now entitled to
instruct barristers directly.
A note from the publishers says that
publication of the book followed
closely on the relaxation of the bar
rules restricting advertising. This, the
publishers say, has enabled the bar
to give the range of information that
makes production of a book of this
nature possible. Information is
provided on over 5,000 individual
barristers who practise in England
and Wales.
The directory is user friendly. The
first step is to identify the area of
practice, then consult the relevant
table which lists those barristers
offering their services within that
field of law. You may then turn to
the alphabetical list of biographies
for assistance in selecting the
individual barrister from amongst
those practising within the field you
require. Interestingly, there is a
section which indicates those
barristers who are capable of
conducting their practices in a
foreign language. Finally, a section
on chambers lists their members'
addresses and scope and nature of
their work.
The directory is attractively presented
with clear print - essential features
of a publication so dense with
information.
In his foreword, The Right Hon.
Lord Havers says: "The Courts and
Legal Services Act and the Single
European Act heralded a period of
increasing demand for, as well as
great change in, the provision of
legal services in England and Wales.
With more people offering and
competing to provide those services,
it is now more important than ever
that those who need legal services
have access to the particular legal
expertise which they require".
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