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GAZETTE
SEPTEMBER 1990
Const i tut ional Law of
I reland (2nd edi t ion)
DAV ID GWY NN MORGAN
This book has as its main focus the institutions of
government — President, Taoiseach and Ministers,
the role of the Senate, the Courts and Judiciary.
These and many other aspects are examined in
this important book on Irish constitutional law. The
author analyses the role envisaged for them in the
1937 Constitution and gives a detailed account of
their practical workings to date.
Recent controversies concerning the Single
European Act, abuse of parliamentary privilege,
telephone bugging and the powers of the
Taoiseach and President in 'hung Dail' situations
are examined in this second edition.
240pp ISBN 0-947686-58-4 pb £14.95
The Round Hall Press
Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland
Tel: 892922; Fax. 893072
v.
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physical resources to discover the
historical heritage that has sur-
vived. Government as well as
academics are criticised for the
lack of financial investment in legal
historical research. The writer of
this notice poses the question -
why should the lawyer of today
study legal history? Why should the
Government or others invest in
such a venture? It could be argued
that the lawyer must study the past
so as to understand the present
and make predictions about the
future.
Frederick Maitland in "A Survey
of the Century" in
The
Collected
Papers
of Frederick
William
Maitiand
(H.A.L. Fisher ed.,
Cambridge, The University Press,
1911, pp. 438-39) noted that the
office of historical research may be
seen as that of explaining and
therefore lightening, the pressure
that the past must exercise upon
the present and the present upon
the future. Maitland stated: "Today
we study the day before yesterday,
in order that yesterday may not
paralyse today, and today may not
paralyse tomorrow". Some use
history like
A Mirror for Magistrates
(a collection of cautionary tales,
first published in 1559 - see L.B.
Campbell ed. Oxford 1938) which
set out historical instances of how
those who offend against the
divine order always come to a bad
end. There is merit, however, in
studying the past for its own sake
and then enquiring whether the
particular study of the past has any
contribution to make to the
present. Professor Elton in
The
Practice of History
(Fontana Library,
1969) writes of the autonomy of
history and states that the study of
history is legitimate in itself and
that any use of it for another
purpose is secondary. The writer of
this notice is attracted by Professor
Elton's reasoning. He argues that,
like all sciences, history, to be
worthy of itself and beyond itself,
must concentrate on one thing: the
search for truth. Professor Elton
argues that history's real value as
a social activity lies in the training
it provides and the standards it
sets. He continues
"Reason distinguishes man from
the rest of creation, and the
study of history justifies itself in
so far as it assists reason to
work and improve itself. Like all
rational activities, the study of
history, regarded as an autono-
mous enterprise, contributes to
the improvement of man and it
does so by seeking the truth
within the confines of its
particular province, which
happens to be the rational re-
construction of the past".
Put "legal" before the word
"history" above, and the writer of
this notice modestly suggests the
justification for the law student
studying legal history.
The Common Law Tradition
is a
collection of essays in Irish legal
history edited by John F.
McEldowney, Lecturer in Law at the
University of Warwick, and Paul
O'Higgins, Professor of Law, King's
College, London. Professor
Desmond Greer, Professor of Law
in the Queen's University of
Belfast, in his contribution traces
the development of the Civil Bill in
Ireland. Daire Hogan, Solicitor
(author of
The Legal Profession
in
Ireland)
examines the cantankerous
relationship between two members
of the judiciary - Lord Justice
Christian, who was a member of
the Court of Appeal in Chancery in
1867, and Thomas O'Hagan, who
became Lord O'Hagan of
Tullahogue, Lord Chancellor of
Ireland. Professor N. Osborough,
Professor of Laws at Trinity College,
Dublin, editor of the
Irish Jurist,
and
the moving force behind the Irish
Legal History Society, draws
attention in his essay to the
relationship between the executive
and the judiciary, an area of
constitutional importance, in the
years 1836, 1886 and 1893. Dr.
John F. McEldowney, one of the
editors, traces the social, political
and economic context in which the
administration of criminal justice
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