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GAZETTE
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 1996
r e a s o n a b ly p r i c ed at £ J 5 f or 7 01 p a g es
a nd will be r e f e r r ed to in a n y b o o k or
l e a r n ed article d e a l i ng w i th the
d e v e l o p m e nt of c o n s t i t u t i o n al l aw in
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m o n u m e n t al w o r k a n d the m e m b e r s of
t he R e v i ew G r o u p d e s e r ve o u r
c o n s i d e r a b le g r a t i t u d e.
Dr. Eamonn G. Hall
•
By Matthew Moore, 2nd Edition
1994. Published by: The Law Society
of England & Wales, 50/52 Chancery
Lane, London WC2A 1SX, England;
130pp; Price Stg.£18.00
Wh i l e this is a U K p u b l i c a t i o n, it is v e ry
r e l e v a nt to this j u r i s d i c t i o n. It
a c k n o w l e d g es t he w i d e s p r e ad r e s i s t a n ce
to the i n v o l v e m e nt of l a w y e rs in
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i s s ue of t he c o n f l i c t / f i ne line b e t w e en
p r o m o t i ng o n e s p r a c t i ce a nd
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c o n c l u d es that t he u l t i ma te m a r k e t i ng
tool is h a v i ng a g o o d c l i e nt c a re p o l i cy
a n d, of c o u r s e, i m p l e m e n t i ng this
c o n s i s t e n t l y.
It c o v e rs p e r s o n al m a r k e t i ng t o o ls s u ch
as m e e t i n gs a n d e n t e r t a i n i n g, c l i e nt
s e m i n a r s, p u b l ic s p e a k i ng etc. a n d n o n-
p e r s o n al initiatives s u ch as b r o c h u r es
a n d leaflets, p r e ss a n d m e d i a c o v e r a g e,
w r i t i ng articles a n d f e a t u r e s, c l i e nt
n e w s l e t t e rs etc.
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o n m a r k e t i n g / p r o m o t i o n al activities,
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legal s e r v i c es y o u w i sh to p r o v i de to
w h a t c l i e nt b a s e.
Y o u will p r o b a b ly n ot r e ad the w h o le
b o o k b ut t h e re are c e r t a i n ly n u m e r o us
c h a p t e rs in it r e l e v a nt to all solicitors in
p r a c t i c es of a ny size.
Cillian MacDomhnaill.
•
Journal of Valuation Tribunal
Judgments
by Desmond M. Killen and Brendan
Williams. Volume 1, September 1988 -
June 1994 (Dublin Institute of Public
Administration, 1996), 644pp., £590.00
(Book and CD-ROM).
T h e Valuation Tribunal w as established
u n d er the Valuation Act 1988 as a special-
ised a g e n cy to adjudicate on appeals
against decisions of the C omm i s s i o n er of
Valuation w h o d e t e r m i n es first appeals
related to rateable valuations. T h o se
valuations, mainly of industrial and
c omme r c i al property, f o r m the basis for
levying local authority rates wh i ch in
1996 contribute £ 3 4 0 . 00 million to local
revenue. Prior to July 1988 appeals
against the C o mm i s s i o n e r 's decisions lay
to the Circuit Court. T h e Tribunal,
operating in divisions of three memb e r s,
has a m e mb e r s h ip of ten, appointed by the
Minister of Finance - a c h a i r ma n, t wo
d e p u ty c h a i r men and seven ordinary
memb e r s. T h e C h a i r man is a senior
counsel, the others are barristers, solicitors
or valuers.
T h e constituent Act obliges the Tribunal
to issue "a written j u d g m e nt setting forth
the reasons for its determination in each
a p p e a l" and the text under review
represent a digest of its j u d g m e n ts - 5 57 -
during the first six years. T h e majority of
cases are s umma r i s ed in a single p a ge and
presented u n d er seven headings -
property type, k e ywo r d s, issues, facts,
a r g ume n ts for and against, findings and
j u d g m e nt date. Wh e re appropriate, there
is an additional reference to cases and/or
legislation cited and a brief c omm e n t a ry if
the case has special features. T he b o ok
format has a c omp r e h e n s i ve indexing
system with a separate index for appell-
ants, for property type and for k e ywo r ds
to identify the valuation question at issue.
T h e C D - R OM format allows the user to
access information efficiently and
speedily.
Wh i le the valuation of property for rating
p u r p o s es has operated in Ireland for 150
years and property is destined to b e c o me
increasingly important in taxation policy,
both central and local, there are f ew texts
on valuation law. H e n ce we must
w e l c o me this initiative by the Tribunal
and c o mm e nd the wo rk of t wo
a c c omp l i s h ed authors c omb i n i ng the
talents of the professional valuation
consultant and the a c a d em i c. T h e
Journal
is published simultaneously in b o ok and
C R - R OM f o rm providing a sophisticated
facility for those w h o wish to avail of the
electronic f o rma t. It should prove to be an
invaluable wo rk of reference for valuation
consultants, lawyers, rating authorities
and academics. It can also be
r e c o mm e n d ed to Ministers, parliamentary
c omm i t t e es and public officials e n g a g ed
in assessing and f o r mu l a t i ng proposals for
mo d e r n i s i ng valuation legislation. T h ey
can readily identify those issues such as
rateability, e x emp t i o n s, revaluation and
valuation me t h o d o l o gy wh i ch need to be
clarified in a n ew statute. Finally the
Journal
e n a b l es o ne to assess the
p e r f o r ma n ce of the Tribunal itself as a
m e d i um for d e v e l o p i ng a consistent and
rational c o de of case law.
Tom O 'Connor
[ T om O ' C o n n or is a f o r mer
C o mm i s s i o n er of Valuation and lectures
on g o v e r nm e nt and public
finance].
At the launch of the Journal of the Valuation Tribunal Judgments (left to right): Desmond Killen
(author), Liam McKechnie
SC,
Chairman, Valuation Tribunal and Brendan Williams (author).
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