The Gazette 1994

GAZETTE

APRIL 1994

honestly and assess in public those

whom one knows in a personal

capacity.

;

The seven centuries covered by the two

volumes are divided into six periods.

Lists of the judges are set out and there

are also short biographical details. The

author records that fortunately the

resources of the Public Record Office

in Ireland had been explored before the

building's destruction.

In his approach to his task, the author

refers to the words written by the

author of

Life of Thomas á Kempis

about his own father, Lord Chancellor

Ball;

"[Elrnest Protestant as he was, he

was absolutely unprejudiced and as !

scrupulous in guarding Catholic

interests as if he had been a

Catholic."

Ball noted that within his own

limitations his aim in these volumes

was that he may be thought worthy of a

like judgment.

Professor Nial Osborough,

University

College Dublin, the doyen of Irish

legal historians, noted in A.W.B.

Simpson (ed),

Biographical

Dictionary

of the Common Law,

(London, 1984)

that Ball's

The Judges in Ireland

was

"a product of true scholarship and

remain[ed] an indispensable work of

reference. . ."

The Judges in Ireland

has become a

classic; it is also immensely readable.

These volumes are a treasure, an

invaluable reference which lay a

foundation for an active future of

criticism and revision in Irish legal

history; indeed any person possessing

even a slight interest in Irish legal

history should read

The Judges in

Ireland.

Dr. Eamonn G. Hall

PROBATE ASSISTANT

Required by Dublin 2 Solicitors to

assist part-time in administration of

estates. Particulars of

experience please to

Box No. 14

Applications to Wind-up

Companies

by Derek French; published by

Blackstone Press Limited, 1993,

404pp, hardback, £21.95stg.

Although this publication deals with

the law of England and Wales, it will

nonetheless prove to be useful to any

lawyer involved in petitioning for, or

opposing, the winding-up of a

company. The book recites many Irish j

and common law decisions other than

English. The abundance of recited

decisions to support points made

makes the publication an essential tool

for any lawyer involved in winding-up

proceedings. The approach is very

specific and specialised to its subject

matter. To obtain the full benefit of the

publication the reader should have the

English Insolvency Act, 1986 to hand

so that its comparative provisions in

the Companies Act, 1963 may be

readily ascertained and applied.

Both the contents and the index are

helpful in their detail - an important

aspect of the usefulness of any book to

a practitioner. The first chapter deals

with jurisdiction and recites Irish

decisions in its treatment of industrial

and provident societies. In particular

the chapter deals with the connection a

company may have with a particular

jurisdiction for an order to be made for

its winding-up in that jurisdiction.

The second chapter deals with the

actual presentation of a petition - the

circumstances in which an order will

be made, the standing of the petitioner

as well as the purpose of the petitioner.

In dealing with the period between the

presentation and the hearing, the third

chapter covers a number of very

practical points of detail which would

not generally be covered in other

publications.

The fourth chapter deals with the

orders of the court and review of orders

as well as who may be heard - for

instance, authority is given for the

statement that a company's managing

director "does not have implied

authority to make crucial decisions

following the presentation of a petition

to wind-up the company and, in

particular, does not have implied

authority to instruct solicitors to

oppose the petition." In dealing with

the discretion of the court in making a

winding-up order reference is made to

McCarthy J's judgment in

re Bula Ltd.

An example of where a winding-up

was rescinded is given from the

decision of

re Virgo Systems Ltd.

where a winding-up order was made

against a shelf company after a

statutory demand was not complied

with (change of registered office had

not been notified to the registrar of

companies).

The most substantive part of the

publication are the chapters on

petitions by creditors and

contributories - the grounds of the

petition. Authority is given for the

statement that, "it is not an abuse of

process for an unpaid, undisputed

creditor of a company to petition for its |

compulsory winding-up knowing that it

is likely that the matter will be settled

without a winding-up order being

made." Treatment is given to the

decisions in

Re Bula Ltd

and in

Dublin and Eastern Regional Tourism

Organisation Ltd.

••

An interesting practical chapter is that

of protecting a company's property

while a winding-up petition is pending.

In his preface the author indicates that

"This book has taken some years to

write." It is easy to see why, as the

wealth of material which he has

assembled and its layout makes this

very much a practitioner's book.

While, thankfully, practitioners are

able to rely more in recent times on

;

publications applicable specifically to

Ireland, this publication is a useful and,

perhaps, invaluable weapon to any

litigation or insolvency lawyer.

William Johnston

SPAIN

We provide a comprehensive

consultancy service to help

you deal with any matters

arising out of Spanish property

or business transactions

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