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NOVEMBER 1994
intriguing examples and insights.
There are many books which are of
only limited use to an immense
number of solicitors. This is the
opposite. It will be of immense benefit
but only to a limited number of
solicitors. It relates to the public
international law aspect of Ireland's
law of the sea. It does not deal with
Irish shipping law and therefore
would not be of any huge assistance
in such matters such as the arrest of
vessels or whatever except in
regard to such matters as the
extent of the territorial sea and
such matters.
The book is well-indexed. The three
photographs and seventeen maps are
legible.
There is a tendency in Irish law of the
sea circles to concentrate on Rockall
just as in the Argentinean jurists
concentrate on the Falkland
Island/Molvinas dispute. While this
preoccupation is understandable, it
can be over done. This book tries to
broaden the picture.
Any solicitor who has to advise on oil
and gas exploration will find the
chapter on the continental shelf
(chapter 5) useful.
The chapter on fishery zones again
deals with the public international law
aspects of fisheries rather than the
EU, criminal or conservation aspects
of fisheries.
The chapter on environmental matters
deals with the Irish diplomatic
practice but does not deal, at any
great length, with the EU practice
nor does it explore the whole issue
of Sellafield.
In summary, this is a well-written and
thoroughly researched book which
puts Irish diplomatic and legal
I practice on the law of the sea into
context. It will interest maritime and
| public international lawyers as well as
those interested in Irish diplomatic
practice and history.
Vincent Power
•
Human Rights - A European
Perspective
by Liz Heffernan ed., Dublin, 1994,
Round Hall Press, 437pp, hardback
£47.50, softback £19.50.
In her foreword to "Human Rights, a
European Perspective", the President,
Mrs. Robinson, states that the book,
"fills a need, amounting to a hunger
for information about human rights".
The book does indeed address that
hunger but does so not in the form of
a substantial meal but rather as an
array of
hors d'oeuvres
which both
satisfy in themselves and which
stimulate the appetite for more. Given
the range of subjects and variety of
styles in the book, there is material to
suit the palates of legal practitioners,
academics, politicians and social
scientists.
The book has its origins in a lecture
j
series convened during 1992 by the
Irish Centre for European Law in
association with the Irish Centre for
the Study of Human Rights and
comprises 26 papers organised into a
:
substantial Introduction and 8
chapters: The European Convention
on Human Rights; The European
Community; Security of the Person;
Privacy; Freedom of Expression;
Economic and Social Rights;
Children, and Refugees. The text also
includes useful introductions to each
chapter, extensive bibliographies,
notes and an index.
The practitioner will find of
immediate use the chapter on the
European Convention on Human
Rights, and particularly the paper of
P. Dillon-Malone,
"Individual
Remedies and the Strasbourg System
in an Irish Context". He or she will
also find much useful guidance in
such papers as
V. Power's,
"Human
Rights and the EEC" and G.
Quinn 's,
"Extending the Coverage of Freedom
of Expression to Commercial Speech:
A Comparative Perspective".
Notably helpful to the practitioner
interested in human rights practice are
the papers and introductory comments
by the editor,
L. Heffernan,
which
deal with practice and procedure
under such instruments as the
European Social Charter and the
European Convention for the
Prevention of Torture.
The book deals extensively with the
development of human rights law and
thought and possible future trends
domestically and internationally.
This reader particularly enjoyed the
papers by
T. O 'Malley,
"The
Development of International Human
Rights Law: A Look to the Future"
and
K. Boyle,
"Freedom of
Expression and Democracy", two
contributions which elegantly
compliment each other. Mention
might also be made of a paper
noteworthy for its original research on
aspects of Irish law and practice, "Sex
and Sexuality under the European
Convention on Human Rights", by
J. Kingston.
The volume is not without its flaws;
these include a disconcerting range of
writing styles and formats and the
inclusion of a small number of papers
which have little to say which is
useful or new. It is also unfortunate
that at least one contribution has not
been updated since its original
delivery in 1992. Weaknesses such as
these are however probably
unavoidable in a volume with origins
and as wide a scope as this one.
Indeed, the editor is to be
congratulated for the extent to which
she has imposed order and coherence
on the material.
"Human Rights, A European
Perspective" receives this reader's
warm recommendation as an addition
to the library of any solicitors.
Michael O'Flaherty
•
The Irish Constitution
by J.M. Kelly, Gerard Hogan and
Gerry Whyte. Third Edition 1 +
1222 pp, Butterworths, 1994,
hardback IR£65.00.
"One is almost ashamed to praise a
dead master for what he did in a
field where he was acknowledged to
be supreme. When his work is
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