The Gazette 1994

GAZETTE

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER

1994

award (rule 0.36) - a healthy

development.

The Criminal Justice Act, 1993 is also

referred to with regard to the

provisions which entitle the District

Court Judge to award compensation in

a criminal case up to a maximum of

£5,000.

Part III

This addresses the jurisdiction of the

District Court to deal with various

types of indictable offences and the

procedures involved where

appropriate.

At Pages 267, 649, 650 and earlier in

the book the author deals with the

time limit for the commencement of

proceedings applicable to indictable

offences and, in particular, to Section

7 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1951.

The High Court decision in

McGrail

-v-

Ruane

[1990] IR 555 - Barron J.

placed a construction on Section 7

which basically stated that the general

time limit (six months) prescribed by

Section 10 (4) of the Petty Sessions

Act 1851 does not apply to an

indictable offence when such offence

is tried summarily. This construction

was subsequently overruled in the

case of

DPP

-v-

William Logan

which was decided in the High Court

in February 1993 and subsequently

in the Supreme Court in a judgment

delivered on the 12th of

May 1994.

This judgement is authority for the

proposition that a prosecution in the

District Court for an assault contrary

to common law under Section 42 of

the Offences against the Person Act

1861 and Section 11 of the Criminal

Justice Act 1951 is not a complaint in

respect of an indictable offence and

therefore must be initiated within

6 months from the date of the

alleged offence.

Chapter 3 is most helpful in that it

makes readily available many of the

complex procedures applicable to and

the detention centres available for the

sentencing/correction of children and

young persons. This area of the law

continues to cause intolerable

difficulties for District Court Judges

on a daily basis. Notwithstanding the

fact that these continuing problems

have been clearly and frequently

articulated it is regrettable to find that

the appropriate authorities have failed

to provide a workable and effective

solution. The real victims continue to

be the general public and the effective

administration of justice.

The remaining chapters in this part

cover Customs Excise and Revenue

offences, proceedings under the

Fisheries Act, 1959 to 1991, Probation

and Community Service Orders and

Extradition Proceedings - a

complicated area which receives

comprehensive coverage.

Part IV - "Appeals and Review of

Proceedings"

Subjects covered here include Appeals

to the Circuit Court, Cases Stated and

Judicial Review.

The proposed new rules will permit a

cash lodgement in lieu of a Surety in

respect of an Appeal to the Circuit

Court - an area where, currently, there

are differing views.

Judicial Review remedies are

extensively explained by reference to

many examples. There is also a step

by step guide to the procedures

involved.

Part

V -

"Miscellaneous

Jurisdictions"

This part incorporates the relevant

provisions of over 17 Acts of the

Oireachtas together with informative

comment, all of which are extremely

relevant to daily District Court

Practice.

The issue of Search Warrants under

the Misuse of Drugs Acts is an area of

the law which has benefited from a

number of judicial pronouncements

the most recent of which is a decision

of Carney J. delivered in the

High Court on the 14th October

1994 in the case of

DPP

-v-

Henry

Dunne.

This case, for obvious

reasons, is not referred to in Mr

Woods' book.

As regards to the issue of "Fitness to

Plead" it is interesting to note that the

author includes reference to a

procedure under Section 207 of the

Mental Treatment Act, 1945 - a most

unusual piece of legislation. It was

intended to repeal it under the Health

(Mental Services) Act 1981. However

the 1981 Act has never been brought

into operation. The topic itself and the

procedure laid down by this section

are interesting, to say the least, and

may well merit further comment on

another occasion.

Finally, it may fairly be said that the

content of this book is ample

testimony to the enormous and vital

contribution which the District Court

provides to the daily administration of

justice in this country.

Ronald J Lynam

•

Annual Review of Irish

Law 1992

By Raymond Byrne and William

Binchy, Dublin, The Round hall

Press, liv + 662pp 1994, £85

Hardback.

"Some litigants find that on leaving the

Courts

They have found themselves fame in the

Legal Reports.

For reasons they never will quite understand,

They have added a bit to the law of the land.

Their case has decided some interesting law,

Which maybe their barristers never

foresaw -

Thus litigant laymen acquire legal fame,

Whose lawyers may never accomplish the

same."

| J.P.C.

Poetic Justice

4 (1947)

The Annual Review of Irish Law 1992,

! published in November 1994, is the

sixth volume in the annual series.

Containing some 716 pages, the

Review

represents a monumental

achievement providing practitioners,

academics and students with an

analytical and perceptive account of

I legal developments, judicial and

statutory, together with references to

works of scholars and practitioners

during 1992.

372