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GAZETTE
SEPTEMBER 1981
possibility of claims by a child or children of a deceased
partner, under Sec. 1 17 of the Succession Act 1965. that
the parent had failed to make proper provision for such
child or children. Nothing is offered beyond a note on
page 95 as to a partner's responsibility, when making a
will to make "adequate provision" for the spouse and
children.
The precedent Eight Schedule to the Agreement is
particularly complex. Apart from the fact that it is not
clear that the "joint ownership" and the "tenancy in
common" referred to as at the commencement of Sub
Clause (A) of Clause (I) must refer to a common
ownership with some person other than a party to the
Partnership Agreement, Sub-Clause (B) of Clause (I) must
be worthy of a place in the Guinness Book of Records on
the strength of sheer complexity! Practitioners are
implored to make sure that they understand this Clause
fully before adopting it in any case.
The provision for the gradually increasing share of the
"junior" partner is contained in an elaborate Appendix A.
set out in tabular form. This is ingenious but, again, calls
for careful consideration in the context of gift and
inheritance taxes. In the Appendix, as drafted, no
proprietory interest passes to the "junior" partner until
the "senior" of them has attained 55 years of age. This is
to avail of the relief offered by Section 27 of the Capital
Gains Tax Act 1975. For the purpose of gift and
inheritance taxes, hopefully, the "junior" partner would
have earned by his labours his ever-increasing stake in the
partnership assets, but a paragraph on the author's
reasoning on this matter would be a useful addition to the
text.
In view of the sheer hard work that has gone into the
production of this book, it seems almost trivial to mention
that the general layout and choice of type-face leaves a
certain amount to be desired; this is something which will
no doubt be tidied up in later editions.
At IR£2.00, "Farm Family Partnerships" should be
on the shelves of every practitioner. The
idea
alone is
worth every penny of IR£2.00, which means one gets the
book for nothing!
What is more, the book should not remain on the shelf;
use it, and pass on the benefit of your experience — your
trials and your tribulations — to the publishers. On such
experience will subsequent editions be based.
Charles R. M. Meredith.
Youth and Justice — Young Offenders in Ireland,
edited
by Helen Burke, Claire Carney and Geoffrey Cook,
published by Turoe Press, 1981. Paperback. £7.25.
Having grown out of the controversy surrounding the
government's decision to set up a closed detention centre
for boys in Loughran House, Co. Cavan, this book
covers much more ground than its origins might imply.
Far from dealing exclusively with the pros, and cons, of
high security residential care for young offenders, this
wide ranging work treats the subject in its social context,
which entails tracing the present system for the treatment
of young offenders through its historical development;
comparing and contrasting our system with those of
neighbouring jurisdictions; looking at the various stages a
juvenile offender may go through under the present
system; and, perhaps most importantly, seeking to
analyse the nature and extent of juvenile crime, both in
terms of the backgrounds and formative influences of
young offenders, and in relation to assessing the most
effective methods of tackling the problem.
Central themes in the book are: the necessity of
achieving a balance between the requirements of society
and the interests of the young people who ofTcnd against
its rules, and the prime importance of moving from an
'offence' to a 'needs' orientation with regard to young
offenders. Indeed, the authors go further, and suggest that
if "need" is to be the relevant criterion, then those
charged with responsibility in this area should not wait for
an offence to be committed before intervening in a
situation where a young person is 'at risk'.
Emphasis is placed on the desirability of rrhabiliG.iing
young
people
in
their
own
environment.
Recommendations are also made with regard to
residential care where this is necessary. Existing
structures and practices are critically analysed, but all due
credit is given to what enlightened developments there
have been, in areas such as the Juvenile Liaison Scheme
operated by the Gardai, Youth Encounter Projects and
the intensive supervision scheme of the Department of
Justice's Probation and Welfare Service. Expansion of
these projects is urged, as is greater use of them by the
courts.
Clearly, socio-economic factors arc seen as
fundamental to the solution of the problems of young
offenders (and others), but the authors stress that much
improvement is possible even within the existing
framework. They do however strongly recommend some
administrative change; the present situation in which
several government departments have overlapping areas
of responsibility should be altered, and a reconstituted
Department of Health and Social Services have overall
control; under its auspices, regional Health and Social
Services Boards should have responsibility for the
development of community-based projects designed to
help the greatest possible number of young people in their
own environment. These Boards would also be
responsible for the welfare of those who needed residential
care. An informal panel system is suggested to replace the
present court structure; it would have cases referred to it
when other agencies proved inadequate, by a Juvenile
Referral Officer, and would decide on the most suitable
method of treatment in consultation with parents and
guardians.
Other specific recommendations refer to the dangers to
young people of over-secure and alien custodial care, and
to the ultimate folly of spending huge sums of money on
meihods which it is believed can be of little or no benefit
either to the young person or to the community.
Particularly, it is recommended that institutions such as
adult prisons, St. Patrick's and Loughran House should
never be used for young offenders.
This work is not, and does not pretend to be, a
comprehensive analysis of the legislative reforms
necessary to achieve its objectives. Nor is it free from
defects of style and presentation. However, in bringing
together so much diverse information and in putting
forward their recommendations for change, the authors
have succeeded in their declared objective of providing us
with material for informed debate and have produced a
hook worth reading.
Karen Banks.
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