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GAZETTE
JULY 1989
Book Review
T H E LAW R E F ORM
C O M M I S S I O N , T E N T H
REPORT ( 1988)
16 pages. £1.50
Edward Gibbon in his
Decline and
Fall of the Roman Empire
describes
the attitude of the Locrians to their
legal system. If any member of that
community sought to propose an
amendment in the law, he was
obliged to stand forth in the
assembly wi th a noose around his
neck. " If the law was rejected",
stated Gibbon, " t he innovator was
instantly strangled". Your reviewer
does not recommend strangulation
as a punishment but would not
object to a law which would im-
pose a financial levy on any
member of the Cabinet who failed
to bring forward draft legislative
measures reforming the law within
a stipulated period.
The most powerful source of law
reform is that of general public
opinion. There is also the powerful
force of the vocal lobbyists. How-
ever, t he layman and many
politicians are not interested in
lawyers' law. The words of Costello
J. in a recent valuation case
Pfizer
Chemical
Corporation
(Irish
Independent
May 11, 1989), where
he described the valuation code as
" a confusing mosaic of partly re-
pealed and imperfectly drafted
Victorian statutes encrusted with a
century and a half's judicial
decisions", could be applied to
much of our law - particularly
lawyers' law - law that badly
needs to be reformed.
The Law Reform Commission in
its Tenth Report sets out the fruits
of the year's work in relation to
many branches of the law. The
year's work is divided into research
carried out and proposals for
reform in relation to rape, malicious
damage, debt collection (the law
relating to sheriffs), the rule against
hearsay in civil cases, child sexual
abuse, conveyancing and land law,
dishonesty, seizure of the proceeds
of crime, retention of title and
representation at the Hague Con-
ference on Private International
Law.
An interesting feature of the
recent work of the Commission has
been t he es t ab l i shment of
specialised working groups which
include experts from outside the
Commission. A working group was
established in relation to the legal,
admi n i s t r a t i ve and practical
problems which are hampering the
efficient collection of debts; follow-
ing consultations with this working
group, a report on the law relating
to sheriffs was submitted to the
Attorney General in September,
1988. The progress of the working
group on Conveyancing and Land
Law in the context of identifying
anomalies in the law and proposals
for improvement are also docu-
mented in the Tenth Report.
Another working group is examin-
ing issues relating to "retention of
title" clauses.
It has been stated that a great
hindrance to law reform is indol-
ence. Many become accustomed to
existing rules and dislike the mental
e f f o rt wh i ch change entails.
Lawyers need to be more cour-
ageous and must strive to convince
our rulers that law reform is worth
the effort.
Eamonn G. Hall
REVIEW OF EUROPEAN
COMMUN I TY LAW IN
IRELAND
By B. McMahon & F. Murphy
Published by Butterworths.
Price IR£49.50
It is now ten years since I went to
work as a Stagiaire in the legal
service of the EC Commission in
Brussels. How much easier it would
have been if I had had the benefit
of this book then. Not only was I
trying to come to terms with a
foreign language but also with a
foreign legal system.
The European Community legal
system is a new one and an
intimidating prospect for Irish
Lawyers educated in the traditional
mould. The community system has
its origins and concepts firmly
based in the continental civil law
system. Of course, fear of the un-
known can be overcome simply by
coming to terms with the subject
and by becoming familiar with its
terminology and concepts. This is
what "European Community Law
in Ireland" by McMahon & Murphy
clearly seeks to achieve.
Why could such a book not have
been written before? The answer is
simple, EEC Community Law is only
about thirty years old.
The book was written in an
attempt to introduce the Irish
Lawyer to the community's legal
system. It also traces and outlines
the impact which the community's
legal system has had on our
national system and it focuses on
the adjustments and the responses
that were required of Ireland
because of its accession to the
community. Finally, it outlines the
substantive law on the major areas
such as The Free Movement of
Goods, Persons, Services and
Capital.
Even in a substantial work such
as this book, which runs into over
500 pages, it is impossible to cover
everything. Therefore, the authors
have had to be somewhat selective
and only give a passing mention to
the European Coal & Steel
Commun i ty and t he Law of
Euratom. However, it is worth
bearing in mind t hat simply
because the topic is not covered in
the present edition of the book
does not mean that it lacks
significance oi importance and
hopefully some of the topics
omitted from this edition will be
covered in the future.
It was particularly exciting to see
chapters dealing with the Common
Ag r i cu l t u r al Policy and the
Common Fisheries Policies, both of
which are areas of great signifi-
cance to Irish citizens. I was
particularly pleased w i t h the
section on Competition Law as this
is certainly an area that Irish
Lawyers need to become more
familiar wi th and to use more
extensively.
The Arthur Cox Foundation was
once more positively used in
assisting the publication of this
excellent book.
John Schutte
BM Secretarial Services
Typing Service Specialising in Legal Work
W.P., Dictaphone and Copy Typing etc.
Efficient Service and Confidentiality
Guaranteed.
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