469 / 482
GAZETTE
DECEMBER 1989
ANNUAL REVIEW OF I R I SH
LAW 1988
By R. Byrne and W. Binchy
[Dublin: The Round Hall Press
1989. lix and 489pp. (incl index)
Hardback £55]
Chinese emperors initiated the pro-
ject of recording all the knowledge
then available in a series of books:
this was to become the first en-
cyclopaedia. Today, the law reports,
the statutes and the writings of
legal scholars are the repositories
of legal knowledge. A mini-encyclo-
paedia, some form of synthesis,
was needed to pull all the strands
of legal knowledge together in a
cohesive manner.
The
Annual
Review of Irish Law
is such a mini-
encyclopaedia - a synthesis of the
developments in the law in 1988.
The express intentions of the
authors as stated in their Preface is
to provide a review of legal develop-
ments, judicial and statutory, that
occurred during 1988. In the
context of case law, judgments are
reviewed which were delivered in
1988. Among the headings in the
book are admi n i s t r a t i ve law,
ag r i cu l t u r e, comme r c i al law,
company law, conflict of laws,
contract law, constitutional law,
criminal law, equitable remedies,
family law, labour law, land law,
Contd. from p.446.
dropped from the Bill during its
passage through the Seanad and
have been shunned as mere tags in
substitution for the words legiti-
mate and illegitimate but carrying,
nevertheless, a similar social stig-
ma. It is hoped that in time, with
the operation of the Act, the cir-
cumstances in which it will be
necessary to draw distinctions
between children based on such
grounds will be very few indeed. •
practice and procedure, safety and
health, statutory interpretation,
telecommunications, torts and
transport. Each chapter is subdiv-
ided into other appropriate head-
ings.
In the chapter on administrative
law, judicial review of administrat-
ive action rightly receives promin-
ent attention. The frontiers of this
rubric of the law are being con-
stantly pushed forward in the
interest of the aggrieved individual.
The case of
Flanagan -v- University
College Dublin
[1989] ILRM 469,
which involved a disciplinary hear-
ing and which has considerable
implications for domestic tribunals,
is considered in some detail. Barron
J. considered that the applicant
should have received in writing
details of the precise charge being
made and the basic facts alleged to
constitute the alleged offence. The
applicant should have been allowed
to be represented by someone of
her choice and should have been
informed of such right. At the
hearing itself, the applicant should
have been able to hear the evidence
against her, to challenge that evi-
dence on cross-examination, and to
present her own evidence. The
reader will find the basic facts of
the case set out in clear terms
together with the essence of the
judgment. An analysis of the judg-
ment is provided and its relation-
ship to other cases in the same area
of law is also considered.
The concept of legitimate ex-
pectation is also extensively review-
ed in the chapter on administrative
law. This new concept became
implanted in Irish law in 1988. The
authors refer to the 1986 judgment
of Murphy J. in
Go/drick and
Coleman -v- Dublin
Corporation
High Court, 10 November 1986, in
which Murphy J. had doubted
whether the concept of legitimate
expectation as discussed by the
House of Lords in
Council of Civil
Service Unions -v- Minister for the
Public Service
(the GCHQ case)
[1985] AC 374 was part of Irish law.
However, in 1988 'the searchers of
the juristic heavens' - our judges,
resorted to the concept of legitimate
expectation in an effort to achieve
justice within the sphere of their
juristic domains. In fact, the concept
of legitimate expectation was raised
in five cases in 1988,
Conroy -v-
Garda Commissioner,
High Court, 9
February 1988,
Duggan and Others
-v- An Taoiseach,
[1989] ILRM 710,
Garda Representative Association -
v- Ireland
[1989] ILRM 1,
Devitt -v-
Minister for Education
11989] ILRM
639 and
Egan -v- Minister for
Defence,
High Court, 24 November
1988. The judges involved in these
cases quoted with approval the
reference to legitimate expectation
by Finlay CJ in the leading judgment
of the Supreme Court in
Webb -v-
ireland
[1988] ILRM 565; [1988] IR
353. The concept of legitimate ex-
pectation is now part of our juris-
Submission of Articles
for the Gazette
The Editorial Board welcomes the submission of
articles for consideration with a view to
publication. In general, the most acceptable length
of articles for the
Gazette
is 3,000-4,000
words. However, shorter contributions will be
welcomed and longer ones may be considered
for publication. MSS should be typewritten on
one side of the paper only, double spaced with
wide margins. Footnotes should be kept to a
minimum and numbered consecutively through-
out the text with superscript arabic numerals.
Cases and statutes should be cited accurately
and in the correct format.
Contributions should be sent to:
Executive Editor,
Law Society Gazette,
Blackball Place,
DUBLIN 7.
447