The Gazette 1989

GAZETTE

DECEMBER 1989

prudence. The comprehensive and

balanced analysis afforded to ad-

ministrative law issues in the

Annual Review

is also to be found

in the other chapters of the Review.

Disraeli noted that " so sweet

was the delight of study". Selden

wrote that "patience was chiefest

fruit of study". Nevertheless, we

need not assume that the 470

pages of text in the

Annual Review

were achieved without effort on

the part of the authors. It has truly

been stated that there never was a

great book that did not cost un-

speakable labour. Your reviewer and

many practitioners were greatly

assisted in their professional en-

deavours by the fruits of the

research carried out by Raymond

Byrne and William Binchy as

manifested in the

Annual Review

1987.

The task of professional legal

advisers will continue to be made

easier with the

Annual Review

1988.

Finally, your reviewer noted in

this

Gazette

in relation to last year's

Annual Review

that Raymond

Byrne and William Binchy had

examined 'an avalanche of judicial

opinions and legislative enact-

ments', had 'succeeded in separ-

ating the gold from the alloy in the

coinage of the law and had

admirably distilled the notable

features of that law within the

confines of their

Annual Review'.

was stated that the Round Hall

Press expected the 1987 Review to

be the first of a series; 'a new Irish

institution had been inaugurated'.

Your reviewer is glad to report that

the new Irish institution in the form

of the

Annual Review 1988

is flour-

ishing. Raymond Byrne and William

Binchy have produced a vade-

mecum which judges, legal pract-

itioners, academics and students

should cherish.

Eamonn G. Hall

VALUATION OF PROPERTY

FOR RATING PURPOSES

Valuation Office, October 1989

The Valuation Office has recently

published a handy, if somewhat

cursory, guide to the underlying

legislation and the practical pro-

cedures currently associated with

the Irish rating system.

The principal statutory enact-

ments are listed and the effect of

certain provisions loosely des-

cribed. Sadly, the booklet fails to

answer one of the fundamental

questions that has bothered your

reviewer throughout the whole of

his professional career - namely,

how on earth are rateable valua-

tions arrived at? Paragraph 8 pur-

ports to describe the "basis of

valuation" but, beyond a some-

what vague exclamation of "net

annual value", falls far short of real

enlightenment; the word "eureka"

is noticeably absent from one's

spontaneous reactions.

One may be glad to hear - or

one may not, as the case may be

- that the Act of 1988 provides for

"continuous revision" to replace

the hitherto intended "annual

cycle" for revision of the Valuation

Lists, with effect from 1st February,

1989. Section 3 of that Act em-

powers an owner or occupier of

property, or the rating authority or

the Valuation Office to apply

at any

time

for a revision of valuation, and

prescribes the appropriate proced-

ures for determination of all such

applications.

Perhaps the most useful part of

this booklet is its description of the

procedures whereby an owner or

occupier may appeal against a

revision of valuation, in the first

instance, to the Commissioner of

Valuation and, in the second in-

stance, the Valuation Tribunal - a

new statutory animal born of the

1988 Act.

Charles R .M. Meredith

LAW REFORM COMM I SS I ON

REPORT ON LAND LAW AND

CONVEYANCING LAW

(1) General Proposals CRC 30-1989.

IRE5.00

INTRODUCTION

The Law Reform Commission has

just published its first Report on

Land and Conveyancing Law*. The

background to this Report is that

the Attorney General requested the

Law Reform Commission in 1987 to

look at the reform of "conveyancing

law and practice in areas where this

could lead to savings for house pur-

chasers". The resulting Report

makes a number of useful proposals

which might lead to some small

savings for house purchasers but,

on balance, the Report does not

achieve to any significant extent the

aim set for it by the Attorney

General. For the most part, this

Report only recommends changes

in the law which would remove

anomalies or redundant provisions

of a somewhat technical nature and

does not recommend major sub-

stantive changes. It may well be

that the intention of the Com-

mission is to deal with more sub-

stantial proposals in its later reports

on the issue of conveyancing law

generally. It is hoped that the

Commission will rise to the chall-

enge of proposing reforms in an

area of the law which is so much in

need of the reforming hand of the

Oireachtas.

SIMPLIFYING AND

MODERNISING CONVEYANCING

The First Part of the Report is

devoted to possible changes which

would simplify and modernise

conveyancing.

Title Period

The Commission looked at the

Statutory Period of Title in open

contracts. Section 1 of the Vendor

and Purchaser Act 1874 provides

that the vendor must trace back his

title for 40 years. The Commission

recommends that the term for

which title must be shown under

the Vendor & Purchaser Act 1874

be reduced from 40 to 20 years.

This is a sensible proposal though

of limited application.

Partial Merger

In order to avoid any doubts which

might arise in the future, the Com-

mission recommends that a person,

who is entitled to a leasehold

interest in a portion only or property

held under a lease and actually

acquires any superior interest in that

property, be legally entitled, if he so

wished, to merge the leasehold

interest in the next of all superior

interests held by him.

Fee Tail

In spite of suggestions that the fee

tail estate be abolished, the Com-

mission recommends its retention

but that it be registered at the

Registry of Deeds or the Land

Registry (as appropriate) instead of

the High Court as at present.

Partition

Following the doubts arising from

the

O'D -v- O'D

(1983) and

FF-v- CF

(1985) decisions in the High Court,

the Commission recommends that,

to resolve the matter, a statutory

provision should be enacted

4 48