The Gazette 1971

in the first part in previous editions has been dropped

for the reason, as given in the preface, that the amount

of modern research on the topic is so great that it could

not be treated with a completeness and authority con-

sistent with the aim of the remainder of the work. One

can only note regretfully the omission of an authori-

tative and extremely useful condensation which saved

the type of research which the editors now no doubt

glady transfer to the reader.

The second part reveals that there have been consid-

erable changes in procedure in the seven years since the

seventeenth edition was published in 1964. Parliamen-

tary reform has been in the air, not stimulated this time

by the desire to curtailt he rights of non co-operative

members e.g. the tactics of the members of the Irish

Party in the last century were responsible for the intro-

duction of many restrictive rules at that time, but

rather by problems created by increasing congestion of

business and a realisation that control of the executive

by Parliament was becoming more difficult if not more

unreal. Hence the slow but steady increase in the num-

ber of Select Committees e.g. on Nationalised Industries,

Science and Technology, etc. The House of Commons

has always resisted a Committee system similar to that

of the United States as it considers it fundamental that

rights to question and debate with Ministers should be

reserved to the House and not transferred to specialist

Committees, as inevitably happens in the United States

where Ministers may not be members of the Houses and

are not subject to the type of direct control by the

Houses which is exercised in Westminster and in Dub-

lin at Question Time, on debates on legislation, supply,

motions, etc. As recently as 12th November 1970 Mr.

Whitelaw, the Leader of the House, reaffirmed the

principle that Committees play an important but a

subsidiary role. He stated that while he was absolutely

certain that the House of Commons must remain the

centre of Parliament and the main battleground of

political controversy, nevertheless he was equally cer-

tain that a sound select committee system was vital to

the detailed probing and criticism of the executive upon

which both successful parliamentary democracy and

good government depend.

Another interesting development has been the scrap-

ping of the old Standing Order 9 which dealt with the

adjournment debates on matters of urgent public impor-

tance which because of increasingly restrictive interpre-

tations had become virtually unworkable and its substi-

tution by a more flexible formula which gives a member

an opportunity to move the adjournment for discussing

a specific and important matter which should have

urgent consideration if the Speaker agrees that the

matter in question warrants this. Thai this more liberal

provision has been more successfully invoked than its

predecessor is reflected in the fact that about four

debates of the kind envisaged by the Standing Order

have taken place in each session.

Another important innovation dating from 1967 is

the reference of Public Bills to a Second Reading Com-

mittee instead of being debated on second reading in

the House of Commons. However, if twenty members

object to this procedure the proposal is negatived. The

procedure is generally regarded as suitable only for

Bills which are not measures involving large questions

of policy nor likely to give rise to differences on party

lines. The Reports of the debates of such Committees

are included in the Official Report of debates in the

House and are thus available to members when the

report of the Committee is being considered. Bills may

also be referred for consideration on Report to Standing

Committees subject to restrictions similar to those appli-

cable to Second Reading Committees.

The chapter on delegated legislation is of general

interest as it reflects the appreciation of the problem

presented by the continuing growth of this form of legis-

lation and the need for its control by Parliament. The

functions of the Statutory Instruments Committee of the

Seanad are similar to those of the British Committee

and its periodical reports enable the House and the

public to be kept up to date on its investigations.

The chapter on representation in European Assem-

blies, particularly in relation to the Council of Europe,

of which we also are members, sets out clearly and

concisely the relationship between the home Parliament

and these bodies as well as the structure and functions

of the latter.

The third part of the book on Private Bills is of

particular interest to the legal profession for in passing

private bills the proceedings of Parliament partake of a

judicial character as well as being a legislative function.

The promoters and opponents are represented by Parlia-

mentary agents i.e. solicitors or firms of solicitors who

promote or oppose pivate bills as agents and conduct

proceedings on petitions against the bill. Counsel are

usually employed to draft the Bills and at the Committee

Stage to represent the promoters or opponents as the

case may be. The incidence of private bills in this

country has been rather sporadic; four were passed in

the period 1965-70 and of these only one, The Hugu-

eqot Cemetery Dublin (Peter Street) Act, 1966, was

opposd. As we lack both a corpus of case law and

legal expertise in dealing with private legislation, May

is invaluable to the Parliamentary agent and official

alike as our rules and procedures derive from those of

Westminster.

This edition of May must igve the lie to those who

think of a Parliamentary institution as being necessarily

hidebound by tradition and out of date rules. The

changes in the seven years since 1964 have been quite

remarkable and the editor, Sir Barnett Cocks, Clerk of

the House of Commons, and his collaborators must be

congratulated on their success in assimilating the new

with the old and in maintaining so well the standards

readers have associated for a considerable number of

years with successive editions of this invaluable work of

reference.

John Mc. G. Smyth, B.L. (Clerk of the Seanad)

Commercial Law by Robert Lowe; third edition; 8vo;

pp. xxxix + 575; London, Sweet and Maxwell, 1970:

paperback; £2.50.

Mr. Lowe, a member of the Board of Management of

the College of Law in London, has published another

edition of his famous work on

Commercial Law.

The

enconiums which the learned author received in respect

of his previous editions are more than justified in this

edition. The first edition published in 1964, contained

550 pages, while the second edition, published in 1967.

contained as many pages as the current edition, yet

the author has managed to incorporate more than a

dozen additional English statutes, and more than one

hundred new cases since 1967. The chapters on Agency,

Sale of Goods, Hire-Purchase, and Negotiable Instru-

ments are as usual outstanding by their clarity of expo-

sition. Law students are fortunate in having such a

master to guide them through an intricate subject.

CGD