The Gazette 1987

GAZETTE

APRIL 1987

Book Review

Shatter's

Family Law in tha

Republic

of Ireland,

(Third

edition), A l an Joseph Sha t t e r,

T.D., B.A.Mod.,

Dip.Ed

., Solicitor.

£45.00.

The Third Edition of Shatter's

Fami-

ly Law in the Republic of Ireland

embodies in one volume all the

diverse sources of material on this

subject.

The developments that have

taken place in this area, both

judicial and legislative, have been

so numerous over the past six

years that Shatter's Third Edition is

virtually a new book.

The chapter on Nullity of Mar-

riage is considerably extended

because of the dramatic judicial

developments that have taken

place. These developments have

occurred in the areas of absence of

true consent to marriage and of

duress and in the inability of a per-

son to enter into and sustain a nor-

mal marriage relationship. The

book discusses all the relevant

judgments and it goes on to ex-

amine the various reports on the

law of Nullity, which include

suggested reforms and discusses

how the grounds for Nullity could

be clarified and possibly extended.

However, the author is rightly

cautious about using the nullity

process as " a legal fiction" for

divorce and stresses the need for

people to know with certainty that

a marriage is valid or not.

The chapter on matrimonial pro-

perty has been considerably

lengthened too. There have been a

number of interesting judgments

on the wife's right to establish a

beneficial interest in property

belonging to the husband.

Although it details the various

judgments and tries to reconcile

and distinguish some of the conflic-

ting authorities, the position re-

mains that legislation is urgently

required in this area. As the author

states, " t he present law fails to

take into account that marriage is

a form of partnership in which the

parties play interdependent roles

and to which the different contribu-

tions of each are of equal impor-

tance to the family welfare."

On the question of custody and

guardianship of children, the book

does not confine itself to these

issues alone, but gives a detailed

study of children's needs and the

proposed legislation to protect

them. When one considers that the

Children's Act of 1908 is still at the

foundation of the statutory provi-

sion in relation to children, the need

for reform is obvious.

Alan Shatter examines the Bills

presently before the Oireachtas on

the Status of Children, the Care

and Protection of Children and the

Adoption of Children and one can

only hope that these Bills in time

will become law.

Thankfully, this book chronicles

some good developments which

have taken place in the legislative

arena. The Family Law Act of 1981

abolished actions for criminal con-

versation and for enticement and

harbouring of a spouse. This Act

also abolished the action of breach

of promise to marry. The Family

Law (Protection of Spouses and

Children) Act 1981 provides for the

making of Barring Orders and Pro-

tection Orders. The Domicile and

Recognition of Foreign Divorces

Act 1986 abolishes the concept

of a wife's dependent domicile on

her husband after the commence-

ment date, and makes new provi-

sions as to when divorces granted

in other countries are recognised

here.

The other main legislative reform

was the passing of the Courts Act

1981, which transfers from the

High Court to the Circuit Court the

primary jurisdiction to deal with

family law cases and extends, to a

certain extent, the District Court

jurisdiction. Whereas this might ap-

pear to the lay person to be a good

development, in reality this area

needs a far more radical approach

than a change of Court jurisdiction

provides. Alan Shatter details his

criticisms and suggests reforms on

this matter and refers to the

report of the Joint Committee

on Marriage Breakdown which

had a detailed chapter on the need

for a new " Fami ly Court

structure".

In conclusion, lawyers and law

students will find the Third Edition

of Mr. Shatter's book invaluable. It

provides detailed references to all

the judgments which were hereto-

fore scattered in unreported

judgments, legal journals and

reports. The book is well indexed

and the footnotes provide in-

valuable assistance to the practi-

tioner who wants to investigate in

detail a particular point of law. The

book also contains statistical infor-

mation and analysis on social pro-

blems which make it an important

source of reference. The use of the

book will not be confined to legal

personnel; it will be widely read

and consulted by all who are in-

terested in the family and the laws

relating to it.

Muriel Walls

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