The Gazette 1987

GAZETTE

Viewpoints 71 The Judge in Ireland 73 Practice Note 81 Reciprocity of Qualifications and Employment Oppor- tunities abroad 83

In Brief

Keep it out of Court 89 Book Review 93

Uninsured Drivers —

A Legal Submission

Professional Information

101

•

Executive Editor:

Mary Buckley

Editorial Board:

Charles R. M. Meredith, Chairman

John F. Buckley

Gary Byrne

Daire Murphy

Michael V. O'Mahony

Maxwell Sweeney

Advertising:

Sean 0 hOisin. Telephone: 305236

307860

Printing:

Turner's Printing Co. Ltd., Longford.

The views expressed in this publication,

save where otherwise indicated, are the

views of the contributors and not

necessarily the views of the Council of

the Society.

The appearance of an advertisement in

this publication does not necessarily

indicate approval by the Society for the

product or service advertised.

Published at Blackhall Place, Dublin 7.

Tel.: 710711.

Telex: 31219.

Cover photo: ^

710704

Law Society Council Dinner.

The President of the Law Society, David

R. Pigot (left) with Tom Burgess, Presi-

dent, Law Society of Northern Ireland

GAZETT

APRIL 1987

INCORPORATE D

LAWSOCIETY

OF IRELAND

Vol. 81 No. 3Apri l 1987

Viewpoints

It seems curious that at a time

when a major British publisher is

announc i ng the f o r t h c om i ng

publication of " A Guide to the

Small Hotels of Britain and

Ireland", new regulations made by

Bord Failte seem likely to ensure

that, in Dublin and Cork at least, no

new small hotels will ever come in-

to being.

The new regulations which Bord

Failte proposes to make in 1987

will require an applicant seeking to

and Cork Metropolitan districts to

provide at least 45 guest

bedrooms. The same regulation

will apply to applicants for registra-

tion where premises have not been

registered in the Register in any of

the three preceding years. Practi-

tioners will be aware of the con-

siderable difficulties which have

arisen in relation to "licensed

premises" which appeared to have

a publican's licence, but where in

fact the only licence in existence

was a hotel licence, which was no

longer valid, the premises being no

longer registered as a hotel.

The new proposals are disturbing

in that they seem to reveal an

attitude in Bord Failte which leans

in favour of the construction of

those faceless hotels whose inter-

nal layout is so similar that the

visitor loses all sense of identity of

the country or city in which the

hotel is situate once he passes

through its doors. One of the great

virtues of the hotel industry in con-

tinental Europe, in countries such

as France, Switzerland and Austria

is the attractive family-run small

hotels, even in the largest cities.

Impersonality is only too readily

available in the current world and

it seems a pity that Bord Failte

seem determined to increase it's in-

fluence in Ireland.

Snatch and Grab

The publicity given to recent

tug-of-love cases involving the

removal of children in the custody

of one parent in one country

to another by the other parent

highlights the deficiencies of our

legal system in this area. In

one case, the President of the

High Court, on being advised

that the parent who had removed

a child from the custody of

the other parent in Ireland was

believed to have left the juris-

diction, was reported as having

said that there was little he could

do to assist in such circumstances.

His position would have been

very different had this country

become a party to the Hague

Convention on the Civil Aspects of

International Child Abduc t i on

adopted in 1980, as recommended

by the Law Reform Commission

in 1985 and given the Convention

the force of law in this jurisdiction.

The Convention, which the

United States, the United Kingdom,

Canada, France, Portugal and

Switzerland have adopted, has as

its principal purpose the return to

its country of habitual residence of

any child who has been unlawfully

abducted into another country. The

appropriate authority in the coun-

try to which the child has been

taken is requested to order its

return to the country of habitual

residence if legal proceedings are

instituted. In addition, the Conven-

tion establishes a system of co-

operation between centralised

authorities in each country to

facilitate and expedite the repatria-

tion process.

The Convention, while in one

sense limiting the powers of Courts

of a country to exercise its own

jurisdiction over persons within its

(Contd. on p.73)