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INCORPORATED LAW SOCIETY OF IRELAND
GAZETTE
Vol. 78 No. 1
January/February 1984
In this issue . . .
Comment. . .
Comment
3
. . .
Regulation Without Responsibility
Doctrine of Severability in
the Judicial Review of Legislation
5 ' T ' H E Maysfield Leisure Centre Fire in Belfast, with its
X lesser echoes of the Stardust tragedy, highlighted
Small attendance at Society's AGM
11 again the delays in introducing in this jurisdiction the
long-promised building regulations. It is generally
Practice Notes
15 understood that this delay has been in large part due to
the difficulty in agreeing a self-certification system with
Bicentenary of Blackhall Place
16 the professional bodies in the architectural, engineering
and surveying fields.
Investment of Court Awards
17
What is less widely understood is that the self-certifica-
tion system has been suggested by the Department of the
Presentation of Ship's Bell to
Environment, not out of a desire to provide a speedy
Admiralty Court
20
system not involving bureaucratic control, but out of self-
protection. The existing control of the buildings — as
Companies (Amendment) Act, 1983
opposed to town planning — under Building Byelaws
Part 3
21
(principally in Dublin and Cork) has been carried out by
inspectors of the local authority. The Courts both in
American University offers
England and Ireland have in recent years in cases such as
programmes for Law Graduates
24
Dutton
-v-
Bognor Regis UDC[\912]
1 Q.B. 373 and
Anns-
v-
Merton London Borough Council
[1978] A.C. 728 and
Criminal Justice (Community Service) Act,
Siney
-v-
Dublin Corporation
[1980] I.R. 400 laid down
1983
25
clearly that a public body exercising control in such
circumstances necessarily incurs liabilities to those who
Correspondence
28
may inhabit, visit or purchase buildings which have been
the subject of such control and supervision.
Book Review
29
Perceiving that the extension of building control to all
areas would involve a considerable increase not only in
Professional Information
30
the number of public bodies at risk, but also in the extent
of their risk, because of the greater stringencies of the
Executive Editor:
Mary Buckley
draft building regulations as opposed to the Byelaws, the
Editorial Board:
Charles R. M. Meredith, Chairman
Department appears to have moved to protect such
John F. Buckley
bodies from the consequences of the use of the same
Gary Byrne
system of control over building regulations as previously
William Earley
applied to Byelaws.
Michael V. O'Mahony
Another recent example of a public body reneging on
Maxwell Sw
'
tS res
P
ons
ibilities has been in the area of the completion
^
of roads and services on housing estates. The normal
Advertising:
Liam O hOisin, Telephone 305236
practice has been for the local authority to require the
Printing:
Turner's Printing Co. Ltd., Longford developer to furnish a bond from an insurance company
.
,
or other suitable surety to ensure that if the developer
The views expressed in this publication, save where
d o e s
not complete the roads and services there is a fund to
other-wise indicated, are the views of the contributors
m e e t t h e c o s t s o f
completing the services. In a number of
and not necessarily the views of the Council of the
c a s e s
. the local authority has ignored the standard
Society.
requirement contained in contract guarantee bonds that
the insurer be notified of any claim under the bond before
The appearance of an advertisement in this publication
the expiry of the period of the bond or within the stated
does not necessarily indicate approval by the Society for period after the expiry of the bond, with the result that, in
the product or service advertised.
effect, the bonds have been allowed to lapse without any
claim being made. In some cases the authority has then
Published at Blackhall Place, Dublin 7.
(Continued on p. 15)
3