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administration of of Ireland in 1622. This body
produced what are known as
His Majesty's
Directions jar the Irish Courts.
By their very
concern with fine points of administration and
procedure, the
Directions
show how well estab
lished English law had become. It is, incidentally,
to it that we owe the definite information that
procedure by 'English commission', the forebear
of the Civil Bill, began in James's reign and hence
when Davies was influential.
In 1625 Davies lost his old master, James I. The
new king, Charles, was soon involved in the legal
and constitutional disputes that eventually con
tributed to his loss of throne and life. When
members of the judiciary, in the autumn of 1626,
refused to approve a 'forced loan' Charles com
pelled the Lord Chief Justice, Crew, to resign.
Davies was a trusted upholder of the royal pre
rogative, of the doctrine that the King was 'em
peror within his kingdom', and he now was given
the highest office in the common law courts. But
before he could take his place on the bench he
died suddenly. To contemporaries it seemed that
he had been tragically deprived of the proper
climax of his career. But it may well be that, in
the circumstances of the day, Davies would have
done nothing to increase his reputation in the
eyes of later time. His fame for his own and later
generations had been established; let us hope he
took his own moralising to heart:
'Take heed of overweening, and compare
Thy peacock's feet with the gal peacock's
train;
Study the best and highest things that are,
But of thyself an humble thought retain'.
BOOK REVIEWS
Paterson's Licensing
Acts
1971.
Edited by
T. N. Martin,
79th edition; 8vo., pp. 1,999.
(London, Butterworth, 1970. £8).
As
in
this country
the
licensing
laws of
Britain are based mainly on a proliferation of
statutory provisions enacted over a period of
two hundred years. The difficulty of interpreting
them was emphasised by a member of the House
of Lords
in
1964 when he
commented
as
follows:
"The argument before this House has dis
closed a very unsatisfactory
lack of co
ordination between various sections of the
Licensing Acts .... These Acts were
consolidated in 1910 and again in 1953 but
in passing a consolidation Act there is no
opportunity to make any substantial changes
.... It may be for consideration whether the
time has not come for a review of the Acts
as a whole, but that is the best function of
the legislature .
.
.
."
The noble Lord's difficulties may have been
resolved somewhat by the Licensing Act, 1964;
a consolidation Act of 204
sections and 15
schedules, it occupies a substantial part of this
79th edition of Paterson. The Act does not
extend to either Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Unfortunately this bulky tome is not likely to be
of much value to Irish lawyers, on account of
this modern English legislation, most of which
has been enacted since 1922.
T.D. McL.
Editor's Note:
A consolidation
statute of
the
numerous Licensing Acts in the Republic if
enacted, would be be of considerable benefit
to Irish lawyers.
Russell
on
the Law
of Arbitration :
Eighteenth
edition
by
Anthony Walton,
Q.C. (Stevens & Sons, 1970. £6-6-0).
This
Eighteenth
Edition
of
Russell
on
Arbitration will sustain
the reputation of this
comprehensive but compendious work. The law
is stated lucidly and without the vacillation and
evasiveness
too
often
afflicting much-edited
treatises. All useful case law is cited, including
some Irish decisions, and the leading cases are
digested
in
text. The presentation
is
logical:
the nature of arbitration,
the Act of
1950
and
special
statutes,
the matters
referable
to
arbitration,
the arbitration agreement,
in
junctions
and
staying
of
arbitrations,
the
eligibility
and
appointment
of
persons
to
arbitrate, revocation of authority, the staying of
Court Proceedings
in matters
referred,
the
powers and duties of arbitrators, procedure and
evidence at arbitration and the jurisdiction of the
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