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Court in relation thereto, the award, its enforce
ment, remission or setting aside, the text of the
Act of 1950, Costs, the relevant Rules of the
Supreme Court, an Appendix of useful Forms.
At each stage problems arising are elucidated by
reference to decided cases, and the practitioner
may turn with confidence to this masterly work.
A brief review can only point to the content
of
Russell.
The close correspondence between the
Irish Arbitration Act, 1954 and the English Act
of 1950 make this an unusually reliable work for
Irish lawyers. Since these enactments, with minor
exclusions,
apply
to
the numerous
statutory
arbitrations under
the Local Government and
other Acts and since our entry to the largest
European Community may be expected to in
crease the number and importance of consensual
arbitrations, the practitioner must have to hand
an authoritive work on the subject. This latest
Edition of Russell, pleasing and convenient in
format and—for
today—reasonably priced,
is
confidently recommended to both branches of the
legal profession.
M. Purcell
Sentencing Offenders in Magistrates' Courts,
by
Keith Devlin;
8v.; pp. 217
(London,
Sweet & Maxwell, 1970).
The study of the appropriate punishment for
legal offences is the responsibility of the few, the
judiciary. But its importance transcends many
branches of law because it affects the fortunes
and lives of those who offend the law. With the
rapid growth in statutory offences the number of
offenders
is
legion and continues to grow. In
this work the author seeks
to
rationalise
the
principles that should determine punishment. He
classifies them under five principles; retribution,
individual deterrence, general deterrence, protec
tion of the public and rehabilitation of offender.
Although
the book by its
title is directed
to
magisterial courts, the same principles of assess
ing punishment apply to all courts exercising
criminal jurisdiction. The later part of the book
deals with the application of the principles to
jurisdiction peculiar to magistrates' courts where
not only orders for imprisonment may be made,
but also orders for payment of fines, compensa
tion
and
for
restitution,
disqualification
or
forfeiture. The author deals
inter alia
with the
desire of the public for uniformity in sentencing
by
different
judges
for
the
same
type
of
effence or by the same judge in different cases
involving the same type of offence. The author
shows that however laudable that desire, it is
difficult to attain if the Courts are to administer
justice with care for the circumstances of each
case
and
each
offender. That
desire
has,
incidentally, found legislative expression in this
country. The Courts of Justice Act, 1961 pro
vides that at any statutory meeting of Justices
that may be called by the President of the District
Court,
there
shall be discussed
in particular
avoidance of undue disparity in level of fines and
other penalties.
The work shows a close study of many English
modern
decisions.
There
are
also many
references to report of different commissions and
to
treatises, all
illustrating
the application of
different
principles
in
the
composition
of
sentences.
Although
it
is no adverse criticism of this
book, it is doubtful whether penology can become
an exact science. While a general principle or
principles may be sought to justify a sentence,
these principles jockey for position, for they are
often not mutually reconcilable. Is protection of
the public or public deterrence to outweight the
individual interest of the defendant? Mr. Devlin
has, however, aided
the guidance of
judicial
discretion
in punishment by
signposting
the
different routes the judge may take.
M. Keane
The Law of Clubs,
Josling
(J.
F.)
and
Alexander.
Second edition; 8vo. pp. xliii,
304
(London, Oyez
Publications,
1969,
£3.25)
Most practitioners in practice come across this
subject in relation to the difficulties encountered
in connection with licensing provisions of a club;
this is fully covered in Chapter 6, although the
Irish law, based originally on an Act of 1904, is
somewhat different. Other matters considered are
—"The Formation of a Club," "The day to day
running of a club" (50 pages), and Contract and
Litigation
in
connection with
Clubs.
The
chapter relating to "Gaming in Clubs" is hardly
178