The Gazette 1980

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GAZETTE JULY-AUGUST 19
BOOK REVIEWS
Common Market Law of Competition, 2nd edition, by C.
W. Bellemy and Graham D. Child (1978) Sweet and
Maxwell.
This is the second edition of a work first published in
1973. In its preface the authors state that between the
publication of the first and second editions, the volume of
Community Competition Law has approximately doubled
without any concommitant decrease in the number of
undecided questions. This is not an exaggeration. The
expansion has been well dealt with by the authors who
have kept the increase in the text to a minimum while
significantly increasing the authorities cited in the
footnotes.
The book contains a general introduction to E.E.C.
Competition Law and then deals in more detail with
certain topics. These are well divided in relation to
problems as they arise in practice. This book is, I think a
useful source for practitioners who, whilst familiar with
the general principles involved, need on occasion to
remind themeslves of the specific principles and decisions
on a particular problem in hand. It has the advantage for
Irish Lawyers of having been written by Common
Lawyers and is in a form of text book familiar to us. It is
concise, and well supported by references to Decisions of
the Commission and Judgements of the Court of Justice
which are well referenced. When the first edition was
published there was no English edition of the European
Court reports available and the Authors gave the Official
Journal references for all decisions. Now that an English
edition of the European available the Authors
in this edition have retained the Official Journal references
but also give the references to the English edition of the
European Court Reports.
These were not available at the time of publication of the
first edition. The work contains in appendices the
principal European texts relating to Competition Law.
This is convenient.
The principal drawback to the book is that the law
contained therein is stated as at 20th September 1977. In
most areas of importance to practitioners included in the
book there have been important developments in terms of
Decisions of the Commission and Judgements of the
Court since that date. Thus the work can now only be
relied upon by practitioners as a starting point and must
be supplemented by the almost impossible task of trying
to find the latest Commission Decision or Judgment of
the Court on a particular point. In fairness to the Court
the last volume of the official reports for each year
includes an index by subject matter, but these reports are
almost one year in arrears.
Mary Finlay.
R. W. RADLEY
, C.Chem., M.R.l.C.
HANDWRITING AND
DOCUMENT EXAMINER
220, Elgar Road, Reading, Berkshire, England.
Telephone (0734) 81977
A Manual of International Law by Georg Schwarzen-
berger & E. D. Brown. Sixth Edition. Professional
Books Limited, 1976. lix, 612 pp.
Ireland, as a member of the E.E.C. and an active
participant in the affairs of the United Nations and many
other international organisations, is becoming increas-
ingly involved in the system of law which governs the
relations between states and between international institu-
tions, states and individuals. Furthermore, international
law has developed considerably in recent years to
embrace individuals, and it is becoming increasingly
common for solicitors to be confronted with problems
involving the relationship between international and
national law. In recent years, this relationship has
attracted wide notice in areas such as fishing, human
rights and extradition, but there are others which have not
attracted such publicity.
International law is no longer the exclusive concern of
a few officials in Government Departments. It is actually
or potentially important for all lawyers.
For that reason, the sixth edition of the Manual on
International Law by Professors Schwarzenberger and
Brown should be particularly welcomed by Irish practi-
tioners. For many years, Georg Schwarzenberger has
been regarded as one of the world's leading experts in the
subject. His rigorous, inductive approach to international
law, together with his sometimes abrasive but always
stimulating methods of teaching, have inspired several
generations of students at the University of London and
elsewhere.
The latest edition of the Manual continues to display all
the stimulating qualities and the careful scholarship which
have always characterised his teaching and writing. These
virtues are supplemented by the contributions of Prof.
Brown, and the combined efforts of the authors and
Professional Books, the new publishers for this edition,
have resulted in an up-to-date, highly systematic and
comprehensive introduction to the subject.
The Manual has always aimed at providing a sound
theoretical foundation for the beginner, and, as the
Preface states, once the foundations are laid, the reader
should be enabled to deepen and widen his knowledge in
accordance with his own predilections.
This edition succeeds admirably in achieving these
aims. The material included ranges from the helpful
glossary of basic terms and maxims (Part Four) to
extensive tables of Cases, Treaties and Bibliographies.
The revised Study Outlines in Part Two, which occupy
over 200 pages of the work, continues to be one of the
most valuable and attractive features of the Manual.
The inductive approach, while it cannot exclude all
traces of subjectivity, may justly claim to diminish it
considerably. The Manual presents the fundamental
principles and rules of international law as they have been
established and applied in State practice, national courts
and international tribunals. It distinguishes between the
exclusive law creating processes (Treaties, International
Customary Law and the General Principles of Law) and
the law determining agencies (National and International
Courts, Diplomatic Practice and Doctrinal Writing). The
reader of this work will be left in no doubt about what the
rules of international law are, unlike the reader of some
other textbooks, where the dividing line between the law
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