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GAZETTE
JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1980
Book Reviews
Williams and Muir Hunter on Bankruptcy.
19th edition.
Sweet & Maxwell, 1979. £45.00.
By and large, books on the laws of bankruptcy are not
going to present any major challenge to Frederick
Forsyth and others in vying for the top notch in the best
sellers lists.
However, for many reasons, this book deserves the
attention of Irish practitioners.
Yes, there are many textbooks on English law which
do not relate to Ireland — not so in this case.
The fundamentals of Irish bankruptcy law are set out
in the Acts of 1857 and 1872. Although the English laws
are a little more up-to-date — their main Act came into
force in 1914 — the principles applying to both sets of
laws are very similar.
There has been some recent bankruptcy legislation in
the U.K., the Insolvency Act, 1976, but, primarily, this
Act merely brought some old money limits up-to-date and
did not change fundamentals.
As a result of these similarities, this book is a welcome
addition to the limited number of modern books on this
subject.
The book is very well set out, going through the
sections of each relevant Act and commenting on
immediately after quotation.
A particular bonus is the fact that there is an
independent index to any important commentary which
runs for more than a few pages.
As one might expect, there are constant references to
cases and, more importantly from an Irish viewpoint, the
majority of the cases were decided in the nineteenth
century.
There are, of course, numerous recent cases
mentioned. How could any legal textbook get by without
a reference to our old friend
Romalpal
Obviously, this
case is as important to the legal difficulties arising in
personal insolvency as it is to those cropping up in
corporate insolvencies. These problems are dealt with
very adequately in the book.
It is a sign of the times that the 1976 Act in the U.K. is
called the "Insolvency Act". For the first time, the same
piece of legislation has enacted provisions relating to the
personal and corporate insolvencies.
The draftsmen obviously were looking over their
shoulders at the activities of the numerous committees set
up in each E.E.C. Member Country to investigate the
possibility of ultimately harmonising the bankruptcy laws
of the E.E.C. These very discussions probably have dis-
couraged some authors from undertaking the task of
compiling comprehensive works on bankruptcy law, and,
therefore, we must be all the more thankful that this new
edition of a leading textbook on the subject has come our
way.
The editors have resisted the temptation to get drawn
into the area of international bankruptcy, but, there are
quite a number of references to Ireland, including refer-
ences to the thorny problem of "Orders in Aid" being
granted by the Courts in a foreign jurisdiction.
This book has been known as
Williams on
Bankruptcy.
The publishers have now decided to
recognise Muir Hunter's considerable contribution to this
area of the law by including his name in the title. He has
been involved in editing the book for over thirty years and
well deserves the compliment paid to him.
This is an essential book for practitioners involved in
cases dealing with insolvency law and could be referred to
usefully by those who encounter the odd client with such
an unfortunate problem. One small point
I found the
tone of the text to be slightly rigid. Some may consider
this to be a decided advantage. Others may point out that
the subject of the book does not leave too much scope for
humour!
Barry O'Neill
Correspondence
Valuation Office,
6, Ely Place,
Dublin 2.
20 November 1979
re:
COMPLAINTS FROM BAR ASSOCIATIONS
ABOUT DELAYS IN ADJUDICATIONS
Dear Mr. Ivers,
I refer to your letter dated 1st November 1979.
At present there are a total of 2,941 adjudications
awaiting completion in the Valuation Office. This number
includes 578 cases where objections have been lodged. In
addition, there are other capital taxation cases on hands.
The authorised professional staff of the Valuation
Office is 50 valuers and 25 district valuers. In the past
two years there have been four early retirements, one
death in service and numerous resignations by experi-
enced staff (including three senior district valuers) to take
up employment in the private sector. The serving staff
now totals only 54 valuers and district valuers and a
current competition will not ease the situation until the
recruits are appointed and trained. Effective training takes
at least two years.
The annual revision of valuations will be completed
and issued on 1st December 1979. Rating valuers, as
they come free, are being diverted from their normal
duties to market value work wherever possible for as long
as possible before the onset of the 1980 rating
programme.
Because of this I am advised that there should be a
very considerable reduction in the number of cases in
hands but this may be offset to a certain extent by the
intake of new adjudication cases and other capital tax
cases.
However, the unprecedented number of resignations,
etc., and the inducements which the private sector can
offer have created problems but I hope that the adjudi-
cation situation will be stabilised for a period, early in the
new year, but without enough staff I cannot say the
problem may not recur.
Yours sincerely,
D. J. Ryan
(Commissioner of Valuation)
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