107 / 462
g a z e t t e
april
1991
and generally. Professor David H.
Flaherty of t he University of
Western Ontario, London, Canada,
emphasises comparative aspects
and places the .issues relating to
personal data into the broader
framework of national policies and
strategies for the development and
ma n a g eme nt
of
i n f o r ma t i on
resources.
Herbert Burkert clarifies the
differences between legislation on
data protection and legislation on
acess to government information.
Professor emeritus Jan Hellner
treats the notion of tort liability in
t he compu t er con t ex t. Susan
Co l man in her a r t i c le t i t l ed
"Practising Computer Law" reveals
the interdisciplinary nature of the
field in her discussion of the law of
computation (lex computationis).
Peter Seipel who is professor of law
and informatics at the University of
Stockholm deals w i th laws on
access to information held by
public authorities and the regula-
tion of various processes in com-
merce, administration and transport
where electronic messages are
r ap i d ly beg i nn i ng t o r ep l ace
traditional paper-bound communi-
cation. Cecilia Magnusson deals
w i t h a number of fundamental
issues associated w i th automation
in contexts where legal norms are
c r ea t ed and app l i ed.
Ot her
contributions deal w i th practical
and theoretical aspects of com-
puter law.
In Transborder Flow of Personal
Data within the E.C.,
A.C. Nugter
presents the fruits of his doctoral
thesis. This book analyses the
privacy statutes of four European
countries i.e. Germany, France, The
Un i t ed
K i n g d om
and
The
Netherlands and their impact on
the transborder f l ow of personal
data within the private sector. The
main issue under consideration is
how these statutes regulate the
transborder flow of personal data
and, subsequen t l y, w h a t t h is
implies for subjects whose data are
involved and for data users and
computer bureaus operating on
i n t e r na t i onal markets. Special
attention is paid to the impact of
the EC Treaty on the transborder
f l ow of personal data. The author
also describes what should be done
to safeguard the interest of data
subjects and privacy protection in
the interests of international firms
in the free flow of information.
Both these books are noteworthy
and timely contributions that will
serve as a useful reference for
ongoing research activities and,
hopefully, stimulate discussion and
debate about the issue of data
protection and privacy.
Eamonn G. Hall
WORDGLOSS
(Words and Concepts you need
to Know, Where they come
from. What they mean).
By Jim
O'Donnell [Dublin; Institute of
Public Administration in association
w i t h Irish Permanent Building
Society 1990. IRE9.95 paperback].
The basis of law is language. Great
lawyers and great judges must
have a command of language.
Words are the tools of the lawyer's
trade. The solicitor and barrister
must, by the use of words, con-
vince the tribunal of the Tightness
of his or her case. The judge is
often the interpreter of words. In
some cases, the judges are the final
interpreters of the meaning of
words. Justice Jackson of the US
Supreme Court wrote in
Brown -v-
Allen
3 44 US 446, 540 that " w e
are not final because we are
infallible, but we are infallible only
because we are f i n a l " . The
Supreme Court is often the final
authority on the meaning of a
word. The Supreme Court is often
the Great Dictionary.
Professor Brian Farrell in his per-
ceptive foreward to
Wordg/oss
notes that too often we speak and
write words, w i t hout much regard
for, or even knowledge of, their
roots and meanings. Professor
Farrell states that it is precisely that
discriminating awareness of the
root-meanings of words wh i ch
distinguishes the educated, the
discerning, the critical elite. The
reader's appetite is whe t t ed by
Professor Farrell's announcement
that Jim O'Donnell, the author, has
c o n s t r u c t ed " a n
ad v en t u r e-
p l a y g r o u n d" w i t h wo r ds and
concepts that leads to a fuller
appreciation, and therefore a more
exact and powerful command, of
language.
Jim O'Donnell, the author of
Wordg/oss,
is assistant director
general of the Institute of Public
Adm i n i s t r a t i on (IPA). He has
developed the IPA's periodical and
book pub l i s h i ng
p r o g r amme
virtually from scratch. He origina-
ted the IPA's perennial best seller
Administration
Yearbook & Diary
in
1967 as well as
Young Citizen, a
social and political educa t i on
magazine for post-primary schools,
and other publications. He has
published almost a hundred books
for the IPA on a wide range of
public affairs topics by some of the
leading authors of our day.
The Táinaiste, John Wilson, TD, with Jim O'Donnell, the author, at the launch of
Wordg/oss
89