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BOOK
REVIEWS
LAND REGISTRY PRACTICE
By Brendan Fitzgerald, Uhe Round
Hall Press,]. £55.00.
An "instant" review would not
have done this book justice. It is not
a text book; rather it is a com-
pendium of Land Registry practice
which is of very considerable as-
sistance to the practitioner.
The writer has had on occasion
to refer to this book regularly over
the period since its publication
and has found it of enormous
benefit.
It is not always appreciated that
conveyancing practitioners in
Dublin have as much and, indeed in
some cases, wider experience of
Land Registry practice than their
country brethren. Apart from the
fact that almost all housing
developments in the outer suburbs
of Dublin in the last 15 to 20 years
have been carried out on registered
land and most industrial estates
have also been developed on
registered land and most signi-
ficantly considerable amounts of
complex centre city properties have
been compulsorily registered under
the provisions of Section 23 of the
1964 Act.
To take an example of the type of
problem which has unfortunately
arisen much too frequently in
recent years - the procedural
difficulties which arise when an
occupational lease, perhaps on an
industrial estate, has been termi-
nated, sometimes informally, on the
tenants ceasing to trade are con-
siderable. The passages at pages
71 - 74 of this book will be of
considerable assistance to all
practitioners. In addition they show
the Land Registry as adopting a
most positive attitude to the
interpretation of the legislation to
enable a practical solution to be
reached.
It is perhaps timely that this most
useful work appeared shortly
before the decision to convert the
Land Registry into a "Semi-State"
body. Timely because it highlights
a number of areas where con-
sideration needs to be given not to
altering Land Registry practice but
to amending the framework within
which the practice operates,
namely, the
Registration of Title
Act, 1964.
That Act was drafted in
a context where agricultural land
was the prime subject of the
Registry's operations. That is
significantly less true as we
approach the end of 20th century
and if compulsory registration is to
be extended it will be even less true
since the great majority of land
remaining to be registered is urban
property. There are aspects of the
present registration system which
do not accommodate complex
urban property satisfactorily and
it is hoped that an opportunity
will be taken when reviewing the
change of status of the Registry to
look at its fundamental legislation
also.
This book will be of enormous
practical assistance and is most
welcome.
John F. Buckley
FAMILY FINANCE, 1991/92
Edition
By Colm Rapple. [Squirrel
Press, 1991, 252 pp, IR£4.50,
paperback]
Many lawyers are drowning in a sea
of paper. A commentator has
stated recently that the archaic
ritual by which parliament decides
how tax law is made is about as
appropriate to a modern industrial
democracy as tally sticks to the
international money market. He
added that radical reform of the
machinery for enacting tax
legislation was needed. Only then
would tax legislation become
intelligent and intelligible. The
commentator stated that as long as
we continue to worship in
accordance with established rites
at the altar of the annual Finance
Bill, so long will tax laws be
confused and confusing.
Family Finance
has been on the
best seller list in Ireland for more
than a decade providing an annual
update on changes on financial
matters. Business journalist, Colm
Rapple, has specialised in personal
finance matters and has written
extensively on a wide range of
topics in the
Evening Press.
Family Finance
covers many of
the financial problems which an
average family may encounter. This
edition has been completely
updated to include developments
during the past year including the
provisions of the 1991 budget.
Topics included in the present
edition include the 1991 budget, a
PAYE tax guide - how to save tax,
covenants, inheritance and gift
taxes, capital gains, redundancy
entitlements, social welfare issues,
consumer and worker rights, life
assurance - avoiding the pit falls,
borrowing, car insurance and home
insurance.
Colm Rapple presents details
about the "archaic ritual" - the
annual financial legislation - in
a lively
and
straightforward
manner.
Eamonn G. Hall
A G E N T
I N
A U S T R A L I A
Melbourne firm Includes Irish
Solicitor practicing in Australia (five
years) seeks agency work/linkage
with Irish Lawyers. We cover
Company and Commercial Law.
Property, Tax. Finance,
Immigration, Litigation and Probate
matters. Contact -
Jimmy Lardner.
Lardner &Associates
100 Mt Eliza Way.
Mt Eliza, Victoria, Australia
Phone: 16-61 37874511
Fax: 16-61 37879799
163