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GAZETTE
NOVEMBER 1991
Irish Planning Law and Practice.
O'Sullivan and Shepherd.
Butterworths (Ireland)
£95.00 Looseleaf
Current Irish planning law, given birth
to by the 1963 Act, grew slowly in
its initial stages. With the passing
years it developed with increasing
momentum until, fuelled by the
seemingly endless legislation and
judicial interpretation of recent years,
it now represents something akin to
a raging torrent to which no brakes
can be applied. While this complex
web, which continues to grow,
creates enormous compliance diffi-
culties it must nevertheless be wel-
come as it does no more than reflect
the wishes and aspirations of a
developing, forward-thinking society
which is conscious of its environ-
ment and the need to protect it.
One wonders how the late, fondly
remembered and sadly missed, Mr.
Justice Eamonn Walsh, author of
the first text book on Irish Planning
Law in 1979*, and probably the
first person to explore the 1963 Act
in depth, would react to the current
state of affairs.
Welcome as this increasing body of
law may be, it must, if it is to be
effective, be presented in a lucid
and comprehensive manner which
is accessible to all. The authors of
Irish Planning Law & Practice have
not alone achieved this but have
provided, in the loose leaf format of
the text, a facility for keeping it
constantly up to date. Indeed, the
text had to be updated with the
addition of the recent controversial
Radio Tara Supreme Court decision
in the interval between being sent
to the printers and publication. Wt h
the benefit of past experience this
facility will be availed of on a
regular basis.
Divided into ten cons t i t uent
sections Irish Planning Law &
Practice not only brings the
authors' previous publications up to
date but extends them to include
for the first time comprehensive
sections dealing with the growing
areas of Environmental and Euro-
pean Community law. The law
relating to pollution, toxic waste
and environmental impact assess-
328
ments amongst others, products of
a growing awareness, is fully set
out. The addition of a Practice
Guide and the Advice and
Guidelines of the Department of
the Environment to Planning
Authorities are a most useful aid to
all those who embark or adjudicate
upon planning applications. It is
regrettable however that the latest
statistics provided are for 1981.
The relevant case law is con-
veniently added at the end of each
section and makes for easy assimi-
lation. The time involved in
searching for authorities is
consequently cut to a minimum.
The advantage of all case law
pertinent to a problem being
available in one place cannot be
over-stressed. One of the great
benefits of the lay-out of this text
is the ease with which one can find
the appropriate reference for the
question in issue.
For the lawyer, the planner and for
all others whether they have a
detailed requirement or merely a
passing interest, Irish Planning Law
& Practice provides the entire frame-
work within which Irish Planning
Law currently operates. The authors
are to be congratulated on the for-
midable task they have undertaken
and so successfully completed.
Would that similar text in all other
areas of Irish law were availabla
*Planning & Development Law
Stephen Mi/ey
Judgments of the Court of
Criminel Appeal 1984-1989.
Edited by Eithne Casey, The Round
Hall Press, 1991, 322pp. Hardback,
IR£65.
Democratic societies put their trust
in a system of criminal laws to
punish lawless conduct. In an effort
to avoid personal feuds and violent
vendettas, society is structured so
that citizens are encouraged to
expect that wrongs against them
will be vindicated in the courts of
the land. Justice Hugo L. Black in
Bell-v- Maryland 378
US 226, 328
(1964) stated that the worst citizen
no less than the best is entitled to
equal protection of the laws of his
State. This book is a testament to
the proposition that the worst
citizen of the State is entitled, and
in fact receives, the protection of
the laws of Ireland.
Judgments of the Court of Criminal
Appeal 1984 - 1989
is the third
volume in the series inaugurated by
the late G.L. Frewen, a former
Registrar of the High Court and of
the Court of Criminal Appeal. The
first volume contains a compilation
of important judgments of the Court
of Criminal Appeal during the period
1924 - 1978. In 1984 Mr. Frewen
updated the earlier volume up to
1983. Both of these volumes, cited
as 1 Frewen and 2 Frewen were
published by, and are available from,
the Incorporated Council of Law
Reporting for Ireland, Four Courts,
Dublin.
This present volume, 3 Frewen,
edited by Eithne Casey, barrister-at-
law, brings up to 1989 the publi-
cation of significant judgments of
the Court of Criminal Appeal. The
book is divided into three parts. Part
I contains previously unreported
judgments
in
the
period
1984-1989. Part II contains ex
tempore judgments for the same
period and Part III contains
headnotes of cases reported in the
Irish Reports
and the
Irish Law
Reports Monthly
during the period
1984 to 1989.
It has been said that the natural
leaning of many judges is in favour
of prisoners. Lord Kenyon, CJ in
King -v- Suddis
(1800) 1 East, 314
noted t hat there had been
complaints that judges had given
way too easily to mere formal
objections on behalf of those
charged with criminal offences.
Lord Hale considered this extreme
facility "as a great blemish, owing
to which more offenders escaped
than by the manifestation of their
innocence." (2 Hale 193).
This third volume in the Frewen
series is an essential reference
work for anyone involved in
Criminal Law.
Eamonn G. Hall