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GAZETTE
NOVEMBER 1991
of a practising barrister. Un-
fortunately, he died wi t hout
completing the work. The task was
then taken up by
Julitta Clancy.
The
Chief Justice stated that it was
difficult at any time to take up a
project started by someone else, but
Mrs. Clancy cheerfully agreed to take
up the work and finished the work
with remarkable effect. The Chief
Justice expressed the Council's
gratitude to the proof reader,
Mary
Gaynor
of the Law Society's Library
in Blackhall Place, to
Gerard Hogan,
the Consultant Editor, to the printers
and to
Margaret Byrne
of the Law
Society for helping Mrs. Clancy in
her research.
Finally, the Chief Justice mentioned
that in addition to its other
enterprises the Council is about to
embark on the publication of
Cumulative Index to the contents of
all reported law, thus facilitating for
lawyers a method of searching
through the various Digests.
The
Irish Digest 1984-1988
is
available from the Law Reporting
Council, First Floor, Four Courts,
Dublin 7 at the price of £55 plus
£2.50 post and packaging.
Liability for Defective
Products
An action against Ireland was
brought before the Court of Justice
of the European Communities on 26
July, 1991 by the Commission of the
European Communities [Case
C-192/92]. The Commission claims
that the Court of Justice should:
1. declare that by failing to bring
into force the laws, regulations
and administrative provisions
necessary to comply w i th
Council Directive 85/374/EEC
of 25 July, 1985 on the approxi-
mation of the laws, regulations
and administrative provisions of
the Member States concerning
liability for defective products
and/or by failing to inform the
Commission forthwith thereof,
Ireland has failed to fulfil its
obligations pursuant to that
Directive and in particular its
Article 19 and pursuant to the
Treaty establishing the European
Economic Community;
2. order Ireland to pay the costs.
The Commission in the case refers
to the binding character of Articles
189 (3) and 5 (1) of the EEC Treaty
which places Member States under
an obligation to comply with dir-
ectives. The Commission stated
that the period for compliance laid
down in Article 19 of Directive
85/374/EEC had expired on 30
July, 1988 but that the Irish
Government had not put the
appropriate legislation into force or,
in any event, the Commission had
not received any communication
from Ireland which indicated that it
has done so.
Imaging - A
Revolutionary Technology
Imaging has been described as one
of the most revolutionary tech-
nologies to come along in decades.
The technology, called imaging, is
changing the way information is
used, the way we work, and the
way business operates. Although
still in its infancy, imaging is already
making an impact on organisations
around the world.
Imaging is the automation of paper
processing - storing, accessing,
and distributing the electronic
images of paper documents -
allowing more people, in a shorter
period of time, to use information
to do their jobs more effectively.
The first attempt to solve the paper
problem was the technology of
micro-graphics. Images were
captured by camera, recorded
on a role of film or fiche and stored
in cabinets. Yet micro-film has its
limitations. Images are the elect-
ronic copies of paper documents.
Image systems automate and
streamline the flow of paper
through an organisation. Imaging
is the automated technology of
document storage, management
retrieval and communication. It
is called 'imaging' because the
system does not store the actual
physical document but rather an
electronic image of the document
- an exact electronic duplicate.
Imaging involves several tech-
nologies. Optical discs are used to
store documents; computer sys-
tems are needed to communicate
and display them; and sophisti-
cated data base software is
necessary to organise and search
for specific images.
Every information system must
capture the information before it
can be used. In a computer system,
this is done at a keyboard. In an
imaging system, it is done by a
"scanning device". The image or
document is fed into the system as
it is, wi t hout alterations. No
rekeying of the data is necessary.
In effect the scanner takes a
"photograph" of the document,
creating an unaltered electronic
copy of the original. After the
document is in the image system,
it must be indexed for later retrieval.
In
Computers and Law,
September
1991, the journal of the Society for
Computers and Law,
John
Matthews
outlines recent develop-
ments on document imaging in the
legal profession. John Matthews
states that interest in document-
image processing is high among
law firms but there is a reluctance
to take action especially as those
firms that have taken "the plunge"
have met with mixed success.
John Ma t t hews states t hat
litigation is where document
imaging will impact first. Solicitors
hope that document imaging can
cut the time and cost involved in
litigation so that both the solicitor
and the clients stand to benefit. He
says that, in the long term, docu-
ment imaging along with advances
in electronic publishing and docu-
ment management promises to
transform the management of
documents in law firms.
•
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348