The Gazette 1991

GAZETTE

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1991

text will probably provide those

who wish to inform themselves of

the law with a useful starting point.

This text is, however, only a

starting point. To take but one

example, unfair dismissals law is

dealt with in all of five pages,

shorter than the Department of

Labour leaflet on the 1977 Act, and

there is no reference to the huge

volume of Employment Appeal

Tribunal decisions on industry

dismissals. There is a considerable

need for a more detailed and critical

account of hospitality industry law.

Not alone would this benefit the

industry and its legal advisers, but

law reformers and policy makers

would find the undoubted task of

law reform less daunting.

MARC MCDONALD

Lecturer in Law

Dublin College of Catering

GUIDE TO THE EUROPEAN

COMMUN I T I ES

[By

Bu t t e rwo r t hs

European

Information Services (Irish Editor:

Aindrias Ó Caoimh). Butterworths,

Dublin. 1989. xxiii + 205pp,

paperback, IRE12.95].

The aim of this book is to provide,

in a concise and easy-to-follow

format, the fundamental principles

of Community law and a compre-

hensive reference source of

important legislative provisions and

judicial decisions which affect

everyday problems.

The book is divided into four

parts: Part I provides a chronology

of events from 1947 to the present

day highlighting the events leading

up to the foundation of the

European Communities and their

development since the foundation.

The aims and objects of the

European Communities and the

meaning and application of Com-

munity law are also considered.

Part II looks at the main institu-

tions, their organisation and

structure, procedure and location.

Part III considers all Community

policies, each chapter following the

same format detailing the relevant

treaty provisions and secondary

legislation, main principles and

cases one should be aware of when

faced wi th a problem in any

specific area involving Community

law.

Part IV is a fact file containing

useful addresses, publications,

glossary and abbreviations. As the

basis for Community law lies in the

Treaty of Rome, as amended by the

Single European Act, an Appendix

containing the full amended text of

the Treaty is included.

The Butterworths Guide is aimed

at the practitioner and business-

man alike. It is a quick source of

reference enabling easy access to

specific areas and provisions of

Community policies which affect

the practitioner and businessman in

their daily work.

I NTRODUCT I ON TO LEGAL

METHOD

By John H. Farrer and Anthony M.

Dugdale. (Third Edition, Sweet &

Maxwell, London, 1990].

Introducing law and business

students to the Irish legal system

and to legal methods of reasoning

via a single text is a difficult task.

First, a great deal of description,

essential to the comprehension of

the basics of law, wearies even the

most enthusiastic undergraduate.

Secondly, the comprehension

and deployment of legal concepts

and ideas on which legal reasoning

is founded requires sophisticated

analytical and conceptual skills,

which have not been developed in

Ireland at least by pre-university

curricula.

For Irish students books like R.

Byrne

Cases and Comment on Irish

Commercial

Law and

Legal

Technique

The Round Hall Press,

Dublin

1988 or Byrne

McCutcheon

The Irish Legal Sys-

tem

Butterworths, Dublin, 1989

aim to satisfy both requirements,

and are to a large degree

successful.

This book,

Introduction to Legal

Method

is aimed at those beginning

law in the U.K. It also deals with

aspects of Commonwealth and

U.S.A. law. It fills a gap in both the

U.K. and the Irish market, in that

students can consult this book to

find out in more detail (a) how law

is structured and what sort of

social control is exercised through

law, (b) what is involved in "legal

method", e.g. distinctions between

law and fact, what precedent

involves, how legislation (both

domestic and European) is made,

some of the salient features of non-

U.K. jurisdictions, and (c) some of

the main issues in contemporary

juridical theory.

The book is well thought out,

competently written and fair-

minded. The authors are both

established scholars, well-known

and respected in the U.K. academic

law heirarchy.

Two useful features of the book

may be singled out.

First, there is a strong compara-

tive element: non-U.K. legal

systems are described; Issues,

such as no-fault compensation etc.

are examined in different juris-

dictional contexts.

Secondly, the last chapter,

devoted to such matters as com-

parative legal cultures and method,

seems to me to present succintly

and in an original and scholarly

way, much of importance in the

broadest of fields; and to be not so

much a summary as a contribution

to knowledge in this area.

Those teaching introductory Irish

law courses should put this book

on the "recommended" list, those

teaching introductory U.K. law

A 10 WEEK

COURSE IN

PLANNING LAW

A 10 week lecture course

in planning law will com-

mence on 23rd January,

1991, and continue until

March 27th, in Earlsfort

Terrace, Dublin 2.

The course will focus on

the introduction of envir-

onmental impact assess-

ment and on recent case

law

planning

enforcement.

A comprehensive set of

lecture materials will be

distributed at the end of

the course.

Further information may be

obtained

f rom

The

Di rec t or, Extra Mu r al

Studies, U.C.D., Belfield,

Dubl in 4. Tel: 693244.