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GAZETTE
SEPTEMBER 1988
busy men wou ld t hen have rested
on their laurels w i t h o ut tackling a
treatise on the complex subject of
equity w i t h all its ramifications.
The author tells us t hat " Eq u i ty
is a well defined body of doctrines
and remedies f ound largely in the
decisions of judges w h o have
mou l ded its development since it
first emerged in the middle ages".
The legislature rarely intervened,
the Judicature Act being a notable
exception, and even t hat Act did
not alter equitable principles, it just
extended t h em to the Common
Law.
The i ns i gn i f i cant amo u nt of
statute law means that the princip-
les of equity as administered by the
Irish Courts are very mu ch in line
w i t h t he p r i nc i p l es g o v e r n i ng
English Law and also adopted by
t he Courts of the British Common-
wea l th countries. There are many
examples in the book of cases
whe re the Irish Courts have f ound
" c omp e l l i n g" reasons to f o l l ow
English decisions whe re equitable
principles were updated by the
judiciary, and in particular by Lord
Denning, as Master of the Rolls.
The author also refers to a
number of English decisions on
issues yet to c ome before the Irish
Courts, and indicates whe t her or
not he thinks an Irish Court wou ld
adopt the
ratio decidendi.
The
provisions of our Co n s t i t u t i on
would be the main reason inhibiting
t h e f o l l o w i ng of all Eng l i sh
decisions. The author also quotes
freely from cases heard in Australia
and Canada.
The Law of Trusts is an area
where the author, in his capacity as
President of t he Law Re f o rm
Commission, might persuade the
legislature to amend the Trustee
Act, 1893, before its centenary.
Some t h i r t y yea rs ago, y our
reviewer and a colleague prepared
a report, at the request of the Law
Society, suggesting a number of
amendmen ts to the 1893 Act.
Nothing came of it, but t he author
me n t i o ns a n umb er of t h o se
matters wh i ch could be tidied up
and improved. The rule in
Shelley's
Case
is now over 4 0 0 years old and
serves no useful purpose, but there
are other helpful provisions wh i ch
could be introduced into our law.
The most helpful chapters in the
book for the practitioner are those
d e a l i ng
w i t h
r e s u l t i ng
and
constructive trusts and the newer
remedies such as t he Mareva
Injunction and the An t on Pillar
Order. The most interesting, at
least to your reviewer, were those
dealing w i t h promissory estoppel
(The High Trees Case)
and abuse of
confidence
(The Spycatcher
Case
et at).
The p r o o f - r e a d er m u s t be
superstitious because he or she
skipped Chapter 13 where there are
2 4 clerical errors. The description
(p.327) of Lord Denning as "Ma s t er
off the Rolls" wou ld no doubt bring
a t w i n k le to the eyes of t hat re-
markable old man. There will, w i t h-
out doubt, be further editions of
this excellent book, when the blem-
ishes can be eradicated.
Keane's Equity has succeeded
and surpassed Kiely's Equity and is
here to stay for at least as long,
and is unreservedly r ecommended
t o s t uden t s, practitioners and,
may one add, to the author's
brethren.
Robert W. R. Johns t on
0
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