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GAZETTE
SEPTEMBER 1988
busy men wou ld then have rested
on their laurels w i t hout tackling a
treatise on the complex subject of
equity w i th all its ramifications.
The author tells us that " Equ i ty
is a well defined body of doctrines
and remedies found largely in the
decisions of judges who have
moulded its development since it
first emerged in the middle ages".
The legislature rarely intervened,
the Judicature Act being a notable
exception, and even that Act did
not alter equitable principles, it just
extended t hem to the Common
Law.
The insignificant amount of
statute law means that the princip-
les of equity as administered by the
Irish Courts are very much in line
w i t h t he principles gove r n i ng
English Law and also adopted by
the Courts of the British Common-
wealth countries. There are many
examples in the book of cases
where the Irish Courts have found
" c omp e l l i n g" reasons to follow
English decisions where 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 come before the Irish
Courts, and indicates whether or
not he thinks an Irish Court wou ld
adopt the
ratio decidendi.
The
provisions of our Cons t i t u t i on
would be the main reason inhibiting
t he 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 Reform
Commission, might persuade the
legislature to amend the Trustee
Act, 1893, before its centenary.
Some t h i r ty years ago, your
reviewer and a colleague prepared
a report, at the request of the Law
Society, suggesting a number of
amendments to the 1893 Act.
Nothing came of it, but the author
men t i ons a number of t ho se
matters wh i ch could be tidied up
and improved. The rule in
Shelley's
Case
is now over 4 00 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
dea l i ng
w i t h
r e s u l t i ng
and
constructive trusts and the newer
remedies such as the Mareva
Injunction and the An t on Pillar
Order. The most interesting, at
least to your reviewer, were those
dealing w i th promissory estoppel
(The High Trees Case)
and abuse of
confidence
(The Spycatcher
Case
et al).
The p r o o f - r e a d er mu s t be
superstitious because he or she
skipped Chapter 13 where there are
24 clerical errors. The description
(p.327) of Lord Denning as "Mas t er
off the Rolls" would no doubt bring
a tw i nk le to the eyes of that re-
markable old man. There will, with-
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 recommended
to students, practitioners and,
may one add, to the author's
brethren.
Robert W. R. Johnston
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