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BOOK REVIEWS
Megarry (Hon. Sir Robert)—A Second Miscellany at
Law—being a further diversion for Lawyers and Others.
23 cm.; xvii plus 420 pp.; index (double columns), pp.
369-420; London : Stevens, 1973; £4.80.
Although the publishers have omitted so far to send a
review copy, which it is hoped will be remedied shortly,
this fascinating volume is so full of interest that one
could not pass it by. The Hon. Mr. Justice Megarry
became a recognised favourite with Irish law students
when he was one of the principal speakers at a congress
on legal education held in Trinity College in 1968. The
learned Judge has placed a wealth of learning and
erudition at our disposal, as he had previously done in
the first volume of
Miscellany
at Law,
published in
1955. It is extraordinary that when prominent English
counsel refused to defend Casement, they chose to forget
Erskine's aphorism in
R. v Payne
(1872) : "If the advo-
cate refuses to defend, from what
he may think
of the
charge or defence, he assumes the character of a judge
even before the hour of judgment." In view of the rela-
tively small number of practising barristers at the Irish
Bar, it would hardly be possible to contemplate a case
like
London Financial Association v Kek
(1884) 26 Ch.D.
—in which no less than two future Lord Chancellors,
one future Lord Chief Justice, four future Law Lords,
and three future Lord Justices of Appeal took part as
counsel. In the seventeenth century, William Hudson
unflatteringly compared solicitors to grasshoppers of
Egypt, "who devour our land". An anecdote of Tim
Healy is preserved in
The Old Munster Circuit,
in
which Healy, on being asked what kind of man the
solicitor was, said to the Judge : "The kind of man, my
Lord, that when the last trumpet sounds, would wake
up and mutter : 'Second Calling'." In another case in
1939, a wealthy Austrian, who wished to put the Bank
of England out of reach of the Germans, summoned his
English solicitor to Vienna, asked him to take a careful
note of the numbers of the bonds, then solemnly burnt
them and asked the solicitor to arrange for the Bank to
produce duplicate bonds in England. Intricate examples
are given in relation to judgments, where the Judges
have either died or retired, or where there was an equal
division in the Court. Some of the older reports were
inaccurate, and Pollock G.B. said that "You may find
authority in the so-called 'Modern Reports' for many
propositions which are not law." In regard to the doc-
trine of precedent, the struggle between Lord Denning,
M.R., who wished to change the law and the ultra
conservative Law Lords is vividly illustrated. In
Smith
Hogg and Co. v Black Sea Insurance Co.
(1940) A.C.,
Lord Wright deprecated the use of Latin phrases, which
only distract the mind from the true problem of apply-
ing principles of English law to the realities of the age.
With regard to the difficulty of interpreting statutes,
Lord Goddard, in
Southward
Borough
Council
v
Nightingale
(1948), 64 T.L.R., said : "I have spent some
hours trying to understand the London County Council
(General Powers) Act 1947 and, although I may have
some glimmering about it, I am still far from satisfied
that I understand it." Although Lord Denning tried
wisely to point out that it was the duty of the Court to
find out the intention of Parliament, and to fill in the
gaps if necessary, this was strangely rejected by the
House of Lords in
Magor R.D.C. v Newport
Corpora-
tion
(1950) 2 All E.R., who pretended it was a "naked
usurpation of the legislative function", while the duty
of the Court was rigorously limited to interpreting the
words the Legislature had used. Brandeis J. in
Olms-
tead v U.S.
(1928) has rightly said that "the greatest
dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by
men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding".
These few examples will have shown the mastery
which the learned author displayed in writing this
erudite volume, full of light touches. There are occasi-
onal Irish legal stories though none to emulate the
sharpness of Rhadamanthus in describing "Our Judges"
in 1890. Mr. Justice Megarry would appreciate if any
members sent him some suitable legal stories to add to
his vast collection. This volume is memorable, because
the learned author bears his vast erudition so lightly.
Elliott (D. W.) and Wood (J. C.)—A Casebook of Cri-
minal Law. Third edition; 25 cm.; xxiv plus 558 pp.;
index (double columns), pp. 555-558; London : Sweet
& Maxwell, 1974; £4.75.
The fact that three editions of this casebook have been
published in little more than ten years speaks for itself.
Professor Elliott teaches law in Newcastle-on-Tyne,
while Professor Wood is on the staff of Sheffield Univer-
sity. Broadly speaking, the more important English
legislation and cases on criminal law have been brought
up to date since 1969. The Irish case of
A.G. v Whelan
(1934) I.R., where the accused had been forced by
threat of death to take stolen property, and was conse-
quently acquitted by the Court of Criminal Appeal,
is fully given, followed in England by
R. v Bone
(1968)
I W.L.R. There follows
Sweet v Parsley
(1970) A.C., in
which the House of Lords allowed a conviction for being
concerned in the management of premises used for the
purpose of smoking cannabis. In
R. v Lowe
(1973) I
Q.B., the accused was charged with, being a person in
charge of a child, wilfully neglecting him in a manner
likely to cause him unnecessary suffering; his appeal
was dismissed. In
R. v Souter
(1971) I W.L.R., the
appeal was allowed when the applicant had been con-
victed of permitting premises to be used for the purpose
of smoking cannabis contrary to the Dangerous Drugs
Act 1965, as he did not know this was taking place. In
R. v Madan
(1961) 2 Q.B., proceedings brought against
an Indian diplomat for allegedly obtaining a railway
ticket by false pretences were dismissed as null and void.
In
R. v Smith
(1973) 2 WLR, two accused who were
charged with attempting to handle stolen goods, were
acquitted on appeal. In this case, the police had stopped
a van, which contained stolen goods, on the motorway;
they allowed it to proceed and followed it. At a service
area, the accused were found waiting to take over the
goods.
In
Director
of Public Prosecutions
v
Bhagwan
(1972) A.C., an Indian, who had landed illegally in
Britain successfully contended that a charge of con-
spiracy to evade the control of immigration was one
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