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GAZETTE
MAY/JUNE
1995
The Irish J u r i st
Volumes XXV-XXVII, New Series,
1990 - 1992, Liber Memoralis, John
M. Kelly, Edited by W.N.
Osborough, Dublin, The Round Hall
Press for the Irish Jurist Publishing
Co. Ltd., 1994, ix + 352pp.,
IRE47.50 hardback, IR£35.00
paperback.
"The discussion of constitutional
questions throws a lustre round the
bar, and gives a dignity to its
functions. . . Lawyers are here
emphatically placed as sentinels
upon the outposts of the
constitution, and no nobler end can
be proposed for their ambition or
patriotism than to stand as faithful
guardians of the constitution,
ready to defend its legitimate
powers, and to stay the arm of the
legislative, executive, or popular
oppression."
Justice
Joseph Storey
, Associate
Justice of the US Supreme Court,
1811 - 1845, in an address to the
Suffolk Bar, Boston, September 4,
1821.
I never had the privilege of meeting or
speaking with
John Kelly.
He was a
remarkable man who combined
successfully the role of scholar,
teacher, writer, linguist, practising
politician, government minister and
wit, in his relatively short live-span.
He enjoyed the society of books and
his fellow man. Those who never
met John Kelly may enjoy his
companionship through his
writings. He was a great
commentator who has permanently
influenced legal thought in Ireland.
He was a master of legal literature
and it is appropriate that
The Irish
Jurist, 1990- 1992,
edited by
Professor
W.N.
Osborough should be
dedicated to the memory of John
Kelly, the originator and founding
editor of its current series.
Professor
R.F.V. Heuston,
Fellow
Emeritus, Trinity College, Dublin in
his touching tribute to John Kelly
poses the question whether any other
professor of jurisprudence held the
118
office of Chief Whip of a
parliamentary party? Professor
Heuston notes that the mere fact that
he held a position "calling for such
knowledge and tolerance of human
frailties rebuts the old jibe about
academics and ivory towers". Mr.
Justice Ronan Keane in his tribute
describes John Kelly as the greatest
legal scholar of his generation and
considers his legacy in the context of
the constitution.
Constitutional issues are to the fore in
this edition of
The Irish Jurist. Mr.
Sebastian Poulter,
Reader in Law at
the University of Southampton writes
on equality and ethnic minorities.
Professor
James Casey
considers the
Spanish Constitutional Court, a
modern institution that began its work
in July 1980. Mr.
Gerard F. Whyte,
Senior Lecturer in Law, Trinity
College, Dublin, analyses education in
the context of constitutional rights.
Mr.
Gerard Hogan,
Lecturer in Law at
Trinity College, Dublin reevaluates
Ryan v Attorney General
[1965] IR
294 in the context of unenumerated
rights. Professor
David G. Morgan
considers Section 31, the broadcasting
ban. Mr. Justice
Ronan Keane
writes
on Martial Law in Ireland 1535 -
1924. Professor Osborough's theme is
Roman Law in Ireland. Other
contributors deal with aspects of
jurisprudence.
This is a brief notice to readers
informing them of the essence of the
contents of
The Irish Jurist.
But some
thoughts came to the fore on reading
the work of the scholars. The time was
when law and religion provided many
unambiguous answers. We are now in
a period of transition and great
change. The sentiments expressed by
an Archbishop of the Christian faith
last week ring in my ears. He noted
that there was a longing for the
homogeneous and an allergy against
the different. In law, stare decisis -
the doctrine of precedent although
revered by many, is falling into
disuse. Should we adopt the
Archbishop's motto when he urged his
listeners "to celebrate life (substitute
"law") that can't be lived by rote.
Let's luxuriate in its complexities, in
its bewildering ambiguities, excited
by the thrill of working out things for
ourselves. Let us celebrate our
diversity. . ."
Many lawyers, judges and
commentators are luxuriating in the
complexities and bewildering
ambiguities of the law. The "sentinels
upon the outposts of the constitution",
the writers in
The Irish Jurist
deserve
our gratitude. In law, as in other
spheres of life, it will never be easy to
find unambiguous answers.
Dr,Eamonn G Hall
Env i r onmen t al and
Pl ann i ng Law
By Dr. Yvonne Scannell, Publisher:
The Round Hall Press. £65.00,
hardback 584pp.
The speed at which Environmental
Law has developed and the scope of
its impact in Ireland, has caught many
practitioners by surprise. Until
relatively recently there has been no
understanding of the need for
environmental protection and there
has been little appreciation of the need
to control industrial developers, house
builders, mine operators, farmers etc..
Somehow we all felt that air, water
and land would survive and that there
would be plenty there for us, no
matter what happened.
Article 2 of the Treaty of Rome
encouraged the promotion of "an
harmonious development of economic
activities". As Dr. Scannell reminds us
in her opening paragraphs, the Counsel
of Ministers declared in November
1973 that this is an achievement which
"cannot now be imagined in the
absence of an effective campaign to
combat pollution and nuisance or
for an improvement in the quality
of life and the protection of the
environment".
In twenty years since 1973 the EC has
adopted over 450 measures for
implementation of its environmental
policies. These 'directives' are only
incorporated into Irish Law in
circumstances where the objectives