The Gazette 1995

GAZETTE

modified in the manner which met with

some approval by the fraud committee

in Ireland.

3. It is virtually impossible to have

illegally obtained evidence excluded

in the United Kingdom whereas, in

Ireland, it is the most fertile ground

of argument in a criminal trial that

might lead to an acquittal of the

accused.

This book contains a superb analysis of

the Criminal Evidence Act, 1898 which

is mirrored by the Criminal Justice

(Evidence) Act of 1922 in this

jurisdiction. The distinction between

"original" and "hearsay" evidence is

explained in the masterly fashion in the

chapter on the exceptions to the rule

against hearsay. The common law rules

on confession are usefully found in

chapter 10 but then, stray into the

waters of the 1984 Act which

submerges any relevance that the

treatment may have to Ireland. The

question of privilege remains within the

realm of the common law but the

exceptions grafted onto it in Ireland, by

reason of the fundamental

constitutional right of access to the

court, have led to a situation which

would be unthinkable in the United

Kingdom whereby original Garda

reports furnished to the Director of

Public Prosecutions in a criminal case

can be subsequently discovered by an

accused who takes civil proceedings in

respect of an alleged wrongful

conviction (Breathnach, 1991).

Similarly, we have our own

individualised rules in relation to

identification which do not depend on a

statutory basis as in the United

Kingdom. Video link evidence is

admitted in similar circumstances to

those obtaining in the Criminal

Evidence Act of 1992. There is no rule

whatsoever which corresponds to that

set out in

The People (AG) v O'Brien

(1966).

This rule requires the exclusion

of evidence taken in deliberate breach

of an accused's constitutional rights;

ignorance of the law does not excuse

such conduct and the question is

therefore often only one related to a

technical breach of a prisoner's rights.

This led in 1992 to the acquittal of one

Elizabeth Yamanoah

notwithstanding

marks on her body which a jury

subsequently regarded as linking her

324

beyond reasonable doubt with packets

of cocaine found in the possession of

another individual in the car park of the

hotel where she was staying.

This book is extremely well written and

logically set out. It gives enough

information in relation to every aspect

of the United Kingdom law of evidence

to allow a practitioner ready access to

the materials needed to formulate an

argument. Its emphasis is on modern

legislation and modern decisions and its

bias is clearly in favour of the practical

application of the rules, as opposed to

their academic discussion. However,

with the exception of the sections

which relate to the conduct of a trial in

court, corroboration, similar fact

evidence, hearsay (to some extent) and

the character of the accused it is

probably somewhat outside the scope

of what is so relevant as to require

purchase. Those sections that are of

relevance, however, and the sections

which mirror the statutory modification

introduced by the Criminal Evidence

Act of 1992 are so well done as to offer

a ready guideline as to the manner in

which the law might be argued, and so

developed, in this jurisdiction.

Peter Charleton

The Family Business in

Ireland

by Philip Smyth and Peter Leach,

Published byBlackwater Press;

226pp., Paperback; Price: £9.95

The Family Business published by

Simpson Xavier

is a study by

Philip

Smyth

and

Peter Leach

of the structure

of family business in Ireland. This Irish

edition was published by Blackwater

Press. The first edition was published in

the UK in 1991.

Family businesses in Ireland and

elsewhere have been much in the news

in recent times as boardroom rows even

in the most private of family businesses

and companies have become headline

news.

When these rows have progressed to

litigation there is then the spectacle of

the personal idiosyncrasies of family

members being laid bare to the curious

DECEMBER 1995

and unsympathetic gaze of members of

the public, with obvious distressing

results to the family members.

Mr Smyth and Mr Leach in these ten

chapters attempt to study the strengths

and weaknesses of family firms and

explore the problems which will arise

just because they are family firms and

gives at the end of each section

interesting short case histories of

various family firms. They do not

pretend that their solutions apply to

every case and stress the need for

flexibility.

They endeavour to give advice. I did at

one point feel that not only was that

advice on the basis of a business level

but almost ventured into Marriage

Guidance Counselling! I don't believe

it was intended that they stray into this

area, but it was an interesting aspect of

their perception of family businesses.

One minor criticism would be that the

book was slightly disjointed in places

and did on occasions give contra-

advice, but perhaps this would be

inevitable in a book contributed to by

more than one person.

This book also explores the expansion

i of the business into the next generation

j and does in my view give very good

advice on dealing with passing on to

j the next generation which makes it

essential reading for all - even

solicitors - whose sons and daughters

may be qualified as solicitors and are

hoping to enter the family practice.

There is a foreword by

Sir John

Harvey-Jones MBE

and a most

interesting commentary by Fergal

Quinn who makes the point that while

our Constitution exalts the family as a

unit, our laws both fiscal and economic

have tended to ignore the importance of

| the family business.

| In the small print the book discreetly

recommends that anyone who wishes to

! pursue seriously any of the courses

: outlined, should contact their personal

! advisers or Simpson Xavier.

The cartoons, attributed to

Sandy

Peters,

were in my view brilliant, very

much to the point - sometimes to the

point of cruelty.