The Gazette 1988

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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