The Gazette 1991

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1991

GAZETTE

useful addresses, publications, glossary and abbreviations. As the basis for Community law lies in the Treaty of Rome, as amended by the Single European Act, an Appendix containing the full amended text of the Treaty is included. The Butterworths Guide is aimed at the practitioner and business- man alike. It is a quick source of reference enabling easy access to specific areas and provisions of Community policies which affect the practitioner and businessman in their daily work. I NTRODUCT I ON TO LEGAL METHOD By John H. Farrer and Anthony M. Dugdale. (Third Edition, Sweet & Maxwell, London, 1990]. Introducing law and business students to the Irish legal system and to legal methods of reasoning via a single text is a difficult task. First, a great deal of description, essential to the comprehension of the basics of law, wearies even the most enthusiastic undergraduate. Secondly, the comprehension and deployment of legal concepts and ideas on which legal reasoning is founded requires sophisticated analytical and conceptual skills, which have not been developed in Ireland at least by pre-university curricula. For Irish students books like R. Byrne Cases and Comment on Irish Commercial Law and Legal Technique The Round Hall Press, Dublin 1988 or Byrne & McCutcheon The Irish Legal Sys- tem Butterworths, Dublin, 1989 aim to satisfy both requirements, and are to a large degree successful. This book, Introduction to Legal Method is aimed at those beginning law in the U.K. It also deals with aspects of Commonwealth and U.S.A. law. It fills a gap in both the U.K. and the Irish market, in that students can consult this book to find out in more detail (a) how law is structured and what sort of social control is exercised through law, (b) what is involved in "legal method", e.g. distinctions between law and fact, what precedent involves, how legislation (both domestic and European) is made, some of the salient features of non- U.K. jurisdictions, and (c) some of

the main issues in contemporary juridical theory. The book is well thought out, competently written and fair- minded. The authors are both established scholars, well-known and respected in the U.K. academic law heirarchy. Two useful features of the book may be singled out. First, there is a strong compara- tive element: non-U.K. legal systems are described; Issues, such as no-fault compensation etc. are examined in different juris- dictional contexts. Secondly, the last chapter, devoted to such matters as com- parative legal cultures and method, seems to me to present succintly and in an original and scholarly way, much of importance in the broadest of fields; and to be not so much a summary as a contribution to knowledge in this area. Those teaching introductory Irish law courses should put this book on the "recommended" list, those teaching introductory U.K. law PLANNING LAW A 10 week lecture course in planning law will com- mence on 23rd January, 1991, and continue until March 27th, in Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2. The course will focus on the introduction of envir- onmental impact assess- ment and on recent case law on planning enforcement. A comprehensive set of lecture materials will be distributed at the end of the course. Further information may be obtained f rom The Di rec t or, Extra Mu r al Studies, U.C.D., Belfield, Dubl in 4. Tel: 693244. A 10 WEEK COURSE IN

text will probably provide those who wish to inform themselves of the law with a useful starting point. This text is, however, only a starting point. To take but one example, unfair dismissals law is dealt with in all of five pages, shorter than the Department of Labour leaflet on the 1977 Act, and there is no reference to the huge volume of Employment Appeal Tribunal decisions on industry dismissals. There is a considerable need for a more detailed and critical account of hospitality industry law. Not alone would this benefit the industry and its legal advisers, but law reformers and policy makers would find the undoubted task of law reform less daunting. MARC MCDONALD Lecturer in Law Dublin College of Catering GUIDE TO THE EUROPEAN COMMUN I T I ES [By Bu t t e rwo r t hs European Information Services (Irish Editor: Aindrias Ó Caoimh). Butterworths, Dublin. 1989. xxiii + 205pp, paperback, IRE12.95]. The aim of this book is to provide, in a concise and easy-to-follow format, the fundamental principles of Community law and a compre- hensive reference source of important legislative provisions and judicial decisions which affect everyday problems. The book is divided into four parts: Part I provides a chronology of events from 1947 to the present day highlighting the events leading up to the foundation of the European Communities and their development since the foundation. The aims and objects of the European Communities and the meaning and application of Com- munity law are also considered. Part II looks at the main institu- tions, their organisation and structure, procedure and location. Part III considers all Community policies, each chapter following the same format detailing the relevant treaty provisions and secondary legislation, main principles and cases one should be aware of when faced wi th a problem in any specific area involving Community law. Part IV is a fact file containing

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