The Gazette 1995

GAZETTE

M EDIWH M ARCH1995

B O O K

R E V I E W S

The text of the second edition takes into consideration important developments including the impact of the new Europe after the European Union Treaty, the birth of the European Economic Area and enlargement, and new cases such as Francovich and Bonifaci v Italy [1991] 1 ECR 5337 on remedies for failure to implement a Directive, and Enderby v Frenchay Health Authority, [1994] 1 CMLR 8 on sex discrimination.

road, but we must set out on the journey and make the necessary preparations Dr Eamonn G Hall European Community Law: A Practitioner's Guide, Second Edition By William Rawlinson and Malachy Cornwell-Kelly, London, Sweet and Maxwell, 1994, hardback, lxxii +310pp, £49.00. A few years ago, a learned Senior Counsel (and he was a learned man), involved in "constitutional" litigation confessed to his instructing solicitor he knew nothing whatsoever about European Community Law. I am unsure whether the confession amounted almost to a boast. Senior Counsel said that at his age he was not about to embark on a study of European law. He has since passed away to a Better Place where knowledge of European Union law is not required. It would be unwise of a lawyer to boast today that he or she knows nothing about European Law. It is now 21 years since the case of Bulmer Ltd v Bollinger SA [ 1974] 4 Ch 401 at 411, when Lord Denning wrote in that case of European Community law as "like an incoming tide, it flows into the estuaries and up the rivers. It cannot be held back". The authors of this book in their first edition in 1990 noted that Community law pervaded and overlapped the domestic law of the states to the point at which no lawyer can be said to have an adequate view of any legal topic without a knowledge of Community law relevant to the sector in question. The authors provide in a concise and accessible manner a practical step-by- step approach to European Community Law. The institutional and

Law Reform Commission, Fifteenth Annual Report (1993)

1994, Dublin v +18pp, softback, £2

The law is, in general, behind the times. This, of necessity, is probably the way it ought to be. But there is a limit to this principle. Aeschylus in Seven Against Thebes 467 BC in words that have gained common coinage noted: "The laws of a state change with the changing times." In Ireland, the law has not changed sufficiently in accord with the changing times. The Law Reform Commission has achieved much since its first programme published in December 1976. For the record, the Commissions in office in 1993 were Mr Justice Anthony J Hederman, President, Mr John Buckley, Solicitor, Professor William Duncan and Mr Simon O'Leary BL. Dr Alpha Connelly is Research Counsellor to the Commission. In the year under review, the Commission published Consultation Papers on sentencing and occupiers' liability. Meetings with judges of the Circuit and District Courts were held with the Commission in relation to the issue of sentencing. At the time of writing, the Occupiers' Liability Bill, 1994 based, to a considerable degree, on the recommendations of a majority Work continued during the year of review on non-fatal offences against the person, intoxication, private international law, land law and conveyancing, family law, contempt of court, structured settlements, plain language and the concept of licensing. The inscription carved over the entrance to the Yale Law School: "The law is a living growth, not a changeless code", should remind us that the Law Reform Commission will never become re- dundant. We may not see the end of the of the Commission, was being considered by the Oireachtas.

Dr Eamonn G Hall

VAT on Property

By Fergus Gannon; Publisher: Institute of Taxation, 1994, Second Edition, 252pp, softback, £12 - members - £14 - non-members. VAT on property is a most complex subject, bedevilled by distinctions between three categories of lengths of lease, persons or institutions not registered or registerable for VAT and persons registering on a one-off basis. In addition there is a need to keep track of what VAT has been reclaimed originally where there are a series of exempt transfers on sales of businesses as a going concern. Fergus Gannon's book is extremely helpful in dealing with these and various other aspects of VAT on property. Its approach is an extremely practical one. The second edition will be of much assistance to those of us who have been struggling with the subject for a number of years. Its approach and layout are extremely user friendly and the examples given are not only wide ranging but are also typical of the factual situations that tend to arise. This second edition is even more

welcome than the first edition. The book is one of the series of

handbooks on tax published by the Institute of Taxation and more than meets the high standards of that series.

constitutional principles of EC law are outlined followed by an analysis of EC legislation in the light of relevant cases.

John Buckley

79