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The plaintiffs had shown a good arguable case that at least some monies had been misappropriated The plaintiffs misled the court on the amount claimed by £95,000 It was unlikely that the defendants would voluntarily return to Belarus and there was no evidence to establish such an intention An undertaking as to damages had been given, but it was clear that the second-named plaintiff was insolvent The court must look very carefully at any application to ensure that it is justified on the principles set out in O’Mahony v Horgan ([1996] 1 ILRM 161) and the Third Chandris Shipping Corporation v Unimarine SA ([1979] QB 655).
Production Association Minsk Tractor Works and Belarus Equipment (Ireland) Ltd v Saenko (McCracken J), 25 February 1998
will allow the State to ratify the United Nations convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment by ensuring that acts of torture as defined by the convention are offences under the domestic law. The new statutory offence of torture shall carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Criminal Justice (United Nations Convention Against Torture) Bill, 1998 Representation for complainant in rape cases? A private member’s Bill has been introduced which seeks to permit the complainant in a rape case to be legally represented where the defendant’s lawyers wish to introduce material relating to the complainant’s sexual history Criminal Law (Rape) (Sexual Experience of Complainant) Bill, 1998
EDUCATION CRIMINAL International War Crimes Tribunal Act, 1998 (No 40 of 1998) This Act was signed into law by the President on 10 November 1998. Torture convention to be ratified A Bill has been presented which
Scholarship fund to be established A Bill has been presented, and passed by Dáil Éireann, which seeks to establish a £2,000,000 scholarship fund in the USA to provide third-level scholarships to citizens of that country. The fund is to be known as the George Mitchell Scholarship Fund. George Mitchell Scholarship Fund Bill, 1998
EMPLOYMENT Force majeure leave form prescribed The form of notice claiming force majeure leave under the Parental Leave Act, 1998 to be given by an employee to his or her employer has been set out. Parental Leave (Notice of Force Majeure Leave) Regulations 1998 (SI No 454 of 1998)
ENERGY Competition regime for electricity proposed A Bill has been presented which aims to: ● Provide a regulatory framework for the introduction of competition in the generation and supply of electricity, and ● Establish an independent Commission for Electricity Regulation to license and regulate the generation and supply of electricity and to oversee access to transmission and distribution systems. Electricity Regulation Bill, 1998
ENVIRONMENTAL New established activities listed An order specifies dates on or after which certain listed established activities are required to have
applied to the EPA for an integrated pollution control licence. Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1992 (Established Activities) Order 1998 (SI No 460 of 1998)
FISHERIES Changes proposed to aquaculture regime A Bill has been presented which seeks to: ● Remove legal doubt concerning, firstly, the status of approximately 600 applications for aquaculture licences which are awaiting decision and, secondly, the status of approximately 160 licences granted between the enactment of the Fisheries Act, 1980 and the coming into operation of the new aquaculture licensing provisions last year contained in the Fisheries (Amendment) Act, 1997 ● Prohibit persons applying for aquaculture licences on or after 10 December 1998 from commencing operations pending the grant of a licence and to invalidate their applications if they breach that provision ● Strengthen ss12-14 of the Foreshore Act, 1933 to deter unauthorised development and the deposit of unacceptable or harmful matter on the foreshore, and ● Provide greater flexibility for the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources in the use or disposal of property vested in
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42 LAW SOCIETY GAZETTE
APRIL 1999