Editorial

• Author: Jason Rudall
• Pages: 11-13

EDITORIAL

But

words

are

things,

and

a

small drop

of

ink,

Falling,

like

dew,

upon

a

thought,

produces

That which makes

thousands,

perhaps

millions,

think.'

The

sentiment expressed

in

this quote

from Lord

Byron captures

an

inspiration that

would

resonate

with many

eminent writers. That

pursuit

to

harness

the

power

of

the

written

word

is

synonymous with

the

fundamental

purpose

of

legal

writing. Indeed,

the legal

scholar

will

strive

to

make

a

meaningful

contribution

to

the

discourse that

shapes

the

law,

will

harbour

an

admirable courage

to

impart

the

first

commentary on

recent

developments

and

will

maintain

a

devotion

to

stimulating fervent academic

debate.

These

are

the

shared attributes

of

great

legal writers

and

they

are

evident

in

abundance

through

the

pages

that

follow,

in

this,

Volume

Twelve

of

the

Trinity

College

Law

Review.

Throughout

its

twelve-year

history, the

Law

Review

has

provided

a

forum

for

those who

are

keen

to

grapple

with

the

most pressing

issues

affecting

the

legal

world

and

the

authors

in

this

edition

display

a

remarkable

topicality

in

their

work.

David

Kenny,

in

his

article,

analyses

the

consequences

of

the

Brussels

Regulation

on

jurisdiction,

recognition

and

enforcement

in

light

of

Clarke

J's

comments

in

Goshawk

Dedicated

Ltd

v

Life

Receivables

Ireland

Ltd.

Following

a

European

Court

of

Justice

ruling that

the

traditional

common law

doctrine

of forum

non

conveniens

is

incompatible

with

the

key

tenet

of

certainty

that

the

Brussels regime

seeks

to

achieve,

Kenny

notes

that

the

ambit

of

the

Regulation

is

such

that

any

flexible

common

law

doctrine

for declining

jurisdiction

is

likely

to

be

affected.

Accordingly,

the

related

doctrine

of

lis

alibi

pendens

could

be

abolished or

substantially

eroded.

In

this

respect,

he

anticipates

the

potential

for

problematic

use

of

the

Regulation where

litigation

takes

place

in

non-Member

States and

calls

upon

European

lawmakers

to

address

the

issue.

Breaking

new

ground through considering

the

international law

implications

of

the

recent war

on

the

Gaza

Strip,

Susan

Power

identifies

how

the

problem

of

Gaza's

unresolved

territorial

legal

status

affects

the

accountability

of

Israeli forces

in,

and

Israel's

obligations

to,

that

region.

Furthermore,

War,

Invasion, Occupation?

delineates

how

the

legal

uncertainty

may influence

the

architecture

of

the

proposed

EU

Action

Strategy

for building

a

Palestinian

State.

1

Byron,

"Don

Juan"

reproduced

in

Steffan, Steffan and

Pratt

eds.,

Lord

Byron:

Don

Juan

(Yale

University

Press,

1982),

at

182.