Murdoch's Dictionary of Irish Law, by Henry Murdoch Topaz £69

There have been major changes to the law since the second edition of the Dictionary Of Irish Law was published seven years ago. The revised third edition, which outlines the law as of October 2000, has been expanded and updated to take account of developments, for example, in areas relating to ecommerce, trademarks, employment equality and consumer credit.

Major political changes have also occurred, notably the Amsterdam Treaty. The Belfast Agreement has set up cross-Border bodies and we have also had the advent of the euro. Murdoch's Dictionary Of Irish Law is not just a tome for practising lawyers but an invaluable resource for all professionals. The principal words, concepts and phrases encountered in the law are defined, their legal sources identified - statutory or judicial - and a brief introduction to the law is given.

This is an A to Z guide, from advertisement and a.g.m. to the Maastricht Treaty, from search engine and secondary picketing to zero-hour contract.

But like all good dictionaries there is much to browse as well. For example, in a particular case the word "and" had to be given a conjunctive rather than a disjunctive meaning - it was not permissible to construe "and" as if it were "or".

On the other hand, the definition of an event as non-mainstream as a rave is supplied. Henry Murdoch has performed the almost impossible task of producing a 900-page reference book on the law in a well-written, concise and entertaining fashion.

Murdoch's Dictionary Of Irish Law is also available in paperback, at £48.

John Mulqueen jmulqueen@irish-times.ie