Overview
The Politics of the Common Law is an introduction to the English legal system that places the law in its contemporary context. It is not like other conventional accounts that simply seek to describe institutions and summarise details. The book is a coherent argument, organised around a number of central claims. Can today's common law be characterised as a series of emergent practices that articulate the principles of human rights and due process? The common law is presented as historical experience; the authors present the perspective that we are in the opening of a new chapter. The argument examines the impact of the European Convention on the structures and ideologies of the common law, and suggests that there is now a general jurisprudence of human rights stemming from the Human Rights Act. The Human Rights Act has also led to more pronounced judicial intervention into politics, and is precipitating a debate on the forms that the rule of law should assume in contemporary British democracy. Equally important is the function of European Union law, and the extent to which it is also committed to due process and the rule of law. These themes are read into civil and criminal procedure, and broader concerns about the tensions between the requirements of economics and the demands of justice. Can a revitalised common law address a plural, post-colonial future?
Full Product Details
Author: Adam Gearey (Birkbeck, University of London, UK) ,
Wayne Morrison (Queen Mary University) ,
Robert Jago (University of Surrey, UK)
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint: Routledge Cavendish
Dimensions:
Width: 17.40cm
, Height: 2.30cm
, Length: 24.60cm
Weight: 0.771kg
ISBN: 9780415481533
ISBN 10: 0415481538
Pages: 432
Publication Date: 19 August 2008
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Undergraduate
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
Replaced By: 9780415662369
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Out of Print
Availability: Awaiting stock
Reviews
I welcome the book as a major statement on a twenty-first century evaluation of common law as our own legal system becomes more entwined in EU law, and global legal and financial issues (most certainly the financial ones) appear so much more relevant to all than they once did! The greatest value of the book for me is that it places our picture of the common law in its contemporary context and reviews our criminal and civil procedures -- Philip Taylor, Barrister-at-Law, Richmond Green Chambers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubc7WUyfAu8)
Author Information
Dr. Adam Gearey is a reader in law, Birkbeck College, University of London. He has been a visiting professor in the Faculty of Law at Makerere University, Uganda; and the University of Pretoria, South Africa. Professor Wayne Morrison LLD, PhD, LLM, LLB, is Director of the University of London External Undergraduate Laws Programme and Professor of Law, Queen Mary, University of London. Robert Jago MPhil (Cantab.) is a Senior Lecturer in law at the University of Surrey and is the postgraduate director of studies within the School of Law. He was involved in Surrey University's Joint Infrastructure Fund Project on Defining Excellence in Teaching and is a regular visitor to SPACE, University of Hong Kong where he teaches Public Law and Civil and Criminal Procedure.
