Written in Lord Denning's familiar vivid, staccato style, Landmarks in the Law discusses cases and characters whose names will be known to all readers, grouped together under headings such as High Treason, Freedom of the Press, and Murder. Thus, for example, the chapter on High Treason tells the stories of Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Roger Casement, and William Joyce - three very different cases, the first occurring nearly 350 years before the last, but each one raising constitutional issues of the greatest importance.
The underlying theme of this book is 'that the principles of law laid down by the Judges in the 19th century - however suited to social conditions of the time - are not suited to the social necessities and social opinion of the 20th century. They should be moulded and shaped to meet the needs and opinions of today. The Discipline of Law is a fascinating account of Lord Denning's personal contribution to the changing face of the law in this century.
Both historically and in the present, the Supreme Court has largely been a failure In this devastating book, Erwin Chemerinsky—“one of the shining lights of legal academia” (The New York Times)—shows how, case by case, for over two centuries, the hallowed Court has been far more likely to uphold government abuses of power than to stop them. Drawing on a wealth of rulings, some famous, others little known, he reviews the Supreme Court’s historic failures in key areas, including the refusal to protect minorities, the upholding of gender discrimination, and the neglect of the Constitution in times of crisis, from World War I through 9/11. No one is better suited to make this case than Chemerinsky. He has studied, taught, and practiced constitutional law for thirty years and has argued before the Supreme Court. With passion and eloquence, Chemerinsky advocates reforms that could make the system work better, and he challenges us to think more critically about the nature of the Court and the fallible men and women who sit on it.
Two central themes run through The Due Process of Law. The first is the workings of the various "measures authorised by the law so as to keep the streams of justice pure" - that is to say, contempt of court, judicial inquiries, and powers of arrest and search. The second is the recent development of family law, focusing particularly on Lord Denning's contribution to the law of husband and wife. These broad themes are elaborated through a discussion of Lord Denning's own judgments and opinions on a wide range of topics.
The Jurisprudence of Lord Denning: A Study in Legal History consists of three volumes: Fiat Justitia: Lord Denning and the Common Law; The Last of England: Lord Denning’s Englishry and the Law and Freedom under the Law: Lord Denning as Master of the Rolls, 1962–1982. Each volume considers a different aspect of Lord Denning’s jurisprudence. Fiat Justitia is concerned with Lord Denning’s place in the common law tradition, as defined by Fortescue, Coke and Blackstone. Particular attention is paid to Lord Denning’s approach to the role of the Judge and the use of judicial discretion in relation to precedent, statutory interpretation, individual rights and control of the abuse of power. The Last of England looks at the role of Englishness in the jurisprudence of Lord Denning, setting his approach to equity, in particular the way in which he developed the doctrine of estoppel, immigration and race and the law of the European Community in the context of the developing debate about the nature of English identity. Freedom under the Law sets the jurisprudence of Lord Denning in the context of the history of the 1960s and 1970s; examining his writings about the law, role in the Profumo affair and treatment of themes such as religion, literature, education, the currency, the Empire, the Union, national security, social change, industrial conflict and the role of the City of London. The trilogy provides a comprehensive analysis of the work of one of the most important judges of the twentieth century set in its historical, political and philosophical context. In the course of preparing this work, each of the 1072 judgments of Lord Denning, as reported in the All England Law Reports for the years 1962 to 1982, was considered, together with all the books about the law which he published while sitting as a judge.
In Judges, legislators and professors one of the world's foremost legal historians shows how and why continental and common law have come to diverge so sharply. Using ten specific examples he investigates the development of European law, not as the manifestation of certain ideological and intellectual trends, but as largely the result of power struggles between the judiciary, the legislators, and legal scholars, each representing certain political and social ambitions. Now available in paperback, Judges, legislators and professors provides an historical introduction to continental law which is readily accessible to readers familiar with the common law tradition and vice-versa.
In the absence of a sound conception of the judicial role, judges at present can be said to be 'muddling along'. They disown the declaratory theory of law but continue to behave and think as if it had not been discredited. Much judicial reasoning still exhibits an unquestioning acceptance of positivism and a 'rulish' predisposition. Formalistic thinking continues to exert a perverse influence on the legal process. This 2005 book dismantles these outdated theories and seeks to bridge the gap between legal theory and judicial practice. The author propounds a coherent and comprehensive judicial methodology for modern times. Founded on the truism that the law exists to serve society, and adopting the twin criteria of justice and contemporaneity with the times, a judicial methodology is developed which is realistic and pragmatic and which embraces a revised conception of practical reasoning, including in that conception a critical role for legal principles.
Lord Denning draws from a wide range of sources to support his arguments and incorporates coverage of many different cases, including that of the Russell baby, the Granada 'mole' and the case of Harriet Harman, all of which are selected on the grounds that 'the experience of the past points the way to the future'. The book also discusses the proposals for law reform which have come from numerous Royal Commissions, Departmental Committees and Blue Books and which were all rejected by successive governments at the time of publication.
‘Rethinking’ legal reasoning seems a bold aim given the large amount of literature devoted to this topic. In this thought-provoking book, Geoffrey Samuel proposes a different way of approaching legal reasoning by examining the topic through the context of legal knowledge (epistemology). What is it to have knowledge of legal reasoning?
