In EU consumer law, the rise of Article 47 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights - which guarantees the right to an effective remedy and a fair trial - over the past decade has coincided with a wave of crisis-induced litigation. Courts were confronted with large numbers of cases against overindebted consumers. This has prompted many questions on the need for effective judicial protection, for instance in mortgage enforcement and order for payment procedures. This book provides a unique perspective on the role of civil courts at the crossroads of EU fundamental rights, consumer law and access to justice. It examines how the Court of Justice of the European Union, as well as civil courts in Spain and the Netherlands, refer to Article 47 in unfair terms cases, where procedural obstacles and inequalities have become particularly visible - especially in Spanish case law. The analysis reveals a divergence between European and national practices and also shows the potential of Article 47, which is often wrongly equated with the principle of effectiveness, in consumer litigation. Effective Judicial Protection in Consumer Litigation makes a vital contribution to the debate on the functions of Article 47 and fundamental rights reasoning in European private law adjudication and is a must read for anyone interested in the application of Article 47 in judicial decision-making.

This book documents and evaluates the growing consumer revolution against digital copyright law, and makes a unique theoretical contribution to the debate surrounding this issue. With a focus on recent US copyright law, the book charts the consumer rebellion against the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act 1998 (US) and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act 1998 (US). The author explores the significance of key judicial rulings and considers legal controversies over new technologies, such as the iPod, TiVo, Sony Playstation II, Google Book Search, and peer-to-peer networks. The book also highlights cultural developments, such as the emergence of digital sampling and mash-ups, the construction of the BBC Creative Archive, and the evolution of the Creative Commons. Digital Copyright and the Consumer Revolution will be of prime interest to academics, law students and lawyers interested in the ramifications of copyright law, as well as policymakers given its focus upon recent legislative developments and reform proposals. The book will also appeal to librarians, information managers, creative artists, consumers, technology developers, and other users of copyright material.

A systematic and historical treatment of the civil and criminal procedure of Cicero's time. At the same time, the author examines the legal difficulties and contradictions found in Cicero's writings on procedure. With a subject index and index to passages found in Cicero's works. Of value to the student of Roman Law, ciminal and military procedure and law, and the history of European courts.

'A clear, accurate and extraordinary concise guide to the major doctrines of private law and current thought about what they mean. - James Gordley, Tulane University School of Law Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. In this Advanced Introduction, one of the world's leading private law scholars takes the reader on an intellectual journey through the different facets and dimensions of the field, from the family home to Kuta Beach and from Thomas Piketty to Nina Hagen. This concise book provides an accessible and fresh introduction to private law, presenting the topic as a unified whole of which the main branches - on contract, tort, property, family and inheritance - are governed by conflicts between individual autonomy and countervailing principles. The book stands out as a unique account of how private law allows individuals to optimally flourish in matters of economy, work, leisure, family and life in general. Key features include: - succinct yet engaging and highly informative overview of private law, aimed at an audience of specialists and non-specialists alike - written in a clear and engaging style - ample attention to the policy choices behind the rules - examples from a wide range of jurisdictions in both Europe, the UK and the US - places private law in its larger economic and societal context - addresses the potential and the limits of private law in dealing with global societal challenges, such as economic inequality, the fair use of resources and protecting future generations - considers how the field could develop in the future. Engaging and wide-ranging, this is an excellent introduction for students and academics new to the field and allows practitioners to quickly master the core principles behind private law.

This book (hardcover) is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS. It contains classical literature works from over two thousand years. Most of these titles have been out of print and off the bookstore shelves for decades. The book series is intended to preserve the cultural legacy and to promote the timeless works of classical literature. Readers of a TREDITION CLASSICS book support the mission to save many of the amazing works of world literature from oblivion. With this series, tredition intends to make thousands of international literature classics available in printed format again - worldwide.

Over the last few decades, intellectual property law has assumed an increasingly vital role in the expansion of the internet and the rapid pace of technological innovation. Intellectual property law has therefore grown into one of the world's biggest and fastest-growing fields of law. As the relative value of intellectual property increases in the global economy, the development of intellectual property rights in Asia has been nothing less than dramatic in the last couple of years. Spurred by the TRIPS Agreement, most Asian countries have completely overhauled their intellectual property systems. This formal adaptation of intellectual property law to international standards in now followed by a period in which Asia is re-conceptualizing the way that it is thinks about intellectual property law, its administration, and enforcement. Thus, Asia is emerging as a potent force in reshaping the global intellectual property landscape.

Mediation in family & divorce disputes is intended as a handbook for mediators and clients who are involved with family and divorce disputes. It distills 20 years’ of priceless experience into a succinct and lucid handbook that will be invaluable to attorneys, mediators, social workers, psychologists and parties to disputes, helping clients to decide whether they would like to try to resolve their dispute through mediation and professionals to reflect on the fundamental principles and practical applications of their work. The goal of mediation is to enable clients to negotiate an effective settlement of their dispute, rather than necessarily reconciling – although occasionally that is a result of mediation. In a real sense mediation coaches clients to negotiate effectively. It is about helping clients to negotiate mutually acceptable, realistic and legal settlements of their disputes. Although the book is written in a South African context, the principles will apply and be of interest beyond South Africa and to all mediators and clients in mediation whether their primary focus is on family disputes or not. For mediators the book sets out to provide practical and theoretical guidelines for their work. The practice tips, further reading suggestions and references serve as an introduction to some of the work of leading mediators in the field for those readers who would like to develop a deeper understanding of the process. The book is also designed to be of use to those who have recently been trained as mediators or will soon be trained, as it complements the material usually presented in such training. For clients it explains what they can expect in the mediation process, tips as to what to look for in a mediator and what they can do to prepare for their mediation in order to get the most out of the process. Each chapter includes tips for mediators and for clients, as well as suggested further reading if you want to follow up in more depth on a topic covered in one of the chapters.

This book discusses environmental crime and individual wrongdoing. It uses the theory of convenience throughout to examine financial motives, attractive opportunities, and personal willingness to explain deviant behavior. This book focusses primarily on the case study of the Island of Tjome in Norway, an attractive resort where building permits were repeatedly granted to rich people in a protected zone along the shoreline. This book investigates how these crimes were detected and investigated by police over a few years with the help of whistleblowers. It discusses the interplay between the potentially corrupt public officials, professionals like architects and attorneys, and rich individuals, as an interesting and challenging arena for law enforcement. It covers attorneys' defense strategies, evaluates private internal policing, and provides insights for those investigating individuals involved in environmental crime. It also examines the Vest Tank toxic waste dumping case and the resulting explosion where unusually both the chairperson and the chief executive were successfully sentenced to prison because of environmental crime, unlike many other environmental crime cases where individuals avoid prison. The case studies are drawn from Norway to supplement more well-known case studies from the USA.

The newest volume in Kluwer's series of comparative analyses of Member State law and the Principles of European Contract Law (PECL), this book not only provides an introduction to German law for lawyers familiar with the PECL but also serves as a model for "reconnecting" the contract law of the European Union with that of the Member States. Although the Principles were by design distilled from the laws of the Member States, one of the arguments most frequently advanced for opposing the introduction of a EU contract law is that it would not be in line with national principles of contract law. The in-depth comparison presented here may help to refute or confirm such doubts and serve as a yardstick to measure how far EU law really has disconnected from the traditions of the Member States. Using a straightforward comparative method, the analysis not only reveals a significant area of convergence between the PECL and German contract law, but also highlights the main differences between the two bodies of rules. The reasons for these differences, both legal and non-legal (historical, social, economic), are clearly set forth. Aspects of the relevant laws covered include the following: scope of application, general duties, terminology; offer and acceptance, liability for negotiations; effects of assignment; remedies for non-performance (right to performance, withholding performance, termination of the contract, price reduction, damages and interest); representation by agents; plurality of debtors and/or creditors; order of priority among assignee and competing claimants; transfer of contract or contractual position; and periods of prescription.

Civil justice in the United States is neither civil nor just. Instead it embodies a maxim that the American legal system is a paragon of legal process which assures its citizens a fair and equal treatment under the law. Long have critics recognized the system's failings while offering abundant criticism but few solutions. This book provides a comparative-critical introduction to civil justice systems in the United States, Germany, and Korea. It shows the shortcomings of the American system and compares them with German and Korean successes in implementing the rule of law. The author argues that these shortcomings could easily be fixed if the American legal systems were open to seeing how other legal systems' civil justice processes handle cases more efficiently and fairly. Far from being a treatise for specialists, this book is an introductory text for civil justice in the three aforementioned legal systems. It is intended to be accessible to people with a general knowledge of a modern legal system.

The issuance of equity via government-regulated capital markets is an important sourceof corporate finance. This is an opinion endorsed by many influential policymakers andauthors, many of whom add, however, that over-regulation can undermine competitiveadvantage and thus a nation's economic growth. The author of this provocative book setsout to show that the tendency towards 'more disclosure' that is usually the immediateregulatory response to financial market crises may be misconceived; what is required, she contends, is a thoughtful search for the true objectives of disclosure - the mostadvantageous (for all) cost-benefit analysis of any proposed regulatory path. In this bookshe provides just such a search and analysis, using as a springboard the 'disclosure andtransparency agenda' started with the EU Financial Services Action Plan of 1999.

This book provides international readers with basic knowledge of Chinese civil procedure and succinct explanations of essential issues, fundamental principles and particular institutions in Chinese civil procedure and the conflict of laws. The book begins with a survey of the Chinese procedural law and an overview of Chinese civil procedure and then focuses on essential aspects of court jurisdiction and trial procedure in civil matters. In view of the traditional importance of alternative dispute resolution in China, mediation (conciliation) and arbitration are also discussed with corresponding comparisons to civil procedure. The book also discusses issues relating to the conflict of laws, i.e. international jurisdiction under the Chinese international civil procedure law, recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments as well as Chinese choice of law rules. Focus is directed toward the Chinese Statute on the Application of Laws to Civil Relationships Involving Foreign Elements of 28 October 2010, which entered into force on 1 April 2011. CHEN Weizuo is Director of the Research Centre for Private International Law and Comparative Law at Tsinghua University's School of Law in Beijing. He has a Doctor of Laws degree from Wuhan University, China; an LL.M. and doctor iuris, Universit t des Saarlandes, Germany; professeur invit la Facult internationale de droit compar de Strasbourg, France (since 2003); professeur invit l'Universit de Strasbourg, France. He has published extensively on the international laws and his publications have appeared both in and outside China. He has taught a special course in French at the Hague Academy of International Law during its 2012 summer session of private international law.

An authoritative guide designed for Illinois criminal trial attorneys, appellate practitioners, and judges. This book provides an in-depth review of the new Illinois Rules of Evidence along with the authors' commentaries and a compilation of the most recent Illinois decisions, statutes, and Supreme Court Rules. In addition to the new rules, the book addresses complementary Illinois common law evidence rules and provides a thorough constitutional analysis of evidence law. This comprehensive guide explains everything you need to know about the new Illinois Rules of Evidence and their impact on your daily criminal litigation practice. Ralph Ruebner is a Professor of Law and the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at The John Marshall Law School. He has taught evidence, criminal procedure, and international human rights law. He previously served as the Executive Director of the John Marshall Law School Criminal Justice Clinic and as the Deputy State Appellate Defender in both the First and Second Appellate Districts in Illinois. He is a 1969 graduate of the American University Washington College of Law. Katarina Durcova is a Staff Attorney at the Criminal Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County. She is a 2011 graduate of The John Marshall Law School and was a John Marshall Law School Library Research Fellow. She previously worked as a judicial extern for Justice Margaret O'Mara Frossard (ret.) at the First District of the Illinois Appellate Court and as a summer law clerk in the Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Hague, the Netherlands.

This book explores a range of comparative issues in, and in the relationship between, property law and contract law in English and Spanish law. It also draws on other jurisdictions. The purpose is to give readers access to discussions of these areas of private law that are not easily accessible elsewhere. It goes further, however, than simply setting out similarities and differences: it provides an insightful analysis of key points of interest in the comparison of the legal systems discussed.

Important Study on Roman Law by a Scottish Scholar David Irving 1778-1860] was originally a biographer, librarian, and author of a number of works who established his reputation in 1807 with Memoirs of the Life and Writings of George Buchanan. After its publication, he turned to his interest in law, and obtained the degree of doctor of laws from Marischal College, Aberdeen in 1808. In 1815 he published Observations on the Study of the Civil Law as a pamphlet to aid candidates for admission into the Faculty of Advocates. It was enlarged in 1820 when he was appointed keeper of the library of the Faculty of Advocates, and again in 1823, then took final shape and publication in this volume in 1837. His writing on Roman jurisprudence is enhanced by his knowledge of classical literature. Irving anonymously edited an edition of Selden's Table Talk in 1819, with notes, a new edition of which was published in 1854. Later Irving contributed three pieces on Canon, Civil, and Feudal Law, and most of the biographies of Scottish authors to the Encyclopedia Britannica, 7th edition. The biographies were later collected in the volumes Lives of Scotish Writers and published in 1839.

The chapters in this volume arise from a conference held at the University of Aberdeen concerning the law of causation in the UK, Commonwealth countries, France and the USA. The distinguished group of international experts who have contributed to this book examine the ways in which legal doctrine in causation is developing, and how British law should seek to influence and be influenced by developments in other countries. As such, the book will serve as a focal point for the study of this important area of law. The book is organised around three themes - the black letter law, scientific evidence, and legal theory. In black letter law scholarship, major arguments have emerged about how legal doctrine will develop in cases involving indeterminate defendants and evidential gaps in causation. Various chapters examine the ways in which legal doctrine should develop over the next few years, in particular in England, Scotland, Canada and the USA, including the problem of causation in asbestos cases. In the area of scientific evidence, its role in the assessment of causation in civil litigation has never been greater. The extent to which such evidence can be admitted and used in causation disputes is controversial. This section of the book is therefore devoted to exploring the role of statistical evidence in resolving causation problems, including recent trends in litigation in the UK, USA, Australia and in France and the question of liability for future harm. In the legal theory area, the so-called NESS (necessary element in a sufficient set) test of causation is discussed and defended. The importance of tort law responding to developing science and observations from the perspective of precaution and indeterminate causation are also explored. The book will be of interest to legal academics, policy makers in the field, specialist legal practitioners, those in the pharmaceutical and bioscience sectors, physicians and scientists.

The central argument of this book explores the disillusionment that Australians feel with regard to the way politics is conducted. The book explores causes of that disillusionment, and argues that because these are ultimately traceable to defects in the constitution, it is only through constitutional reform that government can be improved. This book argues that the current approach to constitutional debate suffers from the flaw of being anti-theoretical, in the sense that it is not grounded in any set of values, and is afflicted by a tendency to consider practical objections to reform before considering the moral case for it. This book argues that instead of accepting the constitution as it is, it is time we began to discuss how it ought to be, taking human dignity as the fundamental value upon which a constitution should be based. It then puts the case for change in a number of areas, including reform of the electoral system, enhanced parliamentary scrutiny of the executive, the inclusion in the constitution of a full bill of rights, the abolition of the federal system, realisation of the rights of Indigenous people, codification of constitutional conventions either in conjunction with or separately from an Australian republic, reform of the rules of standing in constitutional matters and, finally, the need to improve civics education. This book is designed to be provocative in the way that it directly challenges current academic orthodoxy. This book also outlines a proposed draft new constitution. This book will be of interest to anyone who is concerned about how Australia is governed and why it has been so difficult to achieve constitutional reform.

This two-volume set investigates the concept, institutionalization, models and mechanism of mediation, an important form of alternative dispute resolution within China’s legal system. Grounded in traditional dispute resolution practices throughout Chinese history, mediation is born out of the Chinese legal tradition and considered to be “Eastern� in nature. Seeking to explore how mediation has developed in order to function in a modernized society, the first volume looks into the legal foundations of Chinese mediation as well as paths to the institutionalization and professionalization of mediation. The second volume examines the development of diversified dispute resolution via the elucidation of eight major types of mediation in China. By reviewing its history and enquiring into trends and prospects, the authors seek to establish a mediation system that incorporates diversified models, institutionalized and noninstitutionalized approaches, changing contexts, and a range of dimensions for society. This title will serve as a crucial reference for scholars, students and related professionals interested in alternative dispute resolution, civil litigation, and especially China’s dispute resolution policy, law, and practice.