This book examines the legal principle of judicial independence in comparative perspective with the goal of advancing a better understanding of the idea of an independent judiciary more generally. From an initial survey of judicial systems in different countries, it is clear that the understanding and practice of judicial independence take a variety of forms. Scholarly literature likewise provides a range of views on what judicial independence means, with scholars often advocating a preferred conception of a model court for achieving 'true judicial independence' as part of a rule of law system. This book seeks to reorient the prevailing approach to the study of judicial independence by better understanding how judicial independence operates within domestic legal systems in its institutional and legal dimensions. It asks how and why different conceptualisations of judicial independence emerge over time by comparing detailed case studies of courts in two legally pluralistic states, which share inheritances of British rule and the common law. By tracing the development of judicial independence in the legal systems of Malaysia and Pakistan from the time of independence to the present, the book offers an insightful comparison of how judicial independence took shape and developed in these countries over time. From this comparison, it suggests a number of contextual factors that can be seen to play a role in the evolution of judicial independence. The study draws upon the significant divergence observed in the case studies to propose a refined understanding of the idea of an independent judiciary, termed the 'pragmatic and context-sensitive theory', which may be seen in contradistinction to a universal approach. While judicial independence responds to the core need of judges to be perceived as an impartial third party by constructing formal and informal constraints on the judge and relationships between judges and others, its meaning in a legal system is inevitably shaped by the judicial role along with other features at the domestic level. The book concludes that the adaptive and pragmatic qualities of judicial independence supply it with relevance and legitimacy within a domestic legal system.

This book presents a general method that lawyers, prosecutors and judges can follows to assess the quality and scientific content of technical work done for an accident and crime scene reconstruction. Using multilevel sequence of events analysis allows all key events to be fully identified, which in turn assists judicial bodies in identifying where to assign specific criminal liability. Created from a concept long sought by the two authors (an engineer and an attorney), the method allows readers without any technical background to progress from an examination of evidence gathered at the scene of a complex accident and to reconstruct "beyond reasonable doubt" the events that took place. Once created and scientifically verified by the sequence of events analysis, the chain of key events serves as a reference source for various levels of complex organizations and inter-organization structures in cases involving complex criminal responsibilities.

Koshner explores the increase in interest group participation before the U.S. Supreme Court. Since 1953, when less than 13 percent of the Court's full opinion cases were accompanied by friend of the court briefs, there has been a steady increase in interest group litigation. By the 1993 term, interest groups participated in 92 percent of the cases brought before the Supreme Court. While asking whether the rise in interest group activity in this supposedly independent arena should concern us, Koshner attempts to solve the fascinating political puzzle of this tremendous growth. He begins with the growth of interest group participation and asks, quite simply, why? In answering this question, Koshner draws on a series of studies that focus primarily on individual groups and their litigation decisions. He then uses them to explore the macro-level trends that pervade the relationship between the Supreme Court and interest groups. In particular, Koshner studies the roles of four important groups: the Court, Congress, the executive branch, and the interest groups themselves. Within each, he finds a series of changes or shifts in policy that begins to answer the puzzle, and examines his conclusions within the context of First Amendment church-state cases. Students, scholars, and other researchers dealing with contemporary public law issues will find this work of particular value.

This is the first in-depth analysis of the Rehnquist Court viewed as a functional entity. Well known for his work in constitutional law, Stanley Friedelbaum analyzes leading cases and rigorously examines the Court's full opinions. He reviews the interaction between the Justices and points to the patterns of the Court as a new centralist coalition comes to control critical policymaking relating to abortion, the right to die, affirmative action, reverse discrimination, and privacy interests. A table of important cases and a bibliography enhance this short study for general readers and for students in introductory constitutional law courses and in advanced courses in judicial politics and American government.

Written for social scientists who study the judiciary, legal scholars, judges, and others who are interested in the workings of the federal courts, this volume offers a comprehensive examination of the role of U.S. magistrates--the relatively invisible subordinate judicial officers within the federal district courts. The study is unique in its use of an observation methodology: the author was able to study U.S. magistrates during all of their daily activities and observe their interactions with other actors in the federal judiciary. Particularly valuable are its insights into such functions as pretrial conferences, meetings with litigants, and other situations normally beyond the purview of scholars and the public. The author focuses throughout on both the development of the magistrates' varied roles and their consequences for the federal judicial system.

After examining magistrates' roles within several representative courts in detail, the author analyzes the factors which influence the development of these diverse roles and identifies the specific effects--both planned and unplanned--that the subordinate judicial officers have upon the court system. Smith refutes a commonly held view that district judges control the definition of magistrates' roles and concludes that in some cases, especially with regard to the coercion of litigants, the magistrate systeM's effects cannot be seen to be completely beneficial. In addition, the book contains an in-depth study of the appointment process for magistrates complete with a case history of the merit selection committee process. The author documents the influence of district judges over the merit selection process, adding concrete support to scholarly arguments about the inherently political nature of judicial selection.

Gets straight to the point and offers clear and concise coverage of the law, broken-down into bite-size sections with regular recaps to boost confidence. The leading competitors are much longer books and are becoming too large and unwieldy for single-semester first-year level courses. Packed full of illustrative examples, flowcharts and activities and unlike competing books, this is presented in an innovative, visual format, ideal for those with visual learning preferences This edition has been heavily updated, with a new chapter on Legal Ethics, improved and updated MCQs as well as guidance on how to use them, information on how the new SQE works and how law schools have responded to it, and new material on the effects of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic on the English Legal System.

On the occasion of its tenth anniversary, the EFTA Court held a conference at which speakers were asked to reflect on the case law of the Court and its role in the European Economic Area (EEA). In the course of its work, the Court has acted as a driving force of integration under the EEA Agreement, by establishing general principles such as state liability and giving landmark judgments in several areas of European law. The essays in this volume, by leading experts and high-ranking representatives of national and European courts, cover areas such as the relationship between the principle of free movement and national or collective preferences on the EU/EEA and WTO levels, the relationship between the European courts and the Member States in European integration, homogeneity as a general principle of European integration, and the importance of judicial dialogue. In this regard, the sentence from President Skouris of the Court of Justice of the European Communities, who called the dialogue between the EFTA Court and the EC Court 'a shining example of judicial cooperation', could also serve as a motto for the present book.

This book provides a highly accessible yet practical guide to all aspects of arbitration, from the drafting of an arbitration agreement through to the award, including enforcement and appeals. Being comprehensive in its approach, every stage of the arbitral process under the Arbitration Act 1996 is covered including a separate chapter covering special types of arbitration such as consumer schemes and arbitrations under statute. Written in simple non-legalistic language and intentionally general in its coverage, it should be of relevance to arbitration matters whatever trade or profession practised.

This book highlights the tremendous shift in the traditional arrangements for the delivery of civil justice in the Commonwealth Caribbean, from litigation to alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes. Over the last quarter of a century, much learning has taken place on the topic of ADR and the literature on the subject is now voluminous. This book puts forward the thesis that the peculiar experiences of the developing world ought to help reshape our traditional notions of ADR. Furthermore, the impact of globalisation on the developing world has brought with it special and peculiar challenges to our notions of civil and criminal justice which are not replicated elsewhere. This book will appeal to a wide readership. The legal profession, students of law and politics, social scientists, mediators, the police, state officers and the public at large will find its contents of interest.

This book provides a systematic elaboration of Chinese Private International Law, reveals the general techniques concerning conflict of laws in China, explains the detailed Chinese conflict rules for different areas of law, and demonstrates how international civil litigation is pursued in China. Clearly structured and written by a native Chinese scholar specializing in the field, the book's easy-to-read style makes it accessible to a broad readership, while its content makes it a useful reference guide, especially for jurists and researchers.

He reviled the rich for their cupidity and they found his rhetoric repulsive. Plebians believed him their champion and patricians knew he was their bete noire, remarks Halford Ryan in his eloquent foreword to this definitive survey of Clarence DarroW's development as orator and unique American myth. As a writer, lecturer, debater, and trial lawyer Darrow spoke for the have-nots and cultivated an image of mythic proportions as the underdog's advocate. Many of the more than 2,000 trials in which he was active reflected the major social and philosophical issues of the last quarter of the nineteenth and first third of the twentieth centuries in America. Read today, DarroW's speeches still ring true both as political statements and as models of persuasive pleading and pathos--reason enough to study the work of this uncommon advocate who stood perpetually opposed to the great and powerful of the earth. Richard J. Jensen has written a clearsighted volume that documents how Darrow created and then enlarged his personal myth through speeches, writings, and actions. Each chapter focuses on particular segments of that creation. Half of the book consists of authoritative texts of several of DarroW's most influential and rhetorically brilliant speeches, and a speech chronology simplifies the work of researchers.

The study opens with a brief biography, an overview of DarroW's rhetoric, along with the forces that affected it, and some initial comments on the elements that make up the myth. The next chapter, Schoolmaster of the Courtroom, chronicles the origins of DarroW's image as a defender of the downtrodden and his early trials in defense of labor unions and their leaders. What is considered to be one of the most famous speeches in American legal history, that given by Darrow at the conclusion of the 1924 Leopold and Loeb trial, is the focus of Chapter Three. Chapter Four centers on the Scopes Trial, perhaps the most famous trial in recent American history, during which the dramatic confrontation with William Jennings Bryan occurred. The penultimate chapter explains the arguments Darrow used to defend the poor, radicals, Blacks, and other less fortunate members of society. Finally, DarroW's rhetoric as a writer and as an active speaker and debater on the lecture circuit is examined. Part II contains the authoritative texts of seven speeches including those given during the Leopold and Loeb Trial and the Scopes Trial, among others. The Chronology of Speeches, Bibliography, and Index close the volume. The speeches along with Jensen's intelligent, readable analysis and criticism will be an important resource for those teaching and studying Legal Rhetoric and the History of Public Address.

This book brings together the expertise of two authors involved in initiating the development of Online Family Dispute Resolution (OFDR), while also examining the unique Australian system. The family arena generally comprises property or child-related disputes arising between parents, whether married or not, and whether the parties have lived together or not. A special feature of Australia's OFDR system is that it deals with children's issues rather than focusing on property distribution. The book first discusses how technological innovations have transformed dispute resolution services to families. It explores the need for OFDR and how such systems can potentially be implemented. In turn, the coverage shifts to screening tools used prior to a Family Dispute Resolution session to ensure that online systems are appropriate for the case under dispute and the people involved. Readers will then learn about the necessary training required - for administrators, practitioners and clients alike - for OFDR to be successful. In addition, the book offers a comprehensive evaluation of the system and reflects on the lessons learned to date. In closing, it suggests ways in which OFDR could be further developed and applied to family disputes around the world.

This book demonstrates the use of the personal computer as an integral component of legal decision making. Nagel begins with an overview of the use of microcomputers as a tool in the legal decision-making process. He reviews in detail the currently available decision-aiding software. Several important areas of decision-making are covered, including predicting the outcome of future cases in light of previous relevant cases and present facts; litigation choices such as whether to go to trial or to settle; allocating attorney resources; and negotiating and mediating. The book can help one's law practice more profitable, less time-consuming, and more competitive.

There are more than 600 Federal district judges serving today, and they decide some 230,000 civil cases each year. About 90% of the decisions they reach are final. Lyles argues that these lower court judges not only influence the flow of information to the judicial hierarchy, but they formulate questions that influence how higher courts, including the Supreme Court, respond. As such they are key elements in the formulation and implementation of public policy. To cite a few examples, they desegregate school districts, run mental institutions and prisons, break up monopolies, and reapportion legislatures. Lyles begins by examining the structure and function of federal courts and detailing the history, operation, and purpose of the district courts. He then turns to the selection, nomination, and appointment of district judges. Lyles then analyzes the extent to which presidents might advance policy objectives through their judicial appointments to the district courts. After examining how African-American, Latino, and white judges, male and female, view their roles as policy actors, Lyles concludes with a discussion of the implications of the study. Important for students and scholars of contemporary public policy and the court system.

This research review presents a 24-article tour of the topics surrounding the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. Written by two leading experts in the field, the review explores different approaches to, and comparative perspectives of, judgment recognition and enforcement. Topics covered include the special issues of the revenue rule and the role of public law, the effects of fraud, the scope of preclusion, and the impact of class actions. The review also looks to the future, considering possible solutions to harmonizing recognition and enforcement and assessing how the development of human rights may impact judgement recognition and enforcement. This review is an essential resource for those studying, researching or practicing in this area.

Asked if the country was governed by a republic or a monarchy, Benjamin Franklin replied, "A republic, if you can keep it." Since its founding, Americans have worked hard to nurture and protect their hard-won democracy. And yet few consider the role of constitutional law in America's survival. In Unfit for Democracy, Stephen Gottlieb argues that constitutional law without a focus on the future of democratic government is incoherent-illogical and contradictory. Approaching the decisions of the Roberts Court from political science, historical, comparative, and legal perspectives, Gottlieb highlights the dangers the court presents by neglecting to interpret the law with an eye towards preserving democracy. A senior scholar of constitutional law, Gottlieb brings a pioneering will to his theoretical and comparative criticism of the Roberts Court. The Roberts Court decisions are not examined in a vacuum but instead viewed in light of constitutional politics in India, South Africa, emerging Eastern European nations, and others. While constitutional decisions abroad have contributed to both the breakdown and strengthening of democratic politics, decisions in the Roberts Court have aggravated the potential destabilizing factors in democratic governments. Ultimately, Unfit for Democracy calls for an interpretation of the Constitution that takes the future of democracy seriously. Gottlieb warns that the Roberts Court's decisions have hurt ordinary Americans economically, politically, and in the criminal process. They have damaged the historic American melting pot, increased the risk of anti-democratic paramilitaries, and clouded the democratic future.

Since the first edition of this popular text was published in 1984, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms has transformed the role of the courts in Canadian politics. Newly revised and updated, Law, Politics, and the Judicial Process in Canada, 4th Edition provides an introduction to the issues raised by the changing political role of Canadian judges. It includes over 40 new readings, including two all-new chapters on the Harper Conservatives and Aboriginal Law. Addressing current controversies, including the Canadian Judicial Council's investigations into Justice Robin Camp and Lori Douglas and the Trudeau Government's re-introduction of the Court Challenges Program, this book strives for competing perspectives, with many readings juxtaposed to foster debate. Taking a critical approach to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the growth of judicial power, editors F.L. Morton and Dave Snow provide an even-handed examination of current and ongoing issues. Law, Politics, and the Judicial Process in Canada, 4th Edition is the leading source for students interested in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the growth of judicial power in Canada.

This book focuses on four topical and interconnected, innovative pathways to civil justice within the context of securing and improving access to justice: the use of Artificial Intelligence and its interactions with judicial systems; ADR and ODR tracks in privatising justice systems; the effects of increased self-representation on access to justice; and court specialization and the establishment of commercial courts to counter the trend of vanishing court trials. Top academics and experts from Europe, the US and Canada address these topics in a critical and multidisciplinary manner, combining legal, socio-legal and empirical insights. The book is part of 'Building EU Civil Justice', a five-year research project funded by the European Research Council. It will be of interest to scholars and policymakers, as well as practitioners working in the areas of civil justice, alternative dispute resolution, court systems, and legal tech. The chapters "Introduction: The Future of Access to Justice - Beyond Science Fiction" and "Constituting a Civil Legal System Called "Just": Law, Money, Power, and Publicity" are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This work focuses on the EU's participation in the Dispute Settlement Proceedings (DSP) of the WTO for matters of non-conferred competences. The underlying thesis is that the joint membership of the EU and its Member States is fallacious, in that it could cause the EU to become responsible for violations of the WTO regulations on the part of the Member States. Such fallacies are rooted in the blurred nature of the distribution of powers in the EU polity.In order to tackle the issue of international responsibility, the analysis is based on the facts of a real-world case. Based on the tenets of public international law, the law of mixed agreements and the EU constitutional principles, the book puts forward a model for the EU's participation in the DSP, and for the reallocation of burdens to the respective responsible entity. This proposition deconstructs the joint responsibility regime and endorses a solution that could address the issue of responsibility in mixed agreements without a declaration of powers.

This book explains the causes, process, and results of group disputes in urban communities (the empirical experiences from Shanghai) in China. It explores the means and characteristics of as well as the differences in conflict resolution in various forms of state-society relations, particularly the ways of dealing with and resolving disputes concerning mass incidents involving government interests in China's current social transformation period. It also analyzes how people's mediation organizations interact with the local government when managing and defusing collective disputes. Combining the relevant theories and five conflict resolution measurement models created by Blake and Mouton (1964), this book explains the current interaction model and cooperation mechanism between the state and social organizations in China. To do so, it examines the role of the Lin Le People's Mediation Workroom in dealing with community collective disputes and the respective action strategies and constraints. The book argues that the current state-social relations in China are not centered on society or the state, but on "state-led social pluralism."

Anatomy of a Trial. Volume V, Trying Cases to Win. Description (3900 characters maximum): Originally published: New York: Aspen Publishers, 1999. Reprinted 2013 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. xviii, 584 pp. The trial process is the sum of its parts-opening argument, direct and cross examination, and summation. In Trying Cases to Win, nationally known trial lawyer Herbert J. Stern provides an overall blueprint for conduct in the courtroom as he guides the reader through each of these segments. Rather than a collection of anecdotal war stories from various trials, Stern outlines the nuts and bolts of the right-and wrong-approach, processes and strategies for every component needed for trial success. Each volume is available separately.
In this volume, Anatomy of a Trial, Stern and his co-author, Stephen A. Saltzburg, bring the principles of the other volumes in the Trying Cases to Win series into action. They offer a line-by-line review of all of the parts of a trial while looking at the importance of emotion in the decision process and its relationship to the facts presented. This detailed analysis, from the viewpoints of the attorney and the jury, demonstrates good and bad advocacy in every stage of the trial.
Contents:
1. Opening Instructions;
2. The Opening Arguments;
3. The First Witness;
4. The Second Witness: Nick Craggs;
5. The Sweeney Deposition;
6. The First of "The Blues" Witnesses: Brian Sullivan;
7. The Alleged Villain: Helen Hardy;
8. Concluding the Plaintiff's Case and Motions;
9. The Defendant's First Witness: Mr. Maresca;
10. The Trustee Witnesses;
11. Ms. Hardy Returns;
12. The Ruling on Defendants' Motion;
13. Ms. Hardy Continues and the Defense Rests;
14. Final Motions, Closing Argument, and Verdict;
15. Epilogue;
Index. Author Bio (3900 characters maximum): Herbert J. Stern is a highly regarded trial lawyer and accomplished teacher of trial techniques. A partner and founding member in the New Jersey law firm of Stern & Kilcullen, Stern is a former Federal Judge, having served as United States district judge for the District of New Jersey from 1974 to 1987. He established his reputation as an advocate while serving as a trial attorney with the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the United States Department of Justice from 1965 to 1969 and as United States attorney for the District of New Jersey from 1970 to 1974 when he won a national reputation for unprecedented convictions of numerous public officials. He was founder and Co-Director of the Advocacy Institute at the University of Virginia School of Law from 1980 to the present. He was Special Counsel for Hon. Lawrence Walsh, Independent Counsel, Iran-Contra Prosecution, 1988. Judge Stern was the subject of the book, Tiger in the Court (Chicago: Playboy Press, 1973). He is the author of Judgment in Berlin (New York: Universe Books, 1984) which was made into a major motion picture with Sean Penn, and Martin Sheen playing Judge Stern; and, most recently, Diary of a DA: The True Story of the Prosecutor Who Took On the Mob, Fought Corruption, and Won (New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2012). Review 1 (3900 characters maximum): ... a crowning achievement in a career devoted to helping all lawyers, from beginners to veterans, become more knowledgeable in the art of advocacy. Source: -- Arthur J. Greenbaum, Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman, PC, New York, NY

The pleading and proof of foreign law are often treated as matters of peripheral importance. But, in reality, how foreign law is established, and whether it must be established at all, are central issues in private international law. Whether litigants are free to ignore the foreign elements in a dispute goes to the heart of the conflicts process, and without effective means to establish foreign law the very purpose of that process is subverted. Such issues give rise to particular problems in English law. It is often unclear whether the rules for choice of law are mandatory, and whether the application of foreign law is therefore required. The cost and uncertainty of establishing foreign law may also affect how cases are argued and decided, and may discourage litigants from suing at all. This book, the first to examine the topic from the perspective of English law, offers a radical reappraisal of a long-neglected subject. Fentiman argues that the law is both more complex, and more defensible, than had previously been supposed. He provides a practical guide to the subject and in so doing presents the conflict of laws in a way which is both novel and illuminating.