The U.S. Supreme Court is a public policy battleground in which organized interests attempt to etch their economic, legal, and political preferences into law through the filing of amicus curiae ("friend of the court") briefs. In Friends of the Supreme Court: Interest Groups and Judicial Decision Making, Paul M. Collins, Jr. explores how organized interests influence the justices' decision making, including how the justices vote and whether they choose to author concurrences and dissents. Collins presents theories of judicial choice derived from disciplines as diverse as law, marketing, political science, and social psychology. This theoretically rich and empirically rigorous treatment of decision-making on the nation's highest court, which represents the most comprehensive examination ever undertaken of the influence of U.S. Supreme Court amicus briefs, provides clear evidence that interest groups play a significant role in shaping the justices' choices.

Class Action Litigation in South Africa is the first book to be published in South Africa dealing with this area of the law. The book collects, describes and interrogates the first-class action judgments in South Africa, aiming to go beyond the existing and ground-breaking Supreme Court of Appeal and Constitutional Court judgments on class actions, and makes practical suggestions regarding the issues that are likely to arise for practitioners, judges and academics as they encounter class actions in South Africa. Class Action Litigation in South Africa seeks to ensure a home-grown understanding of class actions for our country, but also offers the reader first-hand exposure to lessons learnt from international experts in class action litigation. The book thus embraces contributions from around the world that are wide-ranging, straddling the fields of law, economics, social justice and politics. The book presents important and useful insights into class action litigation from local and international experts. The editors and the contributors have all been involved in the leading class action cases in South Africa and abroad.

A Practical approach to Criminal Procedure in Botswana explains the basic principles of the law of criminal procedure in Botswana in plain and concise language. Aspects of the law of criminal procedure are analysed with an emphasis on their practical application, and with reference to recent case law and legislation. The author also discusses the rights of the accused at each stage of the criminal justice process. A Practical approach to Criminal Procedure in Botswana provides comprehensive, analytical and up-to-date information for judicial officers, legal practitioners, law students, academics, law enforcement officers, researchers, paralegals and those involved in the administration of justice.

The history of criminal justice in the U.S. is often described as a pendulum, swinging back and forth between strict punishment and lenient rehabilitation. While this view is common wisdom, it is wrong. In Breaking the Pendulum, Philip Goodman, Joshua Page, and Michelle Phelps systematically debunk the pendulum perspective, showing that it distorts how and why criminal justice changes. The pendulum model blinds us to the blending of penal orientations, policies, and practices, as well as the struggle between actors that shapes laws, institutions, and how we think about crime, punishment, and related issues. Through a re-analysis of more than two hundred years of penal history, starting with the rise of penitentiaries in the 19th Century and ending with ongoing efforts to roll back mass incarceration, the authors offer an alternative approach to conceptualizing penal development. Their agonistic perspective posits that struggle is the motor force of criminal justice history. Punishment expands, contracts, and morphs because of contestation between real people in real contexts, not a mechanical "swing" of the pendulum. This alternative framework is far more accurate and empowering than metaphors that ignore or downplay the importance of struggle in shaping criminal justice. This clearly written, engaging book is an invaluable resource for teachers, students, and scholars seeking to understand the past, present, and future of American criminal justice. By demonstrating the central role of struggle in generating major transformations, Breaking the Pendulum encourages combatants to keep fighting to change the system.

Until now, only the twelve jurors who sat in judgment were able to appreciate these virtuoso performances, where weeks of testimony were boiled down and presented with flair, wit, and high drama. For five years the authors researched every archive from those of the "L.A. Times" to the dusty stacks of the National Archives in Washington, D.C., and readers can now lose themselves in the summations of America's finest litigators.

Clarence Darrow saves Leopold and Loeb from the gallows in the Roaring Twenties. Gerry Spence takes on the nuclear power industry for the death of Karen Silkwood in a modern-day David and Goliath struggle. Vincent Bugliosi squares off against the madness of Charles Manson and his murderous "family" in the aftermath of their bloody spree. Clara Foltz, the first woman to practice law in California, argues passionately to an all-male jury, defending her place in the courtroom. Bobby DeLaughter brings the killer of civil-rights leader Medgar Evers to justice after thirty years and two mistrials. Aubrey Daniel brings Lt. William Calley, Jr., to justice for the My Lai massacre. William Kunstler challenges the establishment after the '68 Chicago riots in his defense of yippie leaders known as the Chicago Seven.

Each closing argument is put into context by the authors, who provide historical background, a brief biography of each attorney, and commentary, pointing out the trial tactics used to great effect by the lawyers, all in language that is jargon-free for the benefit of the lay reader.

We are now more than half a century removed from height of the rights revolution, a time when the federal government significantly increased legal protection for disadvantaged individuals and groups, leading in the process to a dramatic expansion in access to courts and judicial authority to oversee these protections. Yet while the majority of the landmark laws and legal precedents expanding access to justice remain intact, less than two percent of civil cases are decided by a trial today. What explains this phenomenon, and why it is so difficult to get one's day in court? No Day in Court examines the sustained efforts of political and legal actors to scale back access to the courts in the decades since it was expanded, largely in the service of the rights revolution of the 1950s and 1960s. Since that time, for political, ideological, and practical reasons, a multifaceted group of actors have attempted to diminish the role that courts play in American politics. Although the conventional narrative of backlash focuses on an increasingly conservative Supreme Court trying to gut the developments of the New Deal and Civil Rights eras, and of conservative activists mobilizing to pressure Congress to do the same, there is another very important element to this story, in which access to the courts for rights claims has been scaled back by efforts that target the 'rules of the game,' the institutional and legal procedures that govern what constitutes a valid legal case, who can be sued, how a case is adjudicated, and what remedies are available through courts. These more hidden, procedural changes are pursued by far more than just conservatives, and they often go overlooked. No Day in Court explores the politics of these strategies and the effect that they have today for access to justice in the U.S.

Construction disputes by their very nature are often complex, sometimes multi-party disputes, many of which are not suited to either adjudication or traditional form of litigation (which are often slow, expensive and divisive). The sheer complexity of construction creates a compelling case for the introduction of alternative approaches within this adversarial industry. This book traces the history, development, current status and future direction of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in the UK construction industry. It draws on the largest collection of Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors-funded surveys on Scottish and English disputants' perceptions and attitudes to ADR. It includes an examination of the key legislative and regulatory principles relating to ADR in the Construction sphere. The study also evaluates the role and functions of the Technology and Construction Court (TCC) in England and, with reference to case law, identifies its facilitative approach to ADR. The coherence of the TCC's approach to issues such as refusal to resort to ADR is also examined. It will be a valuable reference work for scholars and practitioners in construction and the built environment, in the UK and internationally.

Legal language, or ‘legalese’ as it is sometimes called, is a language that many people find hard to understand. This is because some of the words and phrases that lawyers and other legal experts use do not form part of regular everyday communication. However, when these experts speak and write using unfamiliar language it is often because they have to: ‘ordinary’ language cannot properly or accurately describe the often complex concepts and issues involved.

This dictionary bridges the gap between the world of everyday language and the world of legal language. Users can access over 20 000 legal words, each of which is explained in plain English for the benefit of people without a legal background, as well as legal practitioners, law students and other members of the legal profession.

The dictionary deals with the areas of criminal law, criminal procedural law and law of evidence, and is aimed at familiarising users with the use of legal language in a number of settings, including the courtroom. A bilingual publication, this English–Afrikaans / Afrikaans–English dictionary also contains a useful list of Latin terms and phrases, together with explanatory notes, as a centre insert. Synonyms, homonyms and polysemes are identified and explained, and the dictionary provides guidance on the use of abbreviations and how to cross-reference lemmas (headwords).

A Warrior for Justice: Essays in Honour of Dikgang Moseneke is a culmination of a series of events to honour former Deputy Chief Justice, Dikgang Moseneke. A well-attended symposium was held at the University of Cape Town on 7 December 2016, with thoughtful presentations and engaged dialogue in honour of a great jurisprudential mind and judicial leader. The papers presented at the symposium appear in this volume, while additional papers were included to add to the richness of the tribute which we pay to Justice Moseneke upon his retirement from the Bench. The articles in A Warrior for Justice are arranged into three main thematic sections: judicial engagement and the separation of powers; transformation, equality and indigeneity; and economic justice. In addition, there are personal reflections from colleagues, friends and a former Constitutional Court clerk. These reflections remind us of the human being behind the distinguished legal mind of Justice Moseneke.

The civil justice system is characterized by a distinct dispute resolution and law enforcement functions, although these functions are not always explicit and their relationship can be vague. People normally turn to this legal system to address an ""unjust"" situation they encounter. This makes civil justice both socially and economically important, as it may be driven by efficiency or access to justice concerns. The literature suggests that law reform has an uninspiring record in this field. This is because it has, largely, not been considered with a detailed, empirically informed evaluation of proposed solutions. This legal system is complex, and research in this field is correspondingly challenging, interesting, and important. The Handbook of Research on Civil Justice provides significant empirical research findings as well as theoretical reviews and frameworks on a wide array of issues within civil justice and the legal system. This includes topic areas such as access to justice and legal representation, the challenges to developing civil justice, courts and procedures, and civil justice reform. This book is valuable for lawyers, human rights lawyers, court officials, psychologists, social workers, sociologists, consultants, professionals, academicians, students, and researchers working in the field of law, socio-legal studies, sociology, anthropology, political science, social work, social policy, economics, and criminal justice, along with anyone seeking updated information on the current reforms and challenges within the civil justice and legal systems.

Courts, regulatory tribunals, and international bodies are often seen as a last line of defense for environmental protection. Governmental bodies at the national and provincial level enact and enforce environmental law, and their decisions and actions are the focus of public attention and debate. Court and tribunal decisions may have significant effects on environmental outcomes, corporate practices, and raise questions of how they may best be effectively and efficiently enforced on an ongoing basis.Environment in the Courtroom, Volume II examines major contemporary environmental issues from an environmental law and policy perspective. Expanding and building upon the concepts explored in Environment in the Courtroom, it focuses on issues that have, or potentially could be, the subject of judicial and regulatory tribunal processes and decisions. This comprehensive work brings together leading environmental law and policy specialists to address the protection of the marine environment, issues in Canadian wildlife protection, and the enforcement of greenhouse gas emissions regulation. Drawing on a wide range of viewpoints, Environment in the Courtroom, Volume II asks specific questions about and provides detailed examination of Canada's international climate obligations, carbon pricing, trading and emissions regulations in oil production, agriculture, and international shipping, the protection of marine mammals and the marine environment, Indigenous rights to protect and manage wildlife, and much more. This is an essential book for students, scholars, and practitioners of environmental law.