This book explains to a general audience what the European Union is about and how it has grown since 1952 into a polity of 25 States and a population of more than 450 million people. It explains the constitution-making process that is currently taking place in the European Union, and the significance of the draft constitution which has been submitted for ratification by the 25 member states. The book is written from a legal perspective, but contains many references to political science and recent American and European history. It aims to show how the distinctive features of a democratic polity that characterize the Member States can be gradually transplanted to the European Union. To make the book useful to a more specialized set of readers, such as students of law and politics, it contains a large number of notes that contain detailed information and point to additional reading on a variety of topics. The book draws on the author's exceptionally wide and profound knowledge of the institutions of the EU, its history, its laws and its varied cultures. "This book, written by one of the greatest scholars of European law, provides a rare insight into the evolving European constitutionalism. Its analytical narrative explores themes of democracy, accountability, human rights and the rule of law and draws comparisons between the US and European political systems. The end result is an excellent essay on European governance" Professor Takis Tridimas, Queen Mary University of London

European citizenship has been a key issue since the Treaty of Maastricht. Both governmental and non-governmental actors have seen the extension of the citizenship provisions as an important part of the drive to democratize the EU. Recent years have seen some important institutional and political developments. The Treaty of Amsterdam clarified the formal allocation of citizenship rights, emphasising the complementary nature of EU citizenship with respect to member state nationality. It also made significant changes to European citizenship as an institutionalized practice, and incorporated the Schengen agreements on freedom of movement. European citizenship has attracted the attention of both EU and citizenship scholars. However, these groups frequently talk past each other. This book is the first to address both groups. Contributions by experts across several disciplines link citizenship not only to the Treaty provisions but also to the emerging patterns of governance in, and the policy regimes of, the EU. Normative and empirical analysis is combined to reveal the political, legal, economic and social dimensions of this new status, charting its development through the practices of both the EU institutions and its holders, EU citizens themselves. The authors argue that EU citizenship is about far more than the rights member state nationals are granted by the Treaty. It is also steeped in the policies and institutions of the Union itself and in particular their ability to engage the general public.

The relationship between intellectual property and private international law is a fascinating and multi-faceted one. Both fields are inherently international, but it is the exponential increase in conflicts involving trans-border elements, in a world characterised by global trade and borderless communication structures, that has, in modern times, drawn the two disciplines close. The essays contained in this book, first presented at a Symposium in Munich, set out possible visions for a future system of international and regional jurisdiction and applicable law that is better adapted to the increasingly supranational character of IP rights. A second feature of the book is its treatment of 'harmonisation' of choice-of-law issues. Framed by these two elements - international jurisdiction on the one hand and perspectives for harmonised choice of law rules in an international context on the other - specific European themes are also addressed; jurisdiction, the establishment of a European judiciary in the patent field, the relationship between regional (European) systems and an international jurisdiction convention, and the recent proposal for a Regulation on applicable law in non-contractual relationships (Rome II).

This highly successful text is now a standard work on the complex area of E.C. Law and has been completely rewritten. It covers the main aspects of E.C. Law clearly and succinctly as well as examining the implications of the new freedoms of movement on UK organizations. With end-of-chapter summaries for rapid reference, it provides an understanding of the vital issues involved in the growth and ascendancy of E.C. Law.

1875. The author examines the customs out of which the law has developed. He explains in the introduction that all laws float in men's minds long before they send down a precipitate of imperative words. For example, it must have been understood by men that theft-the act of taking the property of another without his consent-was wrong before they made a law to punish the thief, with the view of preventing similar depredations. But long before men made a law they had bolts to their doors, and if they caught the robber they exercised their right by taking his booty from him and possibly even by inflicting upon him a vengeful punishment. This was not done by one man but by many, and we see in it the embryonic custom out of which the law has developed.

Women were once excluded everywhere from the legal profession, but by the 1990s the Virginia Supreme Court had three women among its seven justices. This is just one example of how law in Virginia has been transformed over the past century, as it has across the South and throughout the nation.

In "Blue Laws and Black Codes, " Peter Wallenstein shows that laws were often changed not through legislative action or constitutional amendment but by citizens taking cases to state and federal courtrooms. Due largely to court rulings, for example, stores in Virginia are no longer required by "blue laws" to close on Sundays.

Particularly notable was the abolition of segregation laws, modified versions of southern states' "black codes" dating back to the era of slavery and the first years after emancipation. Virginia's long road to racial equality under the law included the efforts of black civil rights lawyers to end racial discrimination in the public schools, the 1960 Richmond sit-ins, a case against segregated courtrooms, and a court challenge to a law that could imprison or exile an interracial couple for their marriage.

While emphasizing a single state, "Blue Laws and Black Codes" is framed in regional and national contexts. Regarding blue laws, Virginia resembled most American states. Regarding racial policy, Virginia was distinctly southern. Wallenstein shows how people pushed for changes in the laws under which they live, love, work, vote, study, and shop--in Virginia, the South, and the nation.

This is a reprint of Anthony Ogus' classic study of regulation,first published in the 1990s. It examines how, since the last decades of the twentieth century there have been fundamental changes in the relationship between the state and industry. With the aid of economic theory Anthony Ogus critically examines the ways in which public law has been adapted to the task of regulating industrial activity and provides a systematic overview of the theory and forms of social and economic regulation. In particular, he explores the reasons why governments regulate, for which, broadly speaking, two theoretical frameworks exist. First 'public interest' theories determine that regulation should aim to improve social and economic welfare. Second, 'economic' theories suggest that regulation should aim to satisfy the demands of private interests. The book also looks at the evolution of the forms of regulation in Britain, extending to the policies of privatization and deregulation which were so characteristic of the period. The author skilfully evaluates the advantages and disadvantages of the different forms of regulation, particularly in the light of the two theoretical frameworks, but also by involving an analysis of how firms respond to the various kinds of incentives and controls offered by government. A significant feature of the book is its analysis of the choices made by governments between the different forms of regulation and the influence exerted by interest groups (including bureaucrats) and EC law.

Based on a detailed examination of New York case law, this pathbreaking book shows how law, politics, and ideology in the state changed in tandem between 1920 and 1980. Early twentieth-century New York was the scene of intense struggle between white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant upper and middle classes located primarily in the upstate region and the impoverished, mainly Jewish and Roman Catholic, immigrant underclass centered in New York City. Beginning in the 1920s, however, judges such as Benjamin N. Cardozo, Henry J. Friendly, Learned Hand, and Harlan Fiske Stone used law to facilitate the entry of the underclass into the economic and social mainstream and to promote tolerance among all New Yorkers. Ultimately, says William Nelson, a new legal ideology was created. By the late 1930s, New Yorkers had begun to reconceptualize social conflict not along class lines but in terms of the power of majorities and the rights of minorities. In the process, they constructed a new approach to law and politics. Though doctrinal change began to slow by the 1960s, the main ambitions of the legalist reformation--liberty, equality, human dignity, and entrepreneurial opportunity--remain the aspirations of nearly all Americans, and of much of the rest of the world, today. |Based on a detailed examination of New York case law, this book shows how law, politics, and ideology in the state changed in tandem between 1920 and 1980, as state court judges used law to facilitate the entry of the underclass into the economic and social mainstream and to promote tolerance.

The private international law rules for insurance contracts in the European Insurance Directives are of great importance for every lawyer involved in international business. These provisions become relevant whenever one is dealing with insurance products in a European context. These rules which apply to insurance contracts covering risks situated in the territories of the Member States of the European Community have currently been implemented by all the Member States of the European Union. The purpose of this book is to analyse the implementation rules of these choice of laws provisions in all the member States of the European Union. This Volume concentrates on seven major States such as Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. Seven expert reports give an overview of the current state of the law. Insights are given into national practice and theoretical aspects are not neglected. This work is a unique collection which both scholars and practitioners will find to be an invaluable source of reference in order to understand the complicated issues arising where cross border transactions occur in the field of insurance. Contributors: Dr. N. Auclair, University of Paris XI, France; Professor P. Blanco Morales Limones, University of Extremadura, Spain; Professor B. Dubuisson, Universite Catholique de Louvain, Belgium; Professor M. Frigessi di Rattalma, University of Brescia, Italy; Professor Burkhard Heβ , University of Tubingen, Germany; Dr. Torsten Hub, University of Tubingen, Germany; Dr. M. Koppenol-Laforce, Erasmus University, The Netherlands; Dr. I. MacNeil, University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom; Dr. F. Seatzu, University of Cagliari, Italy

Topics in this handbook include setting up a home-based business, writing a grant proposal, writing a loan proposal, keeping business records, business investments, and writing legal documents. (Legal Reference/Law Profession)

Nothing provides as much material for comparative legal study as the great variety of rule-making that characterizes land law. Land law is perhaps the only legal area in which the levelling march of globalized uniformity has had to yield to the progressive development of local customary law. It is a rich and rewarding field for comparative law scholars, a field with a diverse past that resists classification and an equally unpredictable future. This book presents 14 essays, all originally presented at the 2001 Annual Colloquium of the International Association of Legal Science, held in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, in October 2001. These essays, all by leading scholars in the field, deal with a broad array of significant issues, including such debates as the following: public versus private property - a meaningful distinction?; how customary law defeats the purpose of state land law; and land ownership - to pollute or not to pollute? The book also includes detailed discussion of the special land needs of small islands, private residential governments, regulatory takings, land transfer, mortgage law, securities in property transactions, housing, town planning, agricultural land use and water and riparian rights. The scope is global, with attention to the great differences in terminology and even in basic legal concepts. The lasting contribution of this symposium lies in its exposure of the enormous intellectual wealth arising from the numerous different legal techniques used to solve land use problems.

The problem of the law making power of judges and the legitimacy and limits of judicial discretion recur throughout the history of legal thinking. It has been addressed from many angles and seen in many perspectives from Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics" to Ronald Dworkin's "Law's Empire". The legitimacy of public power is more and more frequently questioned and doubted. As long as a substantial proportion of the exercise of public power is entrusted to courts and court-like bodies, there is a need for finding clear and comprehensible limits between the realm of judicial and political decision-making. The role of the judiciary in relation to the legislature has naturally become a subject of strong topical interest and is vividly discussed in many quarters and countries. This collection of essays on judicial discretion takes off with a jurisprudential introduction, which deals with different understandings of judicial discretion, its sources and links to the objectives of European Integration. This includes an elaboration of the relationships between conceptual understanding, actual practice and normative boundaries of judicial discretion. The second theme focuses on the actual practice of judicial discretion of European courts and deals with interpretation and justification against the vision of creating a coherent European legal order.

When we think of European law, we tend to focus on the complex interactions of EU institutions and national legal systems. In reality, European law is revealing itself to encompass an even wider scope than we had imagined. Since 1950, an intricate web of principle and practice has been woven, almost invisibly, by such actors as multinational law firms, trade associations, corporations and trade unions. This "horizontal" aspect has produced norms across Europe in important matters related to the environment, financial services, corporate law and many other areas in which legal concerns are paramount. In the conference from which this book derives, European legal authorities were brought together to see if they could capture the multi-layered nature of the European project as it has actually developed, and in the process discover a framework that might further Europe's continuing commitment to market integration, to the task of harmonizing laws while giving due place to Member State autonomy, and to the growth of participatory democracy. The disparate and shifting set of considerations that make up this view of Community law manifests the emphasis that Pallas Consortium imparts to its teachings and to the research its has spawned. The Consortium - consisting of the Universities of Barcelona (Spain), Bologna (Italy), Essex (Great Britain), LUISS Guido Carli (Italy), Jean Moulin Lyon 3 (France), Konstanz (Germany), Munster (Germany) and Nijemgen (the Netherlands) - draws teachers, many of whom are also practitioners, from most of the Member States of the Union. In the work represented here, nine authors examine the disposition of several broad economic, business, cultural and social issues, elucidating how some have been brought into a constructive balance while others continue to cut across the divide between the Community's priorities and the evolving policies of Member States. In these latter cases, there is some probing for principles that might help guide the choices that must inevitably be made.

In Eritrea, state, traditional, and religious laws equally prevail, but any of these legal systems may be put into play depending upon the individual or individuals involved in a legal dispute. Because of conflicting laws, it has been difficult for Eritreans to come to a consensus on what constitutes their legal system. In Blood, Land, and Sex, Lyda Favali and Roy Pateman examine the roles of the state, ethnic groups, religious groups, and the international community in several key areas of Eritrean law blood feud or murder, land tenure, gender relations (marriage, prostitution, rape), and female genital surgery. Favali and Pateman explore the intersections of the various laws and discuss how change can be brought to communities where legal ambiguity prevails, often to the grave harm of women and other powerless individuals. This significant book focuses on how Eritrea and other newly emerging democracies might build pluralist legal systems that will be acceptable to an ethnically and religiously diverse population."