The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), established in South Africa after the collapse of apartheid, was the bold creation of a people committed to the task of rebuilding of a nation and establishing a society founded upon justice, equality and respect for the rule of law. As part of its historic, cathartic mission, the TRC held a special hearing, calling to account the lawyers -- judges, academics and members of the bar -- who had been crucial participants in the apartheid legal order. This book is an account of those hearings, and an attempt to evaluate, in the light of theories of adjudication, the historical role of the judiciary and bar in the apartheid years.

Written by a well-known commentator on the South African legal system who became, by chance, the first witness to give testimony at these hearings, this book reveals, often in the words of those who testified, how the judges failed in their duty to uphold the rule of law. For the most part, the lawyers of apartheid deserted its victims. The few notable exceptions both illustrate the potential for lawyers to have done more and laid the basis for the respect the rule of law still enjoys in South Africa despite apartheid.

Yet, as the author shows, many continue to commit a more serious 'crime'. Failing to confront the past, and in many cases refusing even to attend TRC hearings, the lawyers who could have helped to resist the worst excesses of apartheid remain accomplices to its evil deeds.

This book offers us the spectacle of an entire legal system on trial. The echoes from this process are captured here in a way which will appeal to all readers -- lawyers and non-lawyers alike -- interested in the relationshipbetween law and justice, as it is exposed during a period of transition to democracy.

This book deals with adoption laws and practices in small island developing states in the Pacific. It commences with an introductory chapter giving an overview of relevant laws and practices and pulling together the common themes and issues raised in the book. Each of the following chapters deals with adoption law and practice in a small South Pacific country. The countries in question all have plural legal systems, with systems of adoption and its closest customary law equivalent operating side by side. In most cases, there is an insufficiently developed relationship between the two systems, which has resulted in a number of problems. Additionally, international law adds another layer of complexity. Size and remoteness in the small states under discussion have a profound impact on local practices.

This study explores the socio-legal context of economic rationality in the legal and judicial systems. It examines the meaning and relevance of the concept of efficiency for the operation of courts and court systems,seeking to answer questions such as: in what sense can we say that the adjudicative process works efficiently? What are the relevant criteria for the measurement and assessment of court efficiency? Should the courts try to operate efficiently and to what extent is this viable? What is the proper relationship between 'efficiency' and 'justice' considerations in a judicial proceeding? To answer these questions, a conceptual framework is developed on the basis of empirical studies and surveys carried out mainly in the United States, Western Europe and Latin America. Two basic ideas emerge from it. First, economic rationality has penetrated the legal and judicial systems at all levels and dimensions, from the level of society as a whole to the day-to-day operation of the courts, from the institutional dimension of adjudication to the organizational context of judicial decisions. Far from being an alien value in the judicial process, efficiency has become an inseparable part of the structure of expectations we place on the legal system. Second, economic rationality is not the prevalent value in legal decision-making, as it is subject to all kinds of constraints, local conditions and concrete negotiations with other values and interests.

This book proposes a principled approach to the regulation of dispute resolution. It covers dispute resolution mechanisms in all their varieties, including negotiation, mediation, conciliation, expert opinion, mini-trial, ombud procedures, arbitration and court adjudication. The authors present a transnational Guide for Regulating Dispute Resolution (GRDR). The regulatory principles contained in this Guide are based on a functional taxonomy of dispute resolution mechanisms, an open normative framework and a modular structure of regulatory topics. The Guide for Regulating Dispute Resolution is formulated and commented upon in a concise manner to assist legislators, policy-makers, professional associations, practitioners and academics in thinking about which solutions best suit local and regional circumstances. The aim of this book is to contribute to the understanding and development of the legal framework governing national and international dispute resolution. Theory, empirical research and regulatory models have been taken from the wealth of experience in 12 jurisdictions: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, England and Wales, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland and the United States of America. Experts with a background in academia, practice and law-making describe and analyse the regulatory framework and social reality of dispute resolution in these countries. On this basis the authors draw conclusions about policy choices, regulatory strategies and the practice of conflict resolution.

The reform of the European Constitution continues to dominate news headlines and has provoked a massive debate, unprecedented in the history of EU law. Against this backdrop Monica Claes' book offers a "bottom up" view of how the Constitution might work, taking the viewpoint of the national courts as her starting point, and at the same time returning to fundamental principles in order to interrogate the myths of Community law. Adopting a broad, comparative approach, she analyses the basic doctrines of Community law from both national constitutional perspectives as well as the more usual European perspective. It is only by combining the perspectives of the EU and national constitutions, she argues, that a complete picture can be obtained, and a solid theoretical base (constitutional pluralism) developed. Her comparative analysis encompasses the law in France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, Italy and the United Kingdom and in the course of her inquiry discusses a wide variety of prominent problems. The book is structured around three main themes, coinciding with three periods in the development of the judicial dialogue between the ECJ and the national courts. The first focuses on the ordinary non-constitutional national courts and how they have successfully adapted to the mandates developed by the ECJ in Simmenthal and Francovich. The second examines the constitutional and other review courts and discusses the gradual transformation of the ECJ into a constitutional court, and its relationship to the national constitutional courts. The contrast is marked; these courts are not specifically empowered by the case law of the ECJ and have reacted quite differently to the message from Luxembourg, leaving them apparently on collision course with the ECJ in the areas of judicial Kompetenz Kompetenz and fundamental rights. The third theme reprises the first two and places them in the context of the current debate on the Constitution for Europe and the Convention, taking the perspective of the national courts as the starting point for a wide-ranging examination of EU's constitutional fundamentals. In so doing it argues that the new Constitution must accommodate the national perspective if it is to prove effective.

Beyond Common Sense addresses the many important and controversial issues that arise from the use of psychological and social science in the courtroom. Each chapter identifies areas of scientific agreement and disagreement, and discusses how psychological science advances our understanding of human behavior beyond common sense. Features original chapters written by some of the leading experts in the field of psychology and law including Elizabeth Loftus, Saul Kassin, Faye Crosby, Alice Eagly, Gary Wells, Louise Fitzgerald, Craig Anderson, and Phoebe Ellsworth The 14 issues addressed include eyewitness identification, gender stereotypes, repressed memories, Affirmative Action and the death penalty Commentaries written by leading social science and law scholars discuss key legal and scientific themes that emerge from the science chapters and illustrate how psychological science is or can be used in the courts

Publicly funded legal aid has undergone rapid change in this century. Developing from charity to large scale, publicly funded schemes, legal aid flourished in many western countries in the 1960s and 1970s. But, during the 1980s governments began to lose faith in publicly funded legal aid. In the 1990s major funding and eligibility cuts have occurred in Sweden, England and Wales, the USA, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands. To answer the need for a better understanding of the extraordinary rise and fall of legal aid, this book brings together contributions from the leading international scholars in the field. Researchers from north America, Europe and Australia examine the origins of modern legal aid, analyse its recent rapid decline and consider its likely future. This collection of original studies does not, however, merely describe legal aids changing fortunes. The contributors also apply legal and social science perspectives to analyse and theorise about legal aid. In particular, rather than describe developments in individual societies, the contributors compare legal aid across societies to develop important insights including legal aids relationship with the legal profession, welfare states and legal families. This book will be embraced by all those interested in legal aid.

A unique reference work exploring the interaction of ever more pervasive media and the U.S. judicial system in the 20th century. At a time when two-thirds of local news is crime- or court-related, when Court TV broadcasts daily, and when one lurid case can push all other news aside, Media and American Courts: A Reference Handbook offers a much-needed examination of how the press and the judicial system interact. Despite the benefits (a better-informed public, judicial accountability), has expanded coverage of the courts in fact weakened our democracy? Media and American Courts approaches this question by exploring the cases, the personalities, and the controversies that have redefined the court/press relationship in the past century as the media expanded from print and radio to courtroom cameras, cable, and the World Wide Web. It also includes suggestions from legal and media experts for making court news more accurate, informative, and useful. Glossary definitions written in clear, layman's language describing the terms necessary for a full understanding of media coverage of the judicial system Biographical sketches of prominent courtroom journalists, lawyers, and judges such as F. Lee Bailey, Marcia Clark, and Johnny Cochran

An authoritative survey of the Taft Court, which served from 1921 to 1929, and the impact it had on the U.S. legal system, social order, economics, and politics. William Howard Taft's experience in the executive branch gave him a unique perspective on the court's work. He initiated judicial reform and was the prime mover behind the Judiciary Act of 1925, which gave the court wide latitude to accept cases based on their importance to the nation. The Taft Court decided about 1,600 cases during its nine terms. This book examines the "aggregate" personality of the court through discussions of individual voting characteristics, bloc alignments, and other patterned behavior. It also charts the strengths and weaknesses of the rulings and demonstrates Taft's penchant for increasing the impact of decisions by pursuing consensus among the justices, two of whom were his own appointees when he served as president. An A-Z set of entries on the people, laws, events, and concepts that are important to an understanding of the Taft Court A photograph of and a brief bibliography on each justice

A Historically Grounded Analysis and Defense of the Judiciary's Power to Override Legislation "The modern assailants of judicial power will find little comfort in this volume. It consists mainly in a clear and able presentation of convincing evidence that the power of the courts to override laws repugnant to the spirit of the Constitution was directly contemplated by the framers of that instrument. (...) He does not rest his case here, but proceeds with a discussion of other evidence in support of his position. (...) It is to be hoped that this volume will find a large audience and thereby perform a great public service in tending to limit the effect of many ill-considered statements bearing upon the power given to the judiciary by the Constitution of the United States."P.R.B., Yale Law Journal 22 (1912-13) 67-68 J. Hampden Dougherty was a prominent New York City lawyer whose practice focused on tax issues and land and water use. He graduated from Columbia Law School in 1874 and was the author of numerous titles including Electoral System of the United States (1906) and Constitutional History of New York State (2nd ed. 1915).

Public Interest Litigation in South Africa offers a collection of grounded accounts - by leaders in the field - of the campaigns, cases, and causes that have defined key areas of public interest litigation in the country since the constitutional transition. The authors share their perspectives on the struggles led by people, communities, activists, and civil society organisations to realise the vision of the Constitution. This volume captures the legal narratives of those particular struggles in the hope that this will contribute to the broader, ongoing struggle for social justice. Part One of the book considers general themes relating to public interest litigation. These include its history, the development of the public interest sector and the impact and value of public interest litigation; the role of international law in public interest litigation; the ethics and politics of public interest litigation; and constitutional procedure. Part Two addresses public interest litigation in ten key areas of law: property rights, gender, basic services, health care, LGBTI equality, children's rights, basic education, freedom of expression, access to information, and prisoners' rights. Public Interest Litigation in South Africa seeks to share some of what has been achieved in the courts, beyond the well-trodden landmark appellate decisions, as a contribution to informed and critical engagement with litigation as a tool for social change.

This collection of essays by leading commentators on civil justice is an attempt to assess the present state of civil procedure in the UK and the possible impact of proposals recently put forward by Lord Woolf. In addition, the essays deal with the fundamental problems that are encountered today in the administration of civil justice everywhere. The contributors are distinguished practitioners and academics who have extensively contributed to the subject in the past. This book is intended for practising lawyers, judges, and academics concerned with civil justice, the legal system, access to justice, and court procedures campaign groups LAG, CPAG etc.

This innovative collection presents original theoretical analyses and previously unpublished empirical research on criminal victimisation. Following an overview of the development and deficiencies of victimology,subsequent chapters present more detailed challenges to stereotypical conceptions of victimisation through their focus on: male victims of domestic violence; victims of male-on-male rape; corporate victims; and the 'victim-offenders' who are the recipients of IRA punishment beatings. The second half of the book considers criminal justice responses to victimisation, focusing in particular on the potential of, and limits to, restorative justice, the social (and gendered) construction of the victim within contested trials and the exclusionary nature of current 'victim-centred' initiatives. This important book will further the debate on how we conceptualise victims as well as their appropriate role within the criminal justice system. New Visions of Crime Victims will be of interest to academics, students, criminal justice practitioners and policy-makers. It has particular implications for scholarship in the fields of victimology, restorative justice and feminist approaches to criminology and criminal justice. The integration of work by established criminologists, such as Carolyn Hoyle, Paul Rock, Andrew Sanders and Richard Young with that of young, previously unpublished scholars, makes for an interesting and stimulating book. As well as being a valuable addition to the literature, it can be used to support undergraduate and postgraduate courses in criminal justice and criminology.

This book challenges certain differences between contract, tort and equity in relation to the measure (in a broad sense) of damages. Damages are defined as the monetary award made by a court in consequence of a breach of contract, a tort or an equitable wrong. In all these causes of action, damages usually aim to put the claimant into the position the claimant would be in without the wrong. Even though the main objective of damages is thus the same for each cause of action, their measure is not. While some aspects of the measure of damages are more or less harmonised between contract, tort and equity (e.g. causation in fact and mitigation), significant differences exist in relation to (1) remoteness of damage, which is the question of whether, when and to which degree damage needs to be foreseeable to be recoverable; (2) the compensability of non-pecuniary loss such as pain and suffering, distress and loss of reputation; (3) the effect of contributory negligence, which is the victim's contribution to the occurrence of the wrong or the ensuing loss through unreasonable conduct prior to the wrong; (4) the circumstances under which victims of wrongs can claim the gain the wrongdoer has made from the wrong; and (5) the availability and scope of exemplary (or punitive) damages. For each of the five topics, this book examines the present position in contract, tort and equity and establishes the differences between the three areas. It goes on to scrutinise the arguments in defence of existing differences. The conclusion on each topic is that the present differences between contract, tort and equity cannot be justified on merits and should be removed through a harmonisation of the relevant principles.

Judicial errors, deliberate or otherwise, often cause damage to litigants. Sometimes the damage suffered by the litigant is irreversible. In England and many other common law countries the injured person will normally have no redress because of the privilege of immunity from suit enjoyed by judges. This result also normally follows when the complaint is against the actions of someone acting in a quasi-judicial capacity. The situation then raises a number of questions, including questions about civil rights, the redress of wrongs, and the whole foundation of judicial independence. As more people resort to the courts and other judicial tribunals for the resolution of their disputes the question of the proper approach to injurious judicial errors becomes more important, especially since every participant in judicial proceedings is a potential victim. This book presents an in-depth study of the substantive, procedural and theoretical issues that arise when a judge is to be sued. The material is drawn mainly from English and American Federal case law. The study however also incorporates some Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand case law.

Reprint of the first American edition. First published in Italian in 1936, Elogio dei Giudici Scritto da un Avvocato, this is a collection of maxims, anecdotes and observations on the nature of law and justice by a professor of legal procedure at the University of Florence. Some chapters are: On the Faith of Judges, The Prime Requisite of Lawyers; On Etiquette (Or Discretion) in The Court; On the Relationship Between the Lawyer and the Truth, or on the Necessary Partisanship of the Lawyer. With a new preface by Jacob A. Stein, prominent Washington D.C. trial lawyer and author of Eulogy of Lawyers (2010), Legal Spectator & More (2003) and other titles.

The Handbook of Mediation gathers leading experts across fields related to peace, justice, human rights, and conflict resolution to explore ways that mediation can be applied to a range of spectrums, including new age settings, relationships, organizations, institutions, communities, environmental conflicts, and intercultural and international conflicts. The text is informed by cogent theory, state-of-the-art research, and best practices to provide the reader with a well-rounded understanding of mediation practice in contemporary times. Based on four signature themes-contexts; skills and competencies; applications; and recommendations-the handbook provides theoretical, applicable, and practical insight into a variety of key approaches to mediation. Authors consider modern conflict on a local and global scale, emphasizing the importance of identifying effective strategies, foundations, and methods to shape the nature of a mediation mindfully and effectively. With a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives, the text complements the development of the reader's competencies and understanding of mediation in order to contribute to the advancement of the mediation field. With a conversational tone that will welcome readers, this comprehensive book is essential reading for students and professionals wanting to learn a wide range of potential interventions for conflict.

Through studies of beheaded Irish traitors, smugglers hung in chains on the English coast, suicides subjected to the surgeon's knife in Dresden and the burial of executed Nazi war criminals, this volume provides a fresh perspective on the history of capital punishment. The chapters 'Introduction: A Global History of Execution and the Criminal Corpse' and 'The Gibbet in the Landscape: Locating the Criminal Corpse in Mid-Eighteenth-Century England' are open access under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Could you really:

-Handle your own divorce?
-Find a better way to deal with business creditor and debtor disputes?
-Get City Hall and the County Prosecutor to make some sense of the justice system?

"Dispute Management" knowledge and skills will guide you to more successful and satisfying resolution of these and other disputes and conflicts. Let Trial Judge, Trial Lawyer and award-winning mediator and arbitrator David Strawn show you how!

Although international arbitration has emerged as a credible means of resolution of transnational disputes involving parties from diverse cultures, the effects of culture on the accuracy, efficiency, fairness, and legitimacy of international arbitration is a surprisingly neglected topic within the existing literature. The Culture of International Arbitration fills that gap by providing an in-depth study of the role of culture in modern day arbitral proceedings. It contains a detailed analysis of how cultural miscommunication affects the accuracy, efficiency, fairness, and legitimacy in both commercial and investment arbitration when the arbitrators and the parties, their counsel and witnesses come from diverse legal traditions and cultures. The book provides a comprehensive definition of culture, and methodically documents and examines the epistemology of determining facts in various legal traditions and how the mixing of traditions influences the outcome. By so doing, the book demonstrates the acute need for increasing cultural diversity among arbitrators and counsel while securing appropriate levels of cultural competence. To provide an accurate picture, Kidane conducted interviews with leading international jurists from diverse legal traditions with first-hand experience of the complicating effects of culture in legal proceedings. Given the insights and information on the rules and expectations of the various legal traditions and their convergence in modern day international arbitration practice, this book challenges assumptions and can offer a unique and useful perspective to all practitioners, academics, policy makers, students of international arbitration.

This volume of essays celebrates the first 50 years in the life of the New Zealand Court of Appeal. The move, in 1958, to a Court of Appeal comprising permanent appellate judges was an important landmark in the development of New Zealand law. The chapters highlight areas where the Court of Appeal has made a significant contribution to New Zealand and wider Commonwealth law, showing how the Court's jurisprudence has both reflected and contributed to resolving some of the pressing issues of the times.They are a critical reflection on the changing work and achievements of the permanent Court over the past half-century. In addition to recording the perspectives of a former President on the Court's achievements, the essays in this volume deal with such varied topics as: the role and use of precedent by the Court of Appeal; the Court's contribution to Commonwealth administrative law; criminal appeals; relationship property; accident compensation and tort litigation; company law; equity in commercial dealings; and the rights of Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand.

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.

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"This thoughtful book will appeal to readers across the political spectrum."
--"Harvard Law Review"

"An invaluable source . . . for anyone interested in navigating the judiciary's politics."
--"National Journal"

"The Myth of the Imperial Judiciary makes a formidable argument that conservatives indeed have an unrealistic conception of the Supreme Court."
--"Austin American Statesman"

"Kozlowski marshals history to show that not only was a strong and active judiciary intended by the Founding Fathers, but also that it has served the nation extremely well."
--"Chicago Sun-Times"

"Kozlowski effectively demonstrates that courts have far less power to operate as free agents than many believe."
--"Law and Politics Book Review"

"Kozlowski marshals history to show that not only was a strong and active judiciary intended by the Founding Fathers, it has served the nation extremely well. . . . A fine piece of scholarship."
--"Washington Post"

"How many minds his book will change on a subject so charged with emotion remainds dubious, but the points Mr. Kozlowski makes so expertly cannot in fairness be ignored."
--"New York Law Journal"

Few institutions have become as ferociously fought over in democratic politics as the courts. While political criticism of judges in this country goes back to its inception, today's intensely ideological assault is nearly unprecedented.

Spend any amount of time among the writings of contemporary right-wing critics of judicial power, and you are virtually assured of seeing repeated complaints about the "imperial judiciary." American conservatives contend not onlythat judicial power has expanded dangerously in recent decades, but that liberal judges now willfully write their policy preferences into law. They raise alarms that American courts possess a degree of power incompatible with the functioning of a democratic polity.

The Myth of the Imperial Judiciary explores the anti-judicial ideological trend of the American right, refuting these claims and taking a realistic look at the role of courts in our democracy to show that conservatives have a highly "unrealistic" conception of their power. Kozlowski first assesses the validity of the conservative view of the Founders' intent, arguing that courts have played an assertive role in our politics since their establishment. He then considers contemporary judicial powers to show that conservatives have greatly overstated the extent to which the expansion of rights which has occurred has worked solely to the benefit of liberals.

Kozlowski reveals the ways in which the claims of those on the right are often either unsupported or simply wrong. He concludes that American courts, far from imperiling our democracy or our moral fabric, stand as a bulwark against the abuse of legislative power, acting forcefully, as they have always done, to give meaning to constitutional promises.