The Role of Courts in Contemporary Legal Orders aims to address the rising importance of courts in contemporary legal orders. It explores the role of courts on national, international, supranational and global level. The book provides for a multi-discursive analysis - theoretical and comparative, exemplified with case-studies. This book is a timely and topical analysis of pressing issues related to the enhanced role of courts in politics and the increased impact of politics on courts. It explores fundamental issues such as the legitimacy of courts, judicial activism, theory and philosophy of judicial decision-making, and the impact of politics, ethics, logic and technology on legal argumentation. It provides an analysis of the role of courts in supranational and global constitutionalism. Furthermore, the role of constitutional courts, administrative courts and criminal courts as well as the most important international and supranational courts is critically assessed. Special attention is devoted to the role of courts in the context of democratic backsliding, illiberal democracies and populist constitutionalism. Key issues related to the impact of courts on environmental and human rights' protection are also addressed. The book finishes with the provocative chapter on the alternatives to courts.

This unique reference offers a discussion of the social and legal history behind the ongoing evolution versus creationism controversy. Evolution in the Courtroom: A Reference Guide chronicles the legal history of the evolution/creation debate sparked by Charles Darwin's publication On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859. The first seven chapters provide a detailed historical overview of the debate, reviewing all of the major court cases with particular emphasis on the infamous Scopes "Monkey Trial" which pitted fundamentalist William Jennings Bryan against ACLU defense attorney Clarence Darrow, and became the standard to which all subsequent evolution trails have been compared. Ensuing discussions of the rise and fall of creationism as a science and the failure of "balanced treatment" in public schools culminate in a summary of skirmishes over the last decade. Profiles of scientists, politicians, clergy, and other influential people from Galileo to Frank White, the Arkansas governor who signed the equal time law without ever reading it, reveal fascinating facts and perspectives on both sides of the controversy. Detailed chronology of the history of the debate from Aristotle in 310 B.C. to the U.S. Senate's adoption of "Sense of the Senate" in June 2002 Biographies of 172 key individuals on both sides of the controversy, including Leona Wilson, who initiated the first lawsuit by creationists An edited collection of the eight principal court decisions, including Mclean v. Arkansas and Segraves v. State of California Photographs and illustrations of influential people like Herbert Spencer, who coined the terms "evolution" and "survival of the fittest"

China after Mao has undergone vast transformations, including massive rural-to-urban migration, rising divorce rates, and the steady expansion of the country's legal system. Today, divorce may appear a private concern, when in fact it is a profoundly political matter-especially in a national context where marriage was and has continued to be a key vehicle for nation-state building. Marriage Unbound focuses on the politics of divorce cases in contemporary China, following a group of women seeking judicial remedies for conjugal grievances and disputes. Drawing on extensive archival and ethnographic data, paired with unprecedented access to rural Chinese courtrooms, Ke Li presents not only a stirring portrayal of how these women navigate divorce litigation, but also a uniquely in-depth account of the modern Chinese legal system. With sensitive and fluid prose, Li reveals the struggles between the powerful and the powerless at the front lines of dispute management; the complex interplay between culture and the state; and insidious statecraft that far too often sacrifices women's rights and interests. Ultimately, this book shows how women's legal mobilization and rights contention can forge new ground for our understanding of law, politics, and inequality in an authoritarian regime.

Combines academic rigour with case studies and activities designed to aid learning Suitable for courses both in the UK and internationally, and it uses international examples

Drug courts offer offenders an intensive court-based treatment program as an alternative to the normal adjudication process. Begun in 1989, they have since spread dramatically throughout the United States. In this interdisciplinary examination of the expanding movement, a distinguished panel of legal practitioners and academics offers theoretical assessments and on-site empirical analyses of the workings of various courts in the United States, along with detailed comparisons and contrasts with related developments in Britain. Practitioners, politicians, and academics alike acknowledge the profound impact drug courts have had on the American criminal justice system. From a range of disciplinary perspectives, contributors to this volume seek to make sense of this important judicial innovation. While addressing a range of questions, Drug Courts also aims to achieve a careful balance between focused empirical studies and broader theoretical analyses of the same phenomenon. The volume maintains an analytical concentration on drug courts and on the important practical, philosophical, and jurisprudential consequences of this unique form of therapeutic jurisprudence.

Drug courts depart from the practices and procedures of typical criminal courts. Prosecutors and defense counsel play much-reduced roles. Often lawyers are not even present during regular drug court sessions. Instead, the main courtroom drama is between the judge and client, both of whom speak openly and freely in the drug court setting. Often accompanying the client is a treatment provider who advises the judge and reviews the client's progress in treatment. Court sessions are characterized by expressive and sometimes tearful testimonies about the recovery process, and are often punctuated with applause from those in attendance. Taken together, the chapters provide a variety of perspectives on drug courts, and extend our knowledge of the birth and evolution of a new movement. Drug Courts is an essential reference for courses in criminology, the sociology of drugs and deviance, and the philosophy of law and punishment.

This book argues that Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., helps us see the law through an Emersonian lens by the way in which he wrote his judicial dissents. Holmes's literary style mimics and enacts two characteristics of Ralph Waldo Emerson's thought: "superfluity" and the "poetics of transition," concepts ascribed to Emerson and developed by literary critic Richard Poirier. Using this aesthetic style borrowed from Emerson and carried out by later pragmatists, Holmes not only made it more likely that his dissents would remain alive for future judges or justices (because how they were written was itself memorable, whatever the value of their content), but also shaped our understanding of dissents and, in this, our understanding of law. By opening constitutional precedent to potential change, Holmes's dissents made room for future thought, moving our understanding of legal concepts in a more pragmatic direction and away from formalistic understandings of law. Included in this new understanding is the idea that the "canon" of judicial cases involves oppositional positions that must be sustained if the law is to serve pragmatic purposes. This process of precedent-making in a common-law system resembles the construction of the literary canon as it is conceived by Harold Bloom and Richard Posner.

Lawyer, judge, banker, classics professor, and councilman, Thomas Mellon greatly influenced the fortunes of his hometown, Pittsburgh, throughout the nineteenth century. In the process, he became one of the city's most important business leaders, and he laid the foundation for a family that would contribute considerably to the city's growth and welfare for much of the next hundred years, becoming one of the world's most recognizable names in industry, innovation, and philanthropy. Through his in-depth examination of the extensive Mellon family archives, in "The Judge "James Mellon--a direct descendent of Thomas Mellon--has fashioned an incisive portrait of the elder Mellon that presents the man in full. Offering a singular and insightful characterization of the Scotch-Irish value system that governed the patriarch's work and life, James Mellon captures the judge's complexities and contradictions, revealing him as a truly human figure.

Among the recent biographies of Pittsburgh's famous businessmen, "The Judge" stands apart from the pack because of the author's unique perspective and his objective and scholarly approach to his subject.

First published in 1973, Wrongful Imprisonment aims to combine the human interest of individual cases of wrongful imprisonment with a general analysis of how and why they occur. It deals in detail with the English system, but also provides comparisons with Scotland, France, and the United States. The authors spent three years collecting material from newspaper reports, trial transcripts, books, lawyers, the Home Office and - most important - interviews with the persons concerned. As a result, they have been able to analyse objectively the existing system of justice; they have isolated and identified the areas in which the system is at fault, and the successive hazards which may confront the innocent man suspected of a criminal offence; they have also revealed the many obstacles which have to be overcome by the wrongfully imprisoned man seeking to establish his innocence and regain his liberty. This topical and convincingly argued book should appeal not only to students of law and sociology, or to lawyers, policemen, criminals, and others involved in the system of criminal justice, but also to the man in the Wormwood Scrubs omnibus.

Access to European Union not only provides a comprehensive overview of European integration but also offers a fresh insight with each revised edition. Thanks to its clear and systematic approach, this book guides the reader through the maze of European Union policies. It throws light upon the European institutions, their raison d'etre, their objectives and their experience, and explains EU measures, legal provisions and economic programmes. The book contains over 3000 references to the Official Journal of the European Communities and more than 500 bibliographic references, selected by topic so as to help the reader deepen the study of the subjects of his or her interest.

A distinguished group of noted criminal justice specialists here examines the impact of the new U.S. sentencing guidelines, imposed in 1987, on law enforcement, the prosecution and courts, and corrections. Although these guidelines were created with the expressed purpose of increasing judicial fairness and reducing prison overcrowding, the contributors argue that their long range effects will be to aggravate present overcrowding problems to intolerably high levels. To make their case, contributors address individually such issues as plea bargaining, the new role of parole and corrections officers, the likely effects of the scheduled abolition of the parole board in 1992, and more. Both students of criminal justice and practicing parole and corrections officers will find these chapters enlightening reading.

Following an introductory overview that puts the U.S. sentencing guidelines in perspective, two chapters discuss their impact on law enforcement, officer discretion, and crime control and deterrence. Turning to an exploration of the courts, the contributors address prosecutorial discretion in plea bargaining, judicial discretion and sentencing disparities, case processing and sentencing alternatives, and how predictions of dangerousness affect the sentencing process. In their analysis of the relationship between the sentencing guidelines and corrections trends, the contributors examine issues such as community-based corrections and privatization, inmate litigation and constitutional issues, and recidivism. Finally, editor Dean Champion offers a perceptive synthesis of the volume by summarizing the serious problems posed by imposition of the U.S. sentencing guidelines. Four appendices provide additional related information for the student and researcher.

Series Information:
Routledge Research in Gender and Society

A valuable new reference work for students of the Spanish Empire, this dictionary presents biographies of the 172 men who served on the Council of the Indies--the supreme judicial tribunal for Spain's colonial empire--from the time of Philip V's reforms in 1717 to the French invasion in 1808. Based on the extensive documentation contained in Spanish archives and on various secondary sources, it offers a wealth of historical detail on a period that is important both to Spanish history and to the development of the New World.

Step-by-step guide to preparing your dissertation, written by an author with a clear understanding of the needs of law dissertation students Takes a practical approach to planning and preparing your dissertation, including case studies, tips and worked examples to help you apply your skills to best effect in your dissertation Chapter on researching your dissertation includes a dedicated section on online research skills helping you to locate only the most reliable and authoritative of sources Explains different theoretical approaches to legal research with in-chapter activities to help you put the theory into practice. Includes a chapter on navigating supervision helping you to feel supported during your dissertation. Ideal accompaniment for students who are perhaps having fewer contact hours in the years to come. New edition includes material to help support those undertaking postgraduate research as well. Covers non-traditional as well as traditional dissertation formats, for example work experience or audio projects.

This comprehensive publication analyzes numerous aspects of the relationship between judicature and the fair trial principle in a comparative perspective. In addition, it examines the manifestation of some of the most significant elements inherent to the fair trial concept in different legal systems. Along with expansion of judicial power during the past century and with the strengthening of judicial independence, the fair trial requirement has appeared more often, especially in different international agreements and national constitutions, as the summarizing principle of what were formerly constitutional principles pertaining to judicature. Despite its generality and supranational application, the methods of interpreting this clause vary significantly among particular legal systems. This book assumes that the substantive content of this term conveys relevance to the organizational independence of judicial power, the selection of judges, and the mutual relationship between the branches of power. The comparative studies included in this collection offer readers a widespread understanding of the aforementioned correlations and will ultimately contribute to their mastery of the concept of fair trial.

This book explores the shortcomings of the criminal justice system's response to sexual violence. Despite a plethora of legal and policy reforms, concerns remain regarding the conviction rates for rape and the extent to which cases fall out of the system. Ample research has highlighted the ongoing impact of 'rape myths' and the presence of an 'implementation gap' whereby policies, provisions and measures - proposed in order to improve the system's response - are frequently not brought into practice, nor utilised as expected. Rape and the Criminal Trial proposes a move beyond representational theory and towards New Materialism and affects, a school of thought which emphasises the importance of embodiment and the ontological intensive regime as necessary in order to generate radical new approaches for understanding this problematic status quo, and in order to move forward to the production of more effective solutions.

Against the background of Lord Woolf's interim report "Access to Justice", this text includes accounts of tactical matters and practical litigation "tips", as well as descriptions of the procedures involved. Litigation is often conducted by companies who do not have much practical experience of the processes that might be expected of them. The same applies to others who become involved in litigation without actually having to conduct the procudure as lawyers. This book is intended to give a brief, clear and comprehensive overview of litigation, arbitration and ADR in England. Intended as a comprehensive overview of litigation, arbitration and ADR in England, this guide is aimed at clients and firms who are involved in, or assist cases, who would like to understand the process better in a non-technical way but do not want to see every statement supported by authority.

A comprehensive review of the practical implications of the numerous recent cases on swaps and derivatives.

- Provides new Law students with a step-by-step guide to answering a key form of assessment. - Accessibly written so will suit both domestic and international students studying Law for the first time. - Includes extensive pedagogical assistance with tasks to reinforce learning at each step in the process.

A great resource both for new law students and for more established law students looking to develop their skills; The new author team have thoroughly revised the book, with a streamlined structure, new 'how to use this book' section and glossary of terms, and a host of additional tables, flowcharts, figures, charts, screenshots, outline boxes and online source links.

This book is about law, but it is not a law book. It is aimed at all interested contemporaries, lawyers and non-lawyers alike. Richly seasoned with personal memories and anecdotes, it offers unique insights into how European courts actually work. It is generally assumed that independence is part and parcel of the role and function of a judge. Nevertheless, European judges sometimes face difficulties in this regard. Owing to their being nominated by a government, their limited term of appointment, and the possibility of being reappointed or not, their judicial independence can be jeopardized. Certain governments have a track record of choosing candidates who they believe they can keep on a leash. When this happens, private parties are at risk of losing out. The EFTA Court is under even more pressure, since the EEA/EFTA states Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway essentially constitute a pond with one big fish (Norway) and two minnows. For quite some time now, certain Norwegian protagonists have sought to effectively transform the EEA into a bilateral agreement with the EU. This attitude has led to political implications that have affected the author himself. The independence of the EFTA Court is also endangered by the fact that it operates alongside a large sister court, the Court of Justice of the European Union. And yet the EFTA Court has established its own line of jurisprudence and its own judicial style. It has remained faithful to specific EFTA values, such as the belief in free trade and open markets, efficiency, and a modern view of mankind. During the first 24 years of its existence, it has even had an over-proportionate influence on ECJ case law. Since EEA Single Market law is economic law, the importance of economics, an often-overlooked aspect, is also addressed. In closing, the book explores Switzerland's complicated relationship with, and Britain's impending departure from, the EU. In this regard, it argues that the EFTA pillar should be expanded into a second European structure under British leadership and with Swiss participation.

A fresh and provocative perspective on the judicial process and the transmission of ideas into law. Professors McIntosh and Cates demonstrate, through the actions and writings of such diverse jurists as Louis Brandeis, Sandra Day O'Connor, Jerome Frank, and Hans Linde, how judges' pet intellectual projects become the fodder for new ideas in the law.

Through a series of case studies, Professors McIntosh and Cates argue for the assessment of judicial activity from a fresh perspective. They focus on the appellate system and those judges who help to move the law-i.e., entrepreneurs. Appeals court judges are in a unique position in that they are presented with real opportunities to influence the shape and meaning of law.

Jurists have special interests, some areas of the law that particularly attract them. When questions arise in these fields, jurists are likely to seize the moment, allowing them to express their expertise and be creative. This is not only a natural course for highly motivated individuals, but also a mode of operation that is important to the development of our law. Through an examination of the actions and writings of such diverse jurists as Louis Brandeis, Sandra Day O'Connor, Jerome Frank, and Hans Linde, the authors explore this concept of entrepreneurship, in which judges take on and promote their pet projects. Of great interest to scholars and researchers in political science and law, and those concerned with judicial process and behavior, and court policymaking.

Written by leading scholars and judges, the Research Handbook on Representative Shareholder Litigation is a modern-day survey of the state of this essential field. The book is an important and timely contribution by leading corporate law scholars, judges, and practitioners, seeking to better understand and explain the proliferation of shareholder litigation across the globe. It provides a cross-jurisdictional survey of litigation and empirical evidence on the recent evolution of these lawsuits, including in-depth analyses of several key forms of shareholder litigation. Its chapters cover securities class actions, merger litigation, derivative suits, and appraisal litigation, as well as other forms of shareholder litigation. Through in-depth analysis of these different forms of litigation, the book explores the agency costs inherent in representative litigation, the challenges of multijurisdictional litigation and disclosure-only settlements, and the rise of institutional investors. It also surveys how related issues are addressed across the globe, with a special focus on parallel forms of litigation in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Israel and China. This Handbook will be an invaluable resource on this important topic for scholars of corporate law, practitioners, judges and legislators. Contributors include: D. Awrey, A. Badawi, R.A. Booth, E.A. Chiappinelli, S.J. Choi, B. Clarke, J.C. Coffee, Jr., J.D. Cox, J. Erikcson, J.J. Fedechko, J.E. Fisch, J.L. Gale, M. Gargantini, M. Gelter, S. Griffith, L.A. Hamermesh, S. Hannes, E. Kamar, C.R. Korsmo, J.T. Laster, A.M. Lipton, M. Myers, J.J. Park, A.C. Pritchard, P. Puri, A. Rickey, R. Ronnen, A.M. Rose, C. Silver, S.D. Solomon, R.S. Thomas, D. Webber, V. Winship, M. Wischmeier Shaner, C. Xi

An exploration of how and why the Constitution's plan for independent courts has failed to protect individuals' constitutional rights, while advancing regressive and reactionary barriers to progressive regulation. Just recently, the Supreme Court rejected an argument by plaintiffs that police officers should no longer be protected by the doctrine of "qualified immunity" when they shoot or brutalize an innocent civilian. "Qualified immunity" is but one of several judicial inventions that shields state violence and thwarts the vindication of our rights. But aren't courts supposed to be protectors of individual rights? As Aziz Huq shows in The Collapse of Constitutional Remedies, history reveals a much more tangled relationship between the Constitution's system of independent courts and the protection of constitutional rights. While doctrines such as "qualified immunity" may seem abstract, their real-world harms are anything but. A highway patrol officer stops a person's car in violation of the Fourth Amendment, violently yanked the person out and threw him to the ground, causing brain damage. A municipal agency fires a person for testifying in a legal proceeding involving her boss's family-and then laughed in her face when she demanded her job back. In all these cases, state defendants walked away with the most minor of penalties (if any at all). Ultimately, we may have rights when challenging the state, but no remedies. In fact, federal courts have long been fickle and unreliable guardians of individual rights. To be sure, through the mid-twentieth century, the courts positioned themselves as the ultimate protector of citizens suffering the state's infringement of their rights. But they have more recently abandoned, and even aggressively repudiated, a role as the protector of individual rights in the face of abuses by the state. Ironically, this collapse highlights the position that the Framers took when setting up federal courts in the first place. A powerful historical account of the how the expansion of the immunity principle generated yawning gap between rights and remedies in contemporary America, The Collapse of Constitutional Remedies will reshape our understanding of why it has become so difficult to effectively challenge crimes committed by the state.

USE THIS FIRST PARAGRAPH ONLY FOR GENERAL CATALOGS... The First Amendment right of free speech is a fragile one. Its fragility is found no less in legal opinions than in other, less specialized forms of public discourse. Both its fragility and its sometimes surprising resiliency are reflected in this book. It provides an examination of how the U.S. Supreme Court has dealt with the problem of restrictions on media coverage of the criminal justice system, as well as how lower courts have interpreted the law created by the Supreme Court. The author explores the degree to which the Court has created a coherent body of law that protects free expression values while permitting reasonable government regulation, and examines the Supreme Court's jurisprudence concerning prior restraints, post-publication sanctions on the press, and their right of access to criminal proceedings.
This is a study of the evolution of constitutional doctrine -- particularly when transported from the rarefied air of the Supreme Court to lower court judges who may not share the values of the jurists above them in the judicial hierarchy. The book's greatest strength lies in its thorough analysis and critique of how judges apply First Amendment doctrine to the complex problem of providing for both a "free press" and "fair trials." Much of the available literature on this topic focuses on legal doctrine, but with attention to the legal rules that emerge from the courts, rather than examining and critiquing the judicial techniques that "produce" those rules. Moreover, although a significant body of scholarship has explored Supreme Court doctrine, this work is one of the few that trace the influence of those doctrines through lower federal court decisions. The hope is to produce a reasonably accurate -- if partial -- picture of how intermediate appellate and trial courts use U.S. Supreme Court doctrine to decide First Amendment cases.
Note: This book is necessarily influenced by the 'round-the-clock' press coverage of the recent O.J. Simpson trial. Although the Simpson case did not make new law, the trial and its outcome seem to be -- at this writing -- an inescapable part of how many people think about these issues. The simple truth, however, is that the Simpson case was an anomaly that has little relation to the everyday concerns of media coverage of the criminal justice system. While the venerable "parade of horribles" can be an effective strategy for the legal advocate, it is not always the ideal way to address larger concerns, particularly when fundamental rights are at stake.

Globalization of legal traffic and the inherent necessity of having to litigate in foreign courts or to enforce judgments in other countries considerably complicate civil proceedings due to great differences in civil procedure. This may consequently jeopardize access to justice. This triggers the debate on the need for harmonization of civil procedure. In recent years, this debate has gained in importance because of new legislative and practical developments both at the European and the global level. This book discusses the globalization and harmonization of civil procedure from the angles of legal history, law and economics and (European) policy. Attention is paid to the interaction with private law and private international law, and European and global projects that aim at the harmonization of civil procedure or providing guidelines for fair and efficient adjudication. It further includes contributions that focus on globalization and harmonization of civil procedure from the viewpoint of eight different jurisdictions. This book is an unique combination of theory and practice and valuable for academic researchers in the area of civil procedure, private international law, international law as well as policy makers (national and EU), lawyers, judges and bailiffs.