The authenticity of visual art has always commanded the attention of experts, dealers, collectors, and the art-minded public. Is it "real" or "original" is a way of asking what am I buying? What do I own? What am I looking at? And today more sophisticated questions are being asked: How is authenticity determined and what weight does this determination have in court? This book of essays proposes to answer those questions.
Three lines of inquiry are basic to determining authenticity: a connoisseur's evaluation, historical documentation or provenance, and scientific testing. A connoisseur is an expert who evaluates the "rightness" of a work based on much careful scrutiny of many works by an artist and familiarity with that artist's usual manner of working with materials. In determining provenance, a researcher traces the physical object from the artist through a chain of ownership to the present owner--simple enough in concept, though it assumes that the documentation is not faked or inaccurate. The goal is to ensure that the object is the same one that left the artist's hand. Scientific testing, although sometimes useful, is often longer on promise than result. Dating paint or wood samples, for instance, can show that a painting was made in Rembrandt's lifetime, but it cannot prove that it is by Rembrandt's hand. If expert opinion is divided, and large sums of money are involved, a dispute over authenticity may end up in a court of law, where evaluation of expert opinion evidence can be problematic.
The essays in this book clarify the nature of the methods outlined above and explain, based on case law, the present status of authentication issues in court. Contributors include experts from Christie's, London; Sotheby's, New York; and the former director of the Frick Collection; as well as leading art historians and art dealers; an art conservator; a forensic graphologist; a philanthropist and collector; and a specialist in French art law. Their collective knowledge on issues of authenticity will be invaluable for anyone interested in the world of visual art.

On June 23, 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that the city of New London, Connecticut, could condemn fifteen residential properties in the Fort Trumbull area and transfer them to a new private owner. The use of eminent domain to take private property for public works is generally considered a permissible "public use" under the Fifth Amendment. In New London, however, the land was condemned to promote private "economic development." Ilya Somin argues that Kelo represents a serious - and dangerous-error. Not only are economic development and closely related blight condemnations unconstitutional under most theories of legal interpretation, they also tend to victimize the poor and the politically weak, and to destroy more economic value than they create. Kelo exemplifies these patterns: the neighbors who chose to fight their evictions had little political power, while the influential Pfizer Corporation played an important role in persuading officials to proceed with the project. In the end, the poorly conceived development plan failed: the condemned land lies empty to this day. A notably unpopular verdict, Kelo triggered an unprecedented political backlash, with forty-five states passing new laws intended to limit the use of eminent domain. But many of the new state laws turned out to impose few or no genuine constraints. The Kelo backlash led to significant progress, but not nearly as much as it would first appear. Despite its outcome, the closely divided ruling in Kelo shattered what many believed to be a consensus that virtually any condemnation qualifies as a public use. With controversy over this issue sure to continue, The Grasping Hand offers an analysis of the case alongside a history of the meaning of public use and the use of eminent domain and an evaluation of options for reform.

This is the new paperback edition of the successful and well received hardback. The essays in this collection explore the links between the environment and human rights, and respond to the growing debate among activists, lawyers, academics and policy-makers on the legal status of environmental rights in both international and domestic law. The collection is an original and timely contribution to the existing literature on this subject, and offers a sustained analysis which addresses both the conceptual and practical problems of environmental rights.

This book offers the most up to date and comprehensive overview yet published of the European Community legal mechanisms and rules concerning the relationship between the establishment of the Single European Market and the development of international European and domestic environmental law. The author outlines the legal mechanisms of the EC Treaty and shows how they seek to create a balance between economic and environmental interests. Part one elaborates on the EC Treaty's principles governing the relationship bewteen the Single European Market and domestic environmental policy instruments. Besides the rules governing the free movement of goods (Articles 9, 12, 30-36), including the rules applicable to environmental taces (Article 95), it gives an overview of the EC's policies in the fields of green-state aids (Articles 92 etc) and competeition policies. Part two looks in detail at the harmonization of European environment related policy both for the creation of the Common/Single European Market and the development of a genuine European Environmental policy. It also looks closely at related areas such as agriculture, transport, the common commercial policy, external relations and the all important area of international environmental treaties.

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.

The Estates Gazette Law Reports are an indispensable reference for property law practitioners researching and advising on all aspects of landlord and tenant law, valuation, professional negligence, conveyancing, real property, leasehold enfranchisement and compensation. They comprise the law reports published in the Estates Gazette plus new and original cases published for the first time in EGLR. Each volume includes the most significant property cases determined in any given year. Published over three volumes each year and edited by HH Judge Hazel Marshall QC, they conveniently summarize key current property cases.