As our society becomes more global, international law is taking on an increasingly significant role, not only in world politics but also in the affairs of a striking array of individuals, enterprises, and institutions. In this comprehensive study, David J. Bederman focuses on international law as a current, practical means of regulating and influencing international behavior. He shows it to be a system unique in its nature - nonterritorial but secular, cosmopolitan, and traditional. Part intellectual history and part contemporary review, The Spirit of International Law ranges across the series of cyclical processes and dialectics in international law over the past five centuries to assess its current prospects as a viable legal system. After addressing philosophical concerns about authority and obligation in international law, Bederman considers the sources and methods of international lawmaking. Topics include key legal actors in the international system, the permissible scope of international legal regulation (what Bederman calls the ""subjects and objects"" of the discipline), the primitive character of international law and its ability to remain coherent, and the essential values of international legal order (and possible tensions among those values). Bederman then measures the extent to which the rules of international law are formal or pragmatic, conservative or progressive, and ignored or enforced. Finally, he reflects on whether cynicism or enthusiasm is the proper attitude to govern our thoughts on international law. Throughout his study, Bederman highlights some of the canonical documents of international law: those arising from famous cases (decisions by both international and domestic tribunals), significant treaties, important diplomatic correspondence, and serious international incidents. Distilling the essence of international law, this volume is a lively, broad, thematic summation of its structure, characteristics, and main features.

In "Legal Transplants," one of the world's foremost authorities on legal history and comparative law puts forth a clear and concise statement of his controversial thesis on the way that law has developed throughout history.

When it was first published in 1974, "Legal Transplants" sparked both praise and outrage. Alan Watson's argument challenges the long-prevailing notion that a close connection exists between the law and the society in which it operates. His main thesis is that a society's laws do not usually develop as a logical outgrowth of its own experience. Instead, he contends, the laws of one society are primarily borrowed from other societies; therefore, most law operates in a society very different from the one for which it was originally created. Utilizing a wealth of primary sources, Watson illustrates his argument with examples ranging from the ancient Near East, ancient Rome, early modern Europe, Puritan New England, and modern New Zealand. The resulting picture of the law's surprising longevity and acceptance in foreign conditions carries important implications for legal historians and sociologists. The law cannot be used as a tool to understand society, Watson believes, without a careful consideration of legal transplants.

For this edition, Watson has written a new afterword in which he places his original study in the context of more recent scholarship and offers some new reflections on legal borrowings, law, and society.

Why is the law notoriously unclear, arcane, slow to change in the face of changing circumstances? In this sweeping comparative analysis of the lawmaking process from ancient Rome to the present day, Alan Watson argues that the answer has largely to do with the mixed ancestry of modern law, the confusion of sources--custom, legislation, scholarly writing, and judicial precedent--from which it derives.

The Digest of Justinian, Volume 1 Revised English-Language Edition Edited by Alan Watson "A major achievement, and an event of the first importance."--"Journal of Legal History" "Definitive."--"The Retainer" "A landmark."--"Religious Studies Review" "Superb."--"Texas Bar Journal" When Justinian became sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire in A.D. 527, he ordered the preparation of three compilations of Roman law that together formed the Corpus Juris Civilis. These works have become known individually as the "Code," which collected the legal pronouncements of the Roman emperors, the "Institutes," an elementary student's textbook, and the "Digest," by far the largest and most highly prized of the three compilations. The "Digest" was assembled by a team of sixteen academic lawyers commissioned by Justinian in 533 to cull everything of value from earlier Roman law. It was for centuries the focal point of legal education in the West and remains today an unprecedented collection of the commentaries of Roman jurists on the civil law. Commissioned by the Commonwealth Fund in 1978, Alan Watson assembled a team of thirty specialists to produce this magisterial translation, which was first completed and published in 1985 with Theodor Mommsen's Latin text of 1878 on facing pages. This paperback edition presents a corrected English-language text alone, with an introduction by Alan Watson. Links to the three other volumes in the set: Volume 2 Books 16-29]Volume 3 Books 30-40]Volume 4 Books 41-50] Alan Watson, Earnest P. Rogers Professor of Law at the University of Georgia, is the author of many books in legal history, including "Rome of the Twelve Tables"; "Roman Slave Law"; and "Sources of Law, Legal Change, and Ambiguity," the last published by the University of Pennsylvania Press. May 2008 768 pages 7 x 10 ISBN 978-0-8122-2033-9 Paper $34.95s 23.00 World Rights Law, Classics, History Short copy: The most famous and influential collection of legal materials in world history, now available in a four-volume English-language paperback edition.

The Digest of Justinian, Volume 2 Revised English-Language Edition Edited by Alan Watson "A major achievement, and an event of the first importance."--"Journal of Legal History" "Definitive."--"The Retainer" "A landmark."--"Religious Studies Review" "Superb."--"Texas Bar Journal" When Justinian became sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire in A.D. 527, he ordered the preparation of three compilations of Roman law that together formed the Corpus Juris Civilis. These works have become known individually as the "Code," which collected the legal pronouncements of the Roman emperors, the "Institutes," an elementary student's textbook, and the "Digest," by far the largest and most highly prized of the three compilations. The "Digest" was assembled by a team of sixteen academic lawyers commissioned by Justinian in 533 to cull everything of value from earlier Roman law. It was for centuries the focal point of legal education in the West and remains today an unprecedented collection of the commentaries of Roman jurists on the civil law. Commissioned by the Commonwealth Fund in 1978, Alan Watson assembled a team of thirty specialists to produce this magisterial translation, which was first completed and published in 1985 with Theodor Mommsen's Latin text of 1878 on facing pages. This paperback edition presents a corrected English-language text alone, with an introduction by Alan Watson. Links to the three other volumes in the set: Volume 1 Books 1-15]Volume 3 Books 30-40]Volume 4 Books 41-50] Alan Watson, Earnest P. Rogers Professor of Law at the University of Georgia, is the author of many books in legal history, including "Rome of the Twelve Tables"; "Roman Slave Law"; and "Sources of Law, Legal Change, and Ambiguity," the last published by the University of Pennsylvania Press. May 2008 768 pages 7 x 10 ISBN 978-0-8122-2034-6 Paper $34.95s 23.00 World Rights Law, Classics, History Short copy: The most famous and influential collection of legal materials in world history, now available in a four-volume English-language paperback edition.

The Digest of Justinian, Volume 3 Revised English-Language Edition Edited by Alan Watson "A major achievement, and an event of the first importance."--"Journal of Legal History" "Definitive."--"The Retainer" "A landmark."--"Religious Studies Review" "Superb."--"Texas Bar Journal" When Justinian became sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire in A.D. 527, he ordered the preparation of three compilations of Roman law that together formed the Corpus Juris Civilis. These works have become known individually as the "Code," which collected the legal pronouncements of the Roman emperors, the "Institutes," an elementary student's textbook, and the "Digest," by far the largest and most highly prized of the three compilations. The "Digest" was assembled by a team of sixteen academic lawyers commissioned by Justinian in 533 to cull everything of value from earlier Roman law. It was for centuries the focal point of legal education in the West and remains today an unprecedented collection of the commentaries of Roman jurists on the civil law. Commissioned by the Commonwealth Fund in 1978, Alan Watson assembled a team of thirty specialists to produce this magisterial translation, which was first completed and published in 1985 with Theodor Mommsen's Latin text of 1878 on facing pages. This paperback edition presents a corrected English-language text alone, with an introduction by Alan Watson. Links to the three other volumes in the set: Volume 1 Books 1-15]Volume 2 Books 16-29]Volume 4 Books 41-50] Alan Watson, Earnest P. Rogers Professor of Law at the University of Georgia, is the author of many books in legal history, including "Rome of the Twelve Tables"; "Roman Slave Law"; and "Sources of Law, Legal Change, and Ambiguity," the last published by the University of Pennsylvania Press. May 2008 768 pages 7 x 10 ISBN 978-0-8122-2035-3 Paper $34.95s 23.00 World Rights Law, Classics, History Short copy: The most famous and influential collection of legal materials in world history, now available in a four-volume English-language paperback edition.

The Digest of Justinian, Volume 4 Revised English-Language Edition Edited by Alan Watson "A major achievement, and an event of the first importance."--"Journal of Legal History" "Definitive."--"The Retainer" "A landmark."--"Religious Studies Review" "Superb."--"Texas Bar Journal" When Justinian became sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire in A.D. 527, he ordered the preparation of three compilations of Roman law that together formed the Corpus Juris Civilis. These works have become known individually as the "Code," which collected the legal pronouncements of the Roman emperors, the "Institutes," an elementary student's textbook, and the "Digest," by far the largest and most highly prized of the three compilations. The "Digest" was assembled by a team of sixteen academic lawyers commissioned by Justinian in 533 to cull everything of value from earlier Roman law. It was for centuries the focal point of legal education in the West and remains today an unprecedented collection of the commentaries of Roman jurists on the civil law. Commissioned by the Commonwealth Fund in 1978, Alan Watson assembled a team of thirty specialists to produce this magisterial translation, which was first completed and published in 1985 with Theodor Mommsen's Latin text of 1878 on facing pages. This paperback edition presents a corrected English-language text alone, with an introduction by Alan Watson. Links to the three other volumes in the set: Volume 1 Books 1-15]Volume 2 Books 16-29]Volume 3 Books 30-40] Alan Watson, Earnest P. Rogers Professor of Law at the University of Georgia, is the author of many books in legal history, including "Rome of the Twelve Tables"; "Roman Slave Law"; and "Sources of Law, Legal Change, and Ambiguity," the last published by the University of Pennsylvania Press. May 2008 768 pages 7 x 10 ISBN 978-0-8122-2036-0 Paper $34.95s 23.00 World Rights Law, Classics, History Short copy: The most famous and influential collection of legal materials in world history, now available in a four-volume English-language paperback edition.

In this masterful choreography of legal philosophy, legal history, and comparative law, Alan Watson draws from ancient Roman, English, and French law to assess how lawmakers fail to envision ways to provide society with laws geared toward precise political or social goals.

One of the world's foremost scholars of Roman and comparative law here describes the nature of legal traditions and develops a general and coherent view of legal change.

GOD IS: A Matter of Fact. Therefore, God not only withstands but clearly emerges from a rigorous Scientific Study of the Laws of Nature. The Theory of Fundamental Intelligence provides a valid, supportable, and elegant solution to many of the questions regarding the Forces that drive the Universe, Intelligent Behavior, and Human Interaction. GOD IS: A Matter of Fact overcomes the barriers of Restricted Science and allows Scientific Study of all reasonable theories for the Origin of the Universe and the Creation of Life. Fundamental Intelligence is the key to unlocking the secrets behind such theories as the Big Bang, the Grand Unified Theory, and the Theory of Everything. It also reconciles Charles Darwin s observations regarding Man s Selection and Natural Selection, and the corresponding hypothesis of Inclusive Fitness. GOD IS: A Matter of Fact validates that the Blessings of Liberty, a founding principle of the U.S. Constitution, flow from the Laws of Nature and Nature s God. The Scientific Study of a Supreme Intelligent Being and the Theory of Fundamental Intelligence offers the greatest opportunity to advance our understanding of the Universe, our World, and Human Behavior; and to avoid the disastrous consequences of the godless Social Science experiments of the 20th Century.

GOD IS: A Matter of Fact. Therefore, God not only withstands but clearly emerges from a rigorous Scientific Study of the Laws of Nature. The Theory of Fundamental Intelligence provides a valid, supportable, and elegant solution to many of the questions regarding the Forces that drive the Universe, Intelligent Behavior, and Human Interaction. GOD IS: A Matter of Fact overcomes the barriers of Restricted Science and allows Scientific Study of all reasonable theories for the Origin of the Universe and the Creation of Life. Fundamental Intelligence is the key to unlocking the secrets behind such theories as the Big Bang, the Grand Unified Theory, and the Theory of Everything. It also reconciles Charles Darwin s observations regarding Man s Selection and Natural Selection, and the corresponding hypothesis of Inclusive Fitness. GOD IS: A Matter of Fact validates that the Blessings of Liberty, a founding principle of the U.S. Constitution, flow from the Laws of Nature and Nature s God. The Scientific Study of a Supreme Intelligent Being and the Theory of Fundamental Intelligence offers the greatest opportunity to advance our understanding of the Universe, our World, and Human Behavior; and to avoid the disastrous consequences of the godless Social Science experiments of the 20th Century.

Have you ever pondered why Canadian athletes so often fail to perform at a high level on the world stage? Or why university sport in Canada has long been an afterthought in the national consciousness, resulting in a steady exodus of our most complete and competent student-athletes south of the border? Lured as they are by the most realistic opportunity for fulfilling both their athletic and academic potential, they depart by the thousands each fall, leaving a gigantic hole in the Canadian sports system. Nowhere in the Constitution or in any book of real law, this freak of Canadian nature that has restricted the granting of significant financial aid to our student-athletes keeps the country behind the international starting line. Worse yet, it's still going on, full force. Canadian ISBN: 970-0-9784876-0-7

Hambledon & London. Hardcover. Book Condition: New. Brand New Mint Hardcover With Dustjacket.

"Si estamos para vivir en un mundo sano, necesitamos reconectarnos con los bosques desde una base espiritual. El Llamado de los rboles de Dorothy Maclean nos ayuda a ver, escuchar y sentir los bosques a travs de los rboles y a reconocerlos a ellos como nuestros amigos del alma. Lee los mensajes. Ve al bosque. Qudate all. Permanece tranquilo y escucha su llamado." David Brynn, Fundador y Director Ejecutivo de Vermont Family Forests

In The Trial of Stephen Alan Watson studies the first Christian martyr, who was stoned to death by a mob outside of Jerusalem around A.D. 36 during his trial by the supreme rabbinic court for blasphemy against the Jewish faith. Watson focuses on Stephen's enthralling defense speech, as found solely in the Acts of Apostles, which is both the pivotal and, until now, least understood part of the fatal proceedings. Watson locates the speech in the well-known genre of criminal trial defenses, which shows that the conduct of the accused was either justified or needs no justification and that the prosecutors themselves are the real wrongdoers. Noting Stephen's departure from mainstream early Christian thought and the enmity he brought down upon all Christians, Watson suggests that Stephen was perhaps not only Christianity's first martyr, but also its first heretic.

Law and society are closely related, though the relationship between the two is both complicated and understudied. In a world of rapidly changing people, places, and ideas, law is frequently taken out of context, often with surprising and unnecessary consequences. As societies and their structures, religious doctrines, and economies change, laws previously established often remain unchanged. Dominant nations frequently impose their own laws on weaker nations, whether or not their cultures are similar. Conquered nations, after regaining freedom, often keep their conquerors' laws by default. Law is often misrepresented in literature, and legal scholars, citizens, and businesspeople alike ignore large portions of the legislation under which they live and work. Even the American system of legal education frequently proves itself irrelevant to a proper understanding of today's laws. Alan Watson studies examples from the ancient laws of Rome and Byzantium, laws within the Christian Gospels, and policies of legal education in the modern United States to demonstrate the need for a new approach to both law and legal education. Law Out of Context illustrates that only by understanding comparative legal history and by paying more attention to changes in our society can we hope to devise consistently fair and respected laws.

In this book, Alan Watson argues that the slave laws of North and South America-the written codes defining the relationship of masters to slaves-reflect not so much the culture and society of the various colonies but the legal traditions of England, Europe, and ancient Rome. A pathbreaking study concerned as much with the nature of comparative law as the specific subject of the law of slavery, Slave Law in the Americas posits an essential distance in the Western legal tradition between the tenets of law and the values of the society they govern. Laws, Watson shows, often are made not by governments or rulers but by jurists as in ancient Rome, law professors as in medieval and continental Europe, and judges as in common law England. Bodies of law, often created without reference to particular social and political ideals, are also often transferred whole cloth from one society to another. Tracing the effects of the reception of Roman law throughout Europe (excluding England) and the Americas, Watson reveals the enormous impact of this legal tradition on subsequent lawmakers operating under utterly dissimilar social and political conditions in the New World. Slave law in the colonies, Watson demonstrates, had much to do with the mother country's relations to Roman law. Spain, Portugal, France, and the United Dutch Provinces, all within the Roman legal tradition, imposed on their colonies slave laws that were private and nonracist in character, laws that interfered little in master-slave relations and provided for the relative ease of manumission and the grant of citizenship to freed slaves. England, however, did not ascribe to Roman law and colonists created rather than received slave law. Public and racist, slave law in the English colonies uniquely reflected local concerns, involving every citizen in the protection and perpetuation of slavery, strictly regulating education, manumission, and citizenship status. "Comparative legal history," Watson writes, "is in its infancy." Presenting the laws of slavery in ancient Rome and in the slaveholding colonies of America, Watson demonstrates how comparative law can elucidate the relationship of law, legal rules, and institutions to the society in which they operate. Investigating not the dynamics of slavery but of slave law, he reveals the working of a legal culture and its peculiar history.

Joseph Story and the Comity of Errors examines the decisions of Supreme Court justice and Harvard law professor Joseph Story (1779-1845). According to Alan Watson, Story erred in his interpretation of Dutchman Ulrich Huber's theory of comity-the respect accorded by one sovereignty to another sovereignty's laws. Watson suggests that it is because of Story's misinterpretation that the Dred Scott case went before the United States Supreme Court, whose notorious ruling against Scott fed directly into heated sectional conflict that culminated in the Civil War. Demonstrating the odd twists and turns that legal development sometimes takes, the book is also a fascinating case study that reveals much about the relationship of law to society.

In Jesus and the Jews, Alan Watson reveals and substantiates a central yet previously unrecognized source for the composition of the Gospel of John. Strikingly antithetical to John's basic message, this source originated from an anti-Christian tradition promulgated by the Pharisees, the powerful and dogmatic teachers of Jewish law. The aims of this Pharisaic tradition, argues Watson, included discrediting Jesus as the Messiah, minimizing his historical importance, and justifying the Jewish authorities' role in his death. Jesus and the Jews joins three other works by Watson-The Trial of Jesus, Jesus and the Law, and Jesus: A Profile-to examine the early dynamism of western religion through refocused attention on biblical texts and other historical sources.