This book presents and comments on the papers delivered at a colloquium held at the Australian National University in December 2008, celebrating 50 years since the publication in the Harvard Law Review of the famous and wide-ranging debate between the legal philosophers H.L.A. Hart and Lon L. Fuller. The essays written by experts in legal philosophy do not re-run the Hart-Fuller debate, nor are they confined to discussion of the jurisprudential issues canvassed by Hart and Fuller. Rather, in using the debate as a point of departure and inspiration, they pick up on strands in the debate and re-evaluate them in the light of the social, political, and intellectual developments of the past 50 years, when the ways of understanding law and other normative systems have changed. The Hart-Fuller Debate: 50 Years On will be of international interest to legal philosophers, as well as those interested in morality and the law.

Lawyers who write about responsibility tend to focus on criminal law at the expense of civil and public law; while philosophers tend to treat responsibility as a moral concept,and either ignore the law or consider legal responsibility to be a more or less distorted reflection of its moral counterpart. This book aims to counteract both of these biases. By adopting a comparative institutional approach to the relationship between law and morality, it challenges the common view that morality stands to law as critical standard to conventional practice. It shows how law and morality interact symbiotically, and how careful study of legal concepts of responsibility can add significantly to our understanding of responsibility more generally. Central to this project is a distinction between two paradigms of responsibility -- the criminal law paradigm and the civil law paradigm. Whereas theoretical discussions of responsibility tend focus on conduct and agency, taking account of civil law reveals the importance of outcomes and the interests of victims and society to ideas of responsibility. The book examines from a distinctively legal point of view central philosophical questions about responsibility such as its relationship with culpability (challenging the common view that moral responsibility requires fault), causation and personality. It explores the relevance of sanctions and problems of proof and enforcement to ideas of responsibility, as well as the relationship between responsibility and distributive justice, and the role of concepts of responsibility in public law. At the heart of this book lie two questions: what does it mean to say we are responsible? and, what are our responsibilities? Its aim is not to answer these questions but to challenge some traditional approaches to answering them and more importantly, to suggest fruitful alternative approaches that take law seriously.

Among the many constitutional developments of the past century or so, one of the most significant has been the creation and proliferation of institutions that perform functions similar to those performed by courts, but which are considered to be, and in some ways are, different and distinct from courts as traditionally conceived. In much of the common law world, such institutions are called 'administrative tribunals.' Their main function is to adjudicate disputes between citizens and the State by reviewing decisions of government agencies - a function also performed by courts in 'judicial review' proceedings and appeals. Although tribunals in aggregate adjudicate many more such disputes than courts, tribunals and their role as dispensers of 'administrative justice' receive relatively little scholarly attention. This, the first wide-ranging, book-length treatment of the subject for many years, compares tribunals in three major jurisdictions: the US, the UK, and Australia. The book analyzes and offers an account of the concept of 'administrative adjudication, ' and traces its historical development from the earliest periods of the common law to the 21st century. There are chapters dealing with the design of tribunals and tribunal systems, what tribunals do, and how they interact with their users. The book ends with a discussion of the place of tribunals in the 'administrative justice system' and speculation about possible future developments. Administrative Tribunals and Adjudication fills a significant gap in the literature and will be of great value to public lawyers and others interested in government accountability

Featuring contributions from leading lawyers, historians and social scientists, this path-breaking volume explores encounters of laws, people, and places in Australia since 1788. Its chapters address three major themes: the development of Australian settler law in the shadow of the British Empire; the interaction between settler law and First Nations people; and the possibility of meaningful encounter between First laws and settler legal regimes in Australia. Several chapters explore the limited space provided by Australian settler law for respectful encounters, particularly in light of the High Court's particular concerns about the fragility of Australian sovereignty. Tracing the development of a uniquely Australian law and the various contexts that shaped it, this volume is concerned with the complexity, plurality, and ambiguity of Australia's legal history.

Featuring contributions from leading scholars of history, law and politics, this path-breaking work traces the development of the United Kingdom's constitution from Anglo-Saxon times and explores its role in the creation, exercise and control of public power. Chapters in Volume One, entitled 'Exploring the Constitution', approach the constitution and its history from various scholarly perspectives, and provide historically sensitive discussions of constitutional actors and institutions, and transformations of the constitution. Essays in Volume Two, entitled 'The Changing Constitution' examine the development of the constitution from the departure of the Romans up to the present day and beyond. This is the first, wide-ranging history of the constitution to be published for decades. By its cross-disciplinary approach, taking account of the latest legal, political and historical scholarship on the constitution, it fills a large gap in the literature of the constitution, and in political thought and British history.

Now in its ninth edition, Atiyah's Accidents, Compensation and the Law explores the recent and continuous developments in personal injury law by applying social context to the relevant legal principles. Those principles remain in need of radical reform. Updates to the text include discussion of the major changes to the way compensation is calculated and claimed, evolving funding arrangements for personal injury litigation, and dramatic shifts in the claims management industry. Suitable for both undergraduate and postgraduate students taking courses in tort law, this new edition balances theory, practice and context. It draws on new legislation, research and case law to offer the reader thought-provoking examples and analysis.

This wide-ranging comparative account of the legal regimes for controlling administrative power in England, the USA and Australia argues that differences and similarities between control regimes may be partly explained by the constitutional structures of the systems of government in which they are embedded. It applies social-scientific and historical methods to the comparative study of law and legal systems in a novel and innovative way, and combines accounts of long-term and large-scale patterns of power distribution with detailed analysis of features of administrative law and the administrative justice systems of three jurisdictions. It also proposes a new method of analysing systems of government based on two different models of the distribution of public power (diffusion and concentration), a model which proves more illuminating than traditional separation-of-powers analysis.

The late John Fleming, emeritus Professor of Law in the University of California at Berkeley, was the pre-eminent torts lawyer of the age; his Law of Torts has influenced generations of students and scholars, and remains a classic of legal literature. In this volume, distinguished academics and judges from around the world pay tribute to him in a collection of essays which range widely across tort law, legal theory, legal history and comparative law. Topics discussed include: tort and human rights; the duty of care in negligence; codification of the law of obligations in Europe; the basis of strict liability in particular and of responsibility generally in tort law; and aspects of products liability. These stimulating essays have much to say about the past, present and future of the law of obligations and will be of great interest to scholars and lawyers of all legal systems. From the editors' preface John Fleming was one of the most influential writers on the law of torts and comparative law in the English-speaking world this century. His towering contribution to scholarship is evidenced not only by the great prestige his work attracts in academic circles but also by the frequency and high respect with which his work is cited by judges in appellate courts of many jurisdictions. The authors of this collection of essays on the law of obligations intend it as a tribute to his achievements.

Is there a place for religious language in the public square? Which institution of government is best suited to deciding whether religion should influence law? Should states be required to treat religion and non-religion in the same way? How does the historical role of religion in a society influence the modern understanding of the role of religion in that society? This volume of essays examines the nature and scope of engagements between law and religion, addressing fundamental questions such as these. Contributors range from eminent scholars working in the fields of law and religion to important new voices who add vital and original ideas. From conservative to liberal, doctrinal to post-modernist and secular to religious, each contributor brings a different approach to the questions under discussion, resulting in a lively, passionate and thoughtful debate that adds light rather than heat to this complex area.

Is there a place for religious language in the public square? Which institution of government is best suited to deciding whether religion should influence law? Should States be required to treat religion and non-religion in the same way? How does the historical role of religion in a society influence the modern understanding of the role of religion in that society? This volume of essays examines the nature and scope of engagements between law and religion, addressing fundamental questions such as these. Contributors range from eminent scholars working in the fields of law and religion to important new voices who add vital and original ideas. From conservative to liberal, doctrinal to post-modernist and secular to religious, each contributor brings a different approach to the questions under discussion, resulting in a lively, passionate and thoughtful debate that adds light rather than heat to this complex area.

Patrick Atiyah is one of the most important legal scholars of his generation in the common-law world. His publications cover a wide field: legal theory, legal history, the study of legal institutions, the law of tort (especially compensation for personal injuries) and, most famously perhaps, the law of contract. It is no exaggeration to say that by his work, Atiyah has opened up new ways of thinking about the law of obligations. This volume of essays, written by colleagues, friends, and admirers of Patrick Atiyah from the UK and abroad, reflects the breadth of his interests. As well as discussions of particular aspects of the law of contract and tort, it contains essays on the history and theory of contract and tort and on the role of judges and law teachers. There is also an assessment of the `law in context' movement of which Patrick Atiyah was a founder member and leading practitioner. Contributors: William Twining, Tony Honore, Jan Hellner, Robert S. Summers, John Bell, Paul D. Carrington, Robert Stevens, A. W. B. Simpson, Roy Goode, S. M. Waddams, Jane Stapleton, Donald Harris, John Dwyer, John Fleming, and Peter Cane.

This study examines the ways in which the law of tort provides protection against injury to financial assets such as money, property, and contracts. In the past twenty-five years or so there has been much debate and litigation concerned with the extent to which the law of tort should be involved in compensating for economic loss caused by negligent conduct. Many believe that the primary role of tort law is to provide a system of compensation for death and personal injury and that it has, at most, only a marginal part to play in protecting economic interests. This book is an attempt to examine the whole of tort law in terms of the protection of financial assets and of people's interest in creating and preserving wealth. It discusses the concepts and principles which tort law utilizes to this end, and the relationship between tort law and other legal techniques of providing such protection. It focuses primarily on the kinds of financial interests the law of tort protects and on the sort of protection it provides. This approach allows a fresh examination of functions of tort law and of the justifications, both social and doctrinal, for the imposition of tort liability so far as it is concerned with the protection of wealth.

The essays in this volume,written by eight of the world's leading legal theorists and philosophers, began life as papers presented at seminars (held in Canberra and New York) devoted to the ideas of Tony Honore, who is one of the most important legal thinkers of his generation. The focus is on issues dealt with in Honore's recent book, Responsibility and Fault (1999), including determinism and luck, causation, outcome responsibility, and the morality of strict liability. Honore's book, and these essays, discuss fundamental questions about the relationship between moral and legal responsibility. They explore the contribution that the philosophy of action and of mind can make to understanding the law.

Featuring contributions from leading scholars of history, law and politics, this path-breaking two-volume work traces the development of the United Kingdom's constitution from Anglo-Saxon times and explores its role in the creation, exercise and control of public power. Chapters in Volume One, entitled 'Exploring the Constitution', approach the constitution and its history from various scholarly perspectives, and provide historically sensitive discussions of constitutional actors and institutions, and of political traditions and transformations of the constitution. Together, the two volumes form the first, wide-ranging history of the constitution to be published for decades. By their cross-disciplinary approach, taking account of the latest legal, political and historical scholarship on the constitution, they fill a large gap in the literature of the constitution, and in political thought and British history.

Featuring contributions from leading scholars of history, law and politics, this path-breaking work traces the development of the United Kingdom's constitution from Anglo-Saxon times and explores its role in the creation, exercise and control of public power. Essays in Volume Two, entitled 'The Changing Constitution', examine the development of the constitution from the departure of the Romans up to the present day and beyond. Together, the two volumes form the first, wide-ranging history of the constitution to be published for more than 50 years. By its cross-disciplinary approach, taking account of the latest legal, political and historical scholarship on the constitution, it fills a large gap in the literature of the constitution, and in political thought and British history.

The comparative study of administrative law has a long history dating back more than 200 years. It has enjoyed a renaissance in the past 15 years or so and now sits alongside fields such as comparative constitutional law and global administrative law as a well-established area of scholarly research. This book is the first to provide a broad and systematic view of the subject both in terms of the topics covered and the legal traditions surveyed. In its various parts it surveys the historical beginnings of comparative administrative law scholarship, discusses important methodological issues, examines the relationship between administrative law and regime type, analyses basic concepts such as 'administrative power' and 'accountability', and deals with the creation, functions, and control of administrative power, and values of administration. The final part looks to the future of this young sub-discipline. In this volume, distinguished experts and leaders in the field discuss a wide range of issues in administrative law from a comparative perspective. Administrative law is concerned with the conferral, nature, exercise, and legal control of administrative (or 'executive') governmental power. It has close links with other areas of 'public law', notably constitutional law and international law. It is of great interest and importance not only to lawyers but also to students of politics, government, and public policy. Studying public law comparatively helps to identify both similarities and differences between the way government power and its control is managed in different countries and legal traditions.

Administrative Law provides a sophisticated but highly accessible account of a complex area of law of great contemporary relevance and increasing importance.
Written in a clear and flowing style, the text has been radically reorganized and extensively rewritten to present administrative law as a framework for public administration. After an exploration of the nature, province, and sources of administrative law as well as the concept of administrative justice, the book briefly discusses the institutional framework of public administration. The second part of the book deals with the normative framework of public administration, starting with a general discussion of administrative tasks and functions and then examining in some detail norms relating to administrative procedure and openness, decision-makers' reasoning processes and the substance of administrative decisions. The next topic is the private law framework provided by the law of tort, contract, and restitution. The third part of the book provides an account of institutions and mechanisms of accountability by which the framework of public administration is policed and enforced: judicial review and appeals by courts and tribunals, bureaucratic and parliamentary oversight, and investigations by ombudsmen. This part ends by considering how these various mechanisms fit into the administrative justice system. The final part of the book explores the functions of administrative law and its impact on administration.

The empirical study of law, legal systems and legal institutions is widely viewed as one of the most exciting and important intellectual developments in the modern history of legal research. Motivated by a conviction that legal phenomena can and should be understood not only in normative terms but also as social practices of political, economic and ethical significance, empirical legal researchers have used quantitative and qualitative methods to illuminate many aspects of law's meaning, operation and impact. In the 43 chapters of The Oxford Handbook of Empirical Legal Research leading scholars provide accessible and original discussions of the history, aims and methods of empirical research about law, as well as its achievements and potential. The Handbook has three parts. The first deals with the development and institutional context of empirical legal research. The second - and largest - part consists of critical accounts of empirical research on many aspects of the legal world - on criminal law, civil law, public law, regulatory law and international law; on lawyers, judicial institutions, legal procedures and evidence; and on legal pluralism and the public understanding of law. The third part introduces readers to the methods of empirical research, and its place in the law school curriculum.

For any reader needing a concise yet expert explanation of a subject in law, the New Oxford Companion to Law is the ideal reference work. Providing greater depth than can be found in legal dictionaries but always accessible to the non-specialist, entries in the Companion cover all areas of law and legal systems and are extensively cross-referenced for ease of navigation.
The Companion draws upon the expertise of over 700 scholars and practitioners, offering the widest possible range of perspectives on legal topics. Consisting in over 1700 alphabetically-arranged entries, the Companion features:
The fundamentals of all the major areas of law such as criminal law, tax and social security law, human rights law, family and employment law, education law, sports law, international and EU law
The role and workings of legal institutions such as parliaments, courts, law schools, and international bodies such as the EU and the UN
Leading cases, famous trials and distinguished lawyers, past and present
Major events in legal history and major debates in legal theory
Twenty pages of rich illustrations, bringing the content to life
The Companion will appeal to the interested citizen, students applying for law courses at university, law students, and also to advanced readers who are already familiar with the law who will enjoy reading the engagingly written accounts of areas that they know as well as many that they don't.

The empirical study of law, legal systems and legal institutions is widely viewed as one of the most exciting and important intellectual developments in the modern history of legal research. Motivated by a conviction that legal phenomena can and should be understood not only in normative terms but also as social practices of political, economic and ethical significance, empirical legal researchers have used quantitative and qualitative methods to illuminate many aspects of law's meaning, operation and impact.
In the 43 chapters of The Oxford Handbook of Empirical Legal Research leading scholars provide accessible and original discussions of the history, aims and methods of empirical research about law, as well as its achievements and potential. The Handbook has three parts. The first deals with the development and institutional context of empirical legal research. The second - and largest - part consists of critical accounts of empirical research on many aspects of the legal world - on criminal law, civil law, public law, regulatory law and international law; on lawyers, judicial institutions, legal procedures and evidence; and on legal pluralism and the public understanding of law. The third part introduces readers to the methods of empirical research, and its place in the law school curriculum.

Administrative Law provides a sophisticated but highly accessible account of a complex area of law of great contemporary relevance and increasing importance.
Written in a clear and flowing style, the text has been radically reorganized and extensively rewritten to present administrative law as a framework for public administration. After an exploration of the nature, province, and sources of administrative law as well as the concept of administrative justice, the book briefly discusses the institutional framework of public administration. The second part of the book deals with the normative framework of public administration, starting with a general discussion of administrative tasks and functions and then examining in some detail norms relating to administrative procedure and openness, decision-makers' reasoning processes and the substance of administrative decisions. The next topic is the private law framework provided by the law of tort, contract, and restitution. The third part of the book provides an account of institutions and mechanisms of accountability by which the framework of public administration is policed and enforced: judicial review and appeals by courts and tribunals, bureaucratic and parliamentary oversight, and investigations by ombudsmen. This part ends by considering how these various mechanisms fit into the administrative justice system. The final part of the book explores the functions of administrative law and its impact on administration.

Written to be accessible to all readers with a basic knowledge of tort law, this book adopts an approach which is both easily comprehended, yet also innovative and illuminating. It sets out a new and theoretically stimulating analysis of the law of tort, in which the subject is reconceived as a system of ethical rules and principles of personal responsibility. As such it can be viewed as a series of relationships between protected interests, sanctioned conduct and sanctions. These are the "building blocks" of tort law. Beyond affording a means of comprehending the fragmentary nature of tort law, the book, equally importantly, seeks to develop understanding of its relationship with other areas of the law of obligations. It also permits clearer understanding of the relationship between common law and statutory torts and throws fresh light on the links between tort law and its functions.

This wide-ranging comparative account of the legal regimes for controlling administrative power in England, the USA and Australia argues that differences and similarities between control regimes may be partly explained by the constitutional structures of the systems of government in which they are embedded. It applies social-scientific and historical methods to the comparative study of law and legal systems in a novel and innovative way, and combines accounts of long-term and large-scale patterns of power distribution with detailed analysis of features of administrative law and the administrative justice systems of three jurisdictions. It also proposes a new method of analysing systems of government based on two different models of the distribution of public power (diffusion and concentration), a model which proves more illuminating than traditional separation-of-powers analysis.

This book offers nine key ideas about tort law that will help the reader to understand its various social functions and evaluate its effectiveness in performing those functions. The book focuses, in particular, on how tort law can guide people's behaviour, and the political and social environments within which it operates. It also provides the reader with a wealth of detail about the ideas and values that underlie tort 'doctrine'-tort law's rules and principles, and the way those rules and principles operate in practice. The book is an accessible introduction to tort law that will provide students, scholars and practitioners alike with a fresh and engaging view of the subject. 'In this masterful and engaging survey, Peter Cane provides an array of illuminating perspectives on the law of torts, laying bare its nature, structure and functions, as well as its legal, social and political context.' Andrew Robertson, Professor of Law, Melbourne Law School

Lawyers who write about responsibility tend to focus on criminal law at the expense of civil and public law; while philosophers tend to treat responsibility as a moral concept,and either ignore the law or consider legal responsibility to be a more or less distorted reflection of its moral counterpart. This book aims to counteract both of these biases. By adopting a comparative institutional approach to the relationship between law and morality, it challenges the common view that morality stands to law as critical standard to conventional practice. It shows how law and morality interact symbiotically, and how careful study of legal concepts of responsibility can add significantly to our understanding of responsibility more generally. At the heart of this book lie two questions: what does it mean to say we are responsible? And, what are our responsibilities? Its aim is not to answer these questions but to challenge some traditional approaches to answering them and more importantly, to suggest fruitful alternative approaches that take law seriously.