This book analyses the common law's approach to retroactivity. The central claim is that when a court considers whether to develop or change a common law rule the retroactive effect of doing so should explicitly be considered and, informed by the common law's approach to statutory construction, presumptively be resisted. As a platform for this claim a definition of 'retroactivity' is established and a review of the history of retroactivity in the common law is provided. It is then argued that certainty, particularly in the form of an ability to rely on the law, and a conception of negative liberty, constitute rationales for a general presumption against retroactivity at a level of abstraction applicable both to the construction of statutes and to developing or changing common law rules. The presumption against retroactivity in the construction of statutes is analysed, and one conclusion reached is that the presumption is a principle of the common law independent of legislative intent. Across private, public and criminal law, the retroactive effect of judicial decisions that develop or change common law rules is then considered in detail. 'Prospective overruling' is examined as a potential means to control the retroactive effect of some judicial decisions, but it is argued that prospective overruling should be regarded as constitutionally impermissible. The book is primarily concerned with English and Australian law, although cases from other common law jurisdictions, particularly Canada and New Zealand, are also discussed. The conclusion is that in statutory construction and the adjudication of common law rules there should be a consistently strong presumption against retroactivity, motivated by the common law's concern for certainty and liberty, and defeasible only to strong reasons. 'Ben Juratowitch not only gives an account of the operation of the presumption, but also teases out the policies which underlie the different rules. This is particularly welcome. Lawyers and judges often seem less than sure-footed when confronted by questions in this field. By giving us an insight into the policies, the author provides a basis for more satisfactory decision-making in the future. ...The author not only discusses the recent cases but examines the question in the light of authority in other Commonwealth jurisdictions and with due regard to the more theoretical literature. This is a valuable contribution to what is an important current debate in the law. Happily, Ben Juratowitch has succeeded in making his study not only useful, but interesting and enjoyable.' From the Foreword by Lord Rodger of Earlsferry

The principle in law that the rules are not changed in the middle of game, is embodied in the notion that legislation should apply prospectively. This study analyzes the legal constraints on retroactive legislation and the presumption of prospectivity and constitutional limits on such lawmaking.

What exactly is the context in which all aspects of this new field of criminal law have to be interpreted? What does the principle of legality mean in the context of supranational criminal law? Which tradition lies at the basis of this new law system? Is supranational criminal law as it grows the result of a deliberate policy, tending towards a coherent system? Or is it merely the result of crisis management?

This book of essays champions tort scholarship that puts judges at centre stage: what they do, how they understand their role, the heterogeneous reasons they give for their decisions, and their constitutional responsibility to identify and articulate the 'living' and 'evolving' common law. This is 'reflexive tort scholarship'. Reflexive tort scholars seek dialogue with Bench and Bar. Their approach is very different from the currently fashionable academic search for 'grand theories' that descriptively assert that tort law is fundamentally 'all about one thing', a unifying idea that alone explains and justifies the whole of tort law. This book illustrates the advantages and pay-offs of the reflexive style of scholarship by showing how it illuminates key features of tort law. The first essay contrasts the reflexive approach with the Grand Theory approach, while the second essay identifies a principle of tort law (the 'cooperative principle'), that is latent in the cases and that vindicates the value of collaborative human arrangements. Identifying this principle calls into question, in disputes between commercial parties, the reasoning used to support one of the most entrenched lines of authority in tort law - that based on the famous case of Hedley Byrne v Heller. The final essay deploys the reflexive method to argue that the iconic 'but-for' test of factual causation is inadequate and narrower than the concept actually utilized in the cases. Application of the method also prompts a reassessment of the 'scope of duty' concept and of the appropriate characterisation of the much-discussed decision in SAAMCO. These essays, based on the 2018 Clarendon Law Lectures given at Oxford University, clearly demonstrate the value of scholarship that 'takes the judges seriously'.

An account of a fundamental change in American legal thought, from a conception of law as something found in nature to one in which law is entirely a human creation. Before the late 19th century, natural law played an important role in the American legal system. Lawyers routinely used it in their arguments and judges often relied upon it in their opinions. Today, by contrast, natural law plays virtually no role in the legal system. When natural law was part of a lawyer's toolkit, lawyers thought of judges as finders of the law, but when natural law dropped out of the legal system, lawyers began thinking of judges as makers of the law instead. In The Decline of Natural Law, the eminent legal historian Stuart Banner explores the causes and consequences of this change. To do this, Banner discusses the ways in which lawyers used natural law and why the concept seemed reasonable to them. He further examines several long-term trends in legal thought that weakened the position of natural law, including the use of written constitutions, the gradual separation of the spheres of law and religion, the rapid growth of legal publishing, and the position of natural law in some of the 19th century's most contested legal issues. And finally, he describes both the profession's rejection of natural law in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and the ways in which the legal system responded to the absence of natural law. The first book to explain how natural law once worked in the American legal system, The Decline of Natural Law offers a unique look into how and why this major shift in legal thought happened, and focuses, in particular, on the shift from the idea that law is something we find to something we make.

Provides an accessible, discursive, and scholarly treatment of the key contemporary issues in UK Public Law.

There have been many introductory texts on the common law over the years, but among the more recent Professor Cappalli's The American Common Law Method has been most widely praised. It focuses on the system of judicial precedent, recognized as one of the great achievements of Anglo-American genius, and especially on its development in American jurisprudence since Holmes and Cardozo. It comprehensively details both the theory underlying case law and the methodology and thinking employed by American judges in applying that theory to specific fact-patterns. Special classroom adoption prices are available. Published under the Transnational Publishers imprint.

Law of Property Rights Protection: Limitations on Governmental Powers, Second Edition is a comprehensive, up-to-date review of the on-going battle between government's desire to regulate and limit private property use, and property owners' equally powerful desire to avoid economically damaging or unreasonable or unconstitutional limitations. Federal, state, and local governments often wish to restrict or condition uses of private property, while private property owners wish to avoid or seek compensation for such regulatory controls. This battle between property and regulation is one of the most emotionally charged and fiercely contested issues in contemporary law. An enormous amount of litigation, at both the federal and state level, has stemmed from questions surrounding the extent to which government may restrict or even prevent certain private property uses. The relevant law is constantly changing and evolving, so count on the Law of Property Right Protection to bring you completely up to date. The book is organized according to the many ways that government powers over private property are limited, by the federal and state constitutions, the common law, and equitable principles and has been cited by the United States Supreme Court, federal courts, and state appellate courts. Law of Property Rights Protection: Limitations on Governmental Powers, Second Edition: Analyzes relevant and current case law, and identifies (1) which challenges by private property owners were successful, (2) what facts seemed compelling to reviewing courts considering property-restrictive regulations, and (3) what arguments by property owners tend to fail in the eyes of reviewing courts. Offers advice on which property-protective provisions in constitutional law maximize the likelihood of a successful challenge to restrictive regulations, as well as advice on how to mount a legal challenge which will not be dismissed on jurisdictional or procedural grounds. Considers all of the primary limitations on government regulations of property - Takings; Due Process; Contracts Clause; Equal Protection; the Vested Rights Doctrine; Anti-Retroactivity Presumptions; Internal Limits on the Police Power Includes the full range of property interests - such as real property; contract rights; leasehold rights; unpatented mining claims; water rights; intellectual property; rights of access and entry; royalty rights; all forms of intangible property interests Using Laitos' strategic approach, and easy-to-follow organization, this book will help you formulate arguments and challenges which may overcome or invalidate onerous regulations on the use and enjoyment of private property. Previous Edition Law of Property Rights Protection: Limitations on Governmental Powers, ISBN 9780735501522

As Hong Kong enters its third year under Chinese rule, the prognosis for the common law remains uncertain. Can the improbable doctrine of 'one country, two systems' be made to work? Will the political controversies that continue to bedevil the territory undermine the rule of law and the integrity of the legal order? The 21 essays in this important new collection consider these, and many other, questions. The first part examines several problems that lie at the heart of the Basic Law's promise of legal continuity. Hong Kong's economic order and its legal buttresses are analysed in Part 2, while the essays in Part 3 trace the shifts in social values as reflected both in Chinese and Hong Kong law. Though they embrace a wide area, the contributions to this volume suggest that, while many problems lie ahead, Hong Kong's law and legal system seem adequately entrenched to endure well into the future. Raymond Wacks is Professor of Law and Legal Theory at the University of Hong Kong. He is an international authority on the legal protection of privacy, and has also published widely in the field of legal theory. Professor Wacks has edited several books on Hong Kong law and human rights. His recent books include Privacy and Press Freedom (1995). The fifth edition of his text, Jurisprudence will appear in early 2000. “(B)y far the most comprehensive study of the post-1997 legal order I have come across, covering nearly all the subjects which the Basic Law touches upon... (I)t contains much insightful analysis of the historical development and future issues surrounding each topic... A very valuable contribution to scholarship... Far more importantly, there is no collection that comes close to such an array of good analysis on so many topics.” — Anthony Neoh, SC, Visiting Professor, Peking University