The Common Law Tradition examines the lives and achievements of five individuals who helped broaden the perspectives of the legal academy - Edward H. Levi, Harry Kalven, Jr., Karl Llewellyn, Philip Kurland, and Kenneth Culp Davis - and assesses the extent to which their immediate agendas were realied. What distinguished these men is that their work was practical and rooted in the law, and hence yielded concrete applications. The groups diversity, the tolerant atmosphere in which they taught and wrote, and the attachment of its individual members to empirical approaches differentiate them from todays legal scholars and make their ideas of continuing importance.

Présentation de l'éditeur : "This second edition of a classic in Anglo-American legal philosophy reopens the dialogue between Bentham's work and contemporary legal philosophy. Gerald J. Postema revisits the themes of the first edition in light of the latest scholarly criticism and provides new insights into the historical-philosophical roots of international law"

Under the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration on the future of Hong Kong the previous capitalist system and life-style shall remain unchanged for 50 years. This concept has been embedded in the Basic Law of Hong Kong. The future of the Common Law judicial system in Hong Kong depends on the perceptions of it by Hong Kong's Chinese population; judicial developments prior to July 1, 1997, when Hong Kong passes from British to Chinese control; and the Basic Law itself. All of these critical issues are addressed in this book. It applies survey and statistical analysis to the study of the attitudes toward, and the values inherent to, the Common Law judicial system in the unique cultural and economic milieu of Hong Kong in transition.

The development of the law of obligations across the common law world has been, and continues to be, a story of unity and divergence. Its common origins continue to exert a powerful stabilising influence, carried forward by a methodology that places heavy weight on the historical foundations of legal principles. Divergence is, however, produced by numerous factors, including national and international human rights instruments, local statutory regimes, civil law influences, regional harmonisation, local circumstances and values and different political and legal cultures. The essays in this collection explore the forces that produce divergence, the countervailing forces that generate cohesion and consistency in the common law of obligations, and the influence that the major common law jurisdictions continue to exert over one another in this area of law. The chapters in this book were originally presented at the Seventh Biennial Conference on the Law of Obligations held in Hong Kong in July 2014. A second collection, entitled Divergences in Private Law (ISBN: 9781782256601), will focus on particular departures from the common law mainstream and the causes and effects of those deviations.

For law students and lawyers to successfully understand and practice law in the U.S., recognition of the wider context and culture which informs the law is essential. Simply learning the legal rules and procedures in isolation is not enough without an appreciation of the culture that produced them. This book provides the reader with an understandable introduction to the ways in which U.S. law reflects its culture and each chapter begins with questions to guide the reader, and concludes with questions for review, challenge and further understanding. Kirk W. Junker explores cultural differences, employing history, social theory, philosophy, and language as "reference frames," which are then applied to the rules and procedures of the U.S. legal system in the book’s final chapter. Through these cultural reference frames readers are provided with a set of interpretive tools to inform their understanding of the substance and institutions of the law. With a deeper understanding of this cultural context, international students will be empowered to more quickly adapt to their studies; more comprehensively understand the role of the attorney in the U.S. system; draw comparisons with their own domestic legal systems, and ultimately become more successful in their legal careers both in the U.S. and abroad.

This book offers an in-depth analysis of the differences between common law and civil law systems from various theoretical perspectives. Written by a global network of experts, it explores the topic against the background of a variety of legal traditions.Common law and civil law are typically presented as antagonistic players on a field claimed by diverse legal systems: the former being based on precedent set by judges in deciding cases before them; the latter being founded on a set of rules intended to govern the decisions of those applying them. Perceived in this manner, common law and civil law differ in terms of the (main) source(s) of law; who is to create them; who is (merely) to draw from them; and whether the law itself is pure each step of the way, or whether the law’s purity may be tarnished when confronted with a set of contingent facts. These differences have deep roots in (legal) history – roots that allow us to trace them back to distinct traditions. Nevertheless, it is questionable whether the divide thus depicted is as great as it may seem: international and supranational legal systems unconcerned by national peculiarities appear to level the playing field. A normative understanding of constitutions seems to grant ever-greater authority to High Court decisions based on thinly worded maxims in countries that adhere to the civil law tradition. The challenges contemporary regulation faces call for ever-more detailed statutes governing the decisions of judges in the common law tradition. These and similar observations demand a structural reassessment of the role of judges, the power of precedent, the limits of legislation and other features often thought to be so different in common and civil law systems. The book addresses this reassessment.

Authors from 13 countries come together in this edited volume, Common Law and Civil Law Today: Convergence and Divergence, to present different aspects of the relationship and intersections between common and civil law. Approaching the relationship between common and civil law from different perspectives and from different fields of law, this book offers an intriguing insight into the similarities, differences and connections between these two major legal traditions. This volume is divided into 3 parts and consists of 22 articles. The first part discusses the common law/civil law dichotomy in the international legal systems and theory. The second focuses on case-law and arbitration, while the third part analyses elements of common and civil law in various legal systems. By offering such a variety of approaches and voices, this book allows the reader to gain an invaluable insight into the historical, comparative and theoretical contexts of this legal dichotomy. From its carefully selected authors to its comprehensive collection of articles, this edited volume is an essential resource for students, researchers and practitioners working or studying within both legal systems.

In this book, James Stoner's purpose is to recover the common law basis of American constitutionalism. American constitutionalism in general, he argues, and judicial review in particular, cannot be fully understood without acknowledging their roots in both common law and liberal political theory. But for the most part, the common law underpinnings of constitutionalism have received short shrift.

Through six accessible essays, the author invites students of the law to look beyond accepted American legal practices. One learns why appellate courts always have an odd number of judges, why the power of judges depends partly on accurate court reporting and unitary, "opinions of the court," how common law rules can be unconstitutional, and many other pressing legal issues.