Lives of the Law: Selected Essays and Speeches: 2000-2010

by The late Tom Bingham

Overview

Tom Bingham (1933-2010) was the 'greatest judge of our time' (The Guardian), a towering figure in modern British public life who championed the rule of law and human rights inside and outside the courtroom. Lives of the Law collects Bingham's most important later writings, in which he brings his distinctive, engaging style to tell the story of the diverse lives of the law: its life in government, in business, and in human wrongdoing.

Following on from The Business of Judging (2000), the papers collected here tackle some of the major debates in British public life over the last decade, from reforming the constitution to the growth of human rights law. They offer Bingham's distinctive insight on issues such as the role of the judiciary in a democracy, the implementation of the Human Rights Act, and the development of the rule of law, in the UK and internationally.

Written in the accessible style that made The Rule of Law (2010) a popular success, the book will be essential reading for all those working in law, and an engaging inroad to understanding modern constitutional and legal debates for the general reader.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199697304
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	11/07/2011
Pages:	402
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

The late Tom Bingham occupied all of the senior judicial positions in the UK: the Master of the Rolls, from 1992-1996; the Lord Chief Justice, from 1996-2000; and the Senior Law Lord, from 2000 until his retirement in 2008. He is the author of The Business of Judging (OUP, 2000). A volume of essays in his honor, Tom Bingham and the Transformation of the Law was published by OUP in 2009.

Table of Contents

Jeffrey Jowell: Foreword
I. The Constitution and the Rule of Law
Looking Backward
1: Magna Carta
2: The Alabama Claims and the International Rule of Law
3: Dicey Revisited
4: The Evolving Constitution
5: The Old Order Changeth
Looking Forward
6: A Written Constitution?
7: The Future of the House of Lords
II. The Business of Judging
8: The Judges: Active or Passive?
9: Government and Judges: Friends or Enemies?
10: The Highest Court in the Land
III. Human Rights and Human Wrongs
11: The Human Rights Act: The View from the Bench
12: Personal Freedom and the Dilemma of Democracies
13: Habeas Corpus
14: 'The Law Favours Liberty': Slavery and the English Common Law
15: I Beg Your Pardon
IV. The Common Law
16: From Servant to Employee: A Study of the Common Law in Action
17: A Duty of Care: The Uses of Tort
18: The Law as the Handmaiden of Commerce
19: A New Thing under the Sun?: The Interpretation of Contracts and the ICS Decision
20: The Internationalization of the Common Law
V. Lives of the Law
21: Dr Johnson and the Law
22: Mr Bentham is Present

Editorial Reviews

"Few will dispute that Lord Bingham was one fo the most prolific and articulate members of the senior judiciary before his retirement and his untimely death just a few years ago. It is entirely fitting therefore that his extra-judicial writings should be brought together in collections such as this one, which reveal both his deep learning and his passion for the rule of law."
—The Commonwealth Lawyer, Vol. 21, No. 2

"The value of this publication is to provide a modern-day exposition of the best thinking behind recent constitutional changes."
—Geoffrey Robertson, NewStatesman

From the Publisher