European law, including both civil law and common law, has gone through several major phases of expansion in the world. European legal history thus also is a history of legal transplants and cultural borrowings, which national legal histories as products of nineteenth-century historicism have until recently largely left unconsidered. The Handbook of European Legal History supplies its readers with an overview of the different phases of European legal history in the light of today's state-of-the-art research, by offering cutting-edge views on research questions currently emerging in international discussions. The Handbook takes a broad approach to its subject matter both nationally and systemically. Unlike traditional European legal histories, which tend to concentrate on "heartlands" of Europe (notably Italy and Germany), the Europe of the Handbook is more versatile and nuanced, taking into consideration the legal developments in Europe's geographical "fringes" such as Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. The Handbook covers all major time periods, from the ancient Greek law to the twenty-first century. Contributors include acknowledged leaders in the field as well as rising talents, representing a wide range of legal systems, methodologies, areas of expertise and research agendas.

A course on the Scottish legal system is a compulsory part of undergraduate degrees in Scots Law. The Scottish Legal System sets out to present the 'legal system and law of Scotland as a unique and constantly changing human enterprise' and places the Scottish legal system in its broader political and social contexts. This is achieved by covering not only the central aspects of the system, such as the courts and the legal profession, but also the border areas with constitutional law and jurisprudence. This new sixth edition includes new case law on devolution and human rights issues in Scotland. This well established text provides an up-to-date treatment of all significant developments affecting the Scottish legal system.

This book is the first monograph to analyse the workings of Scotland’s legal profession in its early modern European context. It is a comprehensive survey of lawyers working in the local and central courts; investigating how they interacted with their clients and with each other, the legal principles governing ethical practice, and how they fulfilled a social role through providing free services to the poor and also services to town councils and other corporations. Based heavily on a wide range of archival sources, and reflecting the contemporary importance of local societies of lawyers, John Finlay offers a groundbreaking yet accessible study of the eighteenth-century legal profession which adds a new dimension to our knowledge of Enlightenment Scotland.

Brings together 15 principal essays by David Sellar (1941-2019), reflecting his pioneering contribution to Scottish legal history, covering the topics of Celtic law and institutions, the influence of Canon and English law across a wide range of legal subjects (including family law, succession, criminal law, evidence) and customary law.

The first comprehensive account of how the law and practice of child protection in Scotland has developed from its earliest origins to the present day, within the context of a changing world Key FeaturesPlaces the Scottish juvenile court in worldwide perspective and explores why the juvenile court ideals remain central to the contemporary children's hearing system in Scotland, dealing with both child offenders and neglected and abused children.Gives detailed analysis of the legislation and explores the parliamentary debates surrounding Acts including the Children Act 1908, the Adoption of Children (Scotland) Act 1930, the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Acts 1932 and 1937, the Children Act 1948, the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 and the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014Preserves in accessible form many long-forgotten legal and social aims, cases and secondary legislation Kenneth Norrie traces the assumptions that underlay child protection law at particular periods of time and identifies the pressures for change - giving a clearer understanding of how and why the contemporary law is designed and operates as it does.Particular issues are traced in legislative detail, including court processes, the changing thresholds for state intervention, the increasing regulation of children's homes and foster care, the developing rules on corporal punishment and the earlier practice of compulsory emigration to the colonies of children removed from their parents. The transformation of adoption is also covered in comprehensive detail. In drawing out key themes and common threads, Norrie sets contemporary developments against their historical context and offers a fuller understanding of child protection law in Scotland.

Scots Criminal Law "e; A Critical Analysis provides a clear statement of the current law for students and practitioners, with a theoretical and critical focus. This new edition has been updated to reflect changes in the law since the first edition publishe