This book measures contemporary attitudes to the law - within and outside of the legal profession – to see how c17th century Englishmen defined the role of law in their society, to see what their expectations were of the law and how these expectations helped shape political debate – and ultimately determined political decisions – over the course of a very turbulent century.

This book measures contemporary attitudes to the law - within and outside of the legal profession � to see how c17th century Englishmen defined the role of law in their society, to see what their expectations were of the law and how these expectations helped shape political debate � and ultimately determined political decisions � over the course of a very turbulent century.

Public Law guides students through all the essential components of the Public Law module, in a user-friendly structure that is ideal for visual learners. Written by an experienced teacher of Public Law, the book takes an accessible and engaging approach to often complex areas of law, politics and the constitution. Incorporating recent developments, academic debate and commentary, the book introduces students to all the key concepts of this core subject. The text is grounded in context, explaining how Public Law operates in practice, and it thoroughly covers the spectrum of Constitutional Law, Human Rights and Administrative Law. Integrated pedagogic features ease navigation of the text and reinforce key points. These include Public Law in Context, Recent Developments, Public Law in Practice, Practical Application and Academic Debate, and Public Law is also supported by online Multiple Choice Questions. Public Law is essential reading for modules on public law and constitutional and administrative law on LLB degrees and conversion courses.

In The Rule of Law in the Real World, Paul Gowder defends a new conception of the rule of law as the coordinated control of power and demonstrates that the rule of law, thus understood, creates and preserves social equality in a state. In a highly engaging, interdisciplinary text that moves seamlessly from theory to reality, using examples ranging from Ancient Greece through the present, Gowder sheds light on how societies have achieved the rule of law, how they have sustained it in the face of political upheaval, and how it may be measured and developed in the future. The Rule of Law in the Real World is an essential work for scholars, students, policymakers, and anyone else who believes the rule of law is critical to the proper functioning of society.

From ancient Mesopotamia to today, the epic story of how humans have used laws to forge civilizations Rulers throughout history have used laws to impose order. But laws were not simply instruments of power and social control. They also offered ordinary people a way to express their diverse visions for a better world. In The Rule of Laws, Oxford scholar Fernanda Pirie traces the rise and fall of the sophisticated legal systems underpinning ancient empires and religious traditions, while also showing how common people—tribal assemblies, merchants, farmers—called on laws to define their communities, regulate trade, and build civilizations. Although legal principles originating in Western Europe now seem to dominate the globe, the variety of the world’s laws has long been almost as great as the variety of its societies. What truly unites human beings, Pirie argues, is our very faith that laws can produce justice, combat oppression, and create order from chaos.

This is a study of law and governance in early Stuart England. It explores the use made by successive English administrations of the legal system - of courts and judges - in the pursuit of public policy.

Through an examination of the history of the rules that regulate police interrogation (the Judges' Rules) in conjunction with plea bargaining and the Criminal Procedure Rules, this book explores the 'Westminster Model' under which three arms of the State (parliament, the executive, and the judiciary) operate independently of one another. It reveals how policy was framed in secret meetings with the executive which then actively misled parliament in contradiction to its ostensible formal relationship with the legislature. This analysis of Home Office archives shows how the worldwide significance of the Judges' Rules was secured not simply by the standing of the English judiciary and the political power of the empire but more significantly by the false representation that the Rules were the handiwork of judges rather than civil servants and politicians. The book critically examines the claim repeatedly advanced by judges that "judicial independence" is justified by principles arising from the "rule of law" and instead shows that the "rule of law" depends upon basic principles of the common law, including an adversarial process and trial by jury, and that the underpinnings of judicial action in criminal justice today may be ideological rather than based on principles.