Providing information about the Mental Health Act, this guide is useful for those implementing or advising on this area of law. It brings together the Act, the Code of Practice and related subordinate legislation. It also includes relevant extracts from the Human Rights Act, and outlines the responsibilities and obligation of the parties involved

The legal processes are also explored, along with a consideration of Spain's relationship with the ECU and how EC law has affected the Spanish national laws.

The Spanish Legal System provides a straightforward and logical introduction to the Spanish legal system for English readers. No other general text in English explains the history, sources, institutions, court structures and the main principles of procedure of the Spanish legal system. Spanish legal concepts and terminology are clearly explained, and emphasis is placed on the distinctive characteristics of the Spanish system, such as the co-existence of regional and national civil law, the territorial and political division of the State into Autonomous Communities and the relationship between central State legislation and autonomous legislation. No previous knowledge of the system is assumed and readers need not be Spanish linguists nor have access to original source material. Highlights distinctions between the civil and common law systems. Introductory guide assuming no previous knowledge of the subject. Detailed glossary.

Spain's colonial rule rested on a judicial system that resolved conflicts and meted out justice. But just how was this legal order imposed throughout the New World? Re-created here from six hundred civil and criminal cases are the procedural and ethical workings of the law in two of Spain's remote colonies--New Mexico and Texas in the eighteenth century. Professor Cutter challenges the traditional view that the legal system was inherently corrupt and irrelevant to the mass of society, and that local judicial officials were uninformed and inept. Instead he found that even in peripheral areas the lowest-level officials--thealcaldeor town magistrate--had a greater impact on daily life and a keener understanding of the law than previously acknowledged by historians. These local officials exhibited flexibility and sensitivity to frontier conditions, and their rulings generally conformed to community expectations of justice. By examining colonial legal culture, Cutter reveals the attitudes of settlers, their notions of right and wrong, and how they fixed a boundary between proper and improper actions. "A superlative work."--Marc Simmons, author ofSpanish Government in New Mexico

Derived from the renowned multi-volume International Encyclopaedia of Laws, this very useful analysis of constitutional law in Spain provides essential information on the country’s sources of constitutional law, its form of government, and its administrative structure. Lawyers who handle transnational matters will appreciate the clarifications of particular terminology and its application. Throughout the book, the treatment emphasizes the specific points at which constitutional law affects the interpretation of legal rules and procedure. Thorough coverage by a local expert fully describes the political system, the historical background, the role of treaties, legislation, jurisprudence, and administrative regulations. The discussion of the form and structure of government outlines its legal status, the jurisdiction and workings of the central state organs, the subdivisions of the state, its decentralized authorities, and concepts of citizenship. Special issues include the legal position of aliens, foreign relations, taxing and spending powers, emergency laws, the power of the military, and the constitutional relationship between church and state. Details are presented in such a way that readers who are unfamiliar with specific terms and concepts in varying contexts will fully grasp their meaning and significance. Its succinct yet scholarly nature, as well as the practical quality of the information it provides, make this book a valuable time-saving tool for both practising and academic jurists. Lawyers representing parties with interests in Spain will welcome this guide, and academics and researchers will appreciate its value in the study of comparative constitutional law.