Full Description
This title was first published in 2000: This volume of essays explores a number of fundamental constitutional law questions in a variety of historical and jurisdictional contexts. The contributions focus on the role to be played by courts and legal principles in the resolution of major political controversies and on the progressive development of constitutional jurisprudence in countries sharing a broadly common law legal tradition. The guiding theme pervading the collection is an attempt to measure the legitimacy of judicial (in-)activism when courts are faced with difficult political choices on matters such as slavery, internment, racism and voting rights and radical economic policies and are also confronted with the requirement to attach concrete meanings to such abstract concepts as the separation of powers and the rule of law.
Contents
Contents: General Principles: The rule of law and its virtue, Joseph Raz; Toward neutral principles of constitutional law, Herbert Weschler. On Slavery: The Dred Scott decision in the light of contemporary legal doctrines, Edward S. Corwin; Somerset: Lord Mansfield and the legitimacy of slavery in the Anglo-American world, William M. Wiecek. On Social and Economic Rights Prior to the Keynesian Orthodoxy: Liberty of contract, Roscoe Pound; Judicial review of social policy in England, Harold J. Laski. On the Liberty of the Person in Time of War, The Japanese American cases - a disaster, Eugene V. Rostow; Liversidge v Anderson in retrospect, R.V.F. Heuston. The South(ern) African Crisis of the 1890s and 1950s: Constitutionalism in the South African Republics, L.M. Thompson; The entrenched sections of the South Africa Act: 2 great legal battles, Denis V. Cowan. Changing Perceptions of the United Kingdom Parliament: The basis of legal sovereignty, W.H.R. Wade; Sovereignty of the United Kingdom Parliament after factortame, P.P. Craig. Canada - a Via Media between British and American Principle?: Law, convention and prerogative: reflections prompted by the Canadian constitutional case, T.R.S. Allan. Freedom of Expression and Political Accountability: The New York Times case: a note on 'the central meaning of the 1st Amendment', Harry Kalven Jr; Engineers is dead, long live the engineers, George Williams; Name index.
