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Understanding Jurisprudence provides an illuminating and engaging introduction to the central questions of legal theory. It is the perfect starting point for those new to the subject.
Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring Law is at the heart of every society, protecting rights, imposing duties, and establishing a framework for the conduct of almost all social, political, and economic activity. Despite this, the law often seems a highly technical, perplexing mystery, with its antiquated and often impenetrable jargon, obsolete procedures, and endless stream of complex statutes and legislation. In this Very Short Introduction Raymond Wacks introduces the major branches of the law, describing what lawyers do, and how courts operate, and considers the philosophy of law and its pursuit of justice, freedom, and equality. Wacks locates the discipline in our contem...
The concept of law lies at the heart of our social and political life, shaping the character of our community and underlying issues from racism and abortion to human rights and international war. But what actually is law? A set of naturally occurring moral principles, or simply rules agreed by a particular society? What is a 'right' and what rights should people actually have? Is law really colour-blind and gender-blind? Can the law truly tell us whether gay marriages are immoral, what's wrong with racism, or whether we should go to war? Revealing the intriguing and challenging nature of legal philosophy with clarity and enthusiasm, Raymond Wacks explores the notion of law and its role in ou...
Understanding Jurisprudence explores the concept of law and its role within society. Detailing both the traditional and modern jurisprudential theories Raymond Wacks clearly relates these often complex arguments to the nature and purpose of our current legal systems. This book reveals the intriguing and challenging nature of jurisprudence with clarity and enthusiasm. Without avoiding the complexities and subtleties of the subject, the author provides an illuminating guide to the central questions of legal theory. An experienced teacher of jurisprudence and distinguished writer in the field, his approach is stimulating, accessible, and entertaining.
Freedom of expression is a fundamental right at the heart of any democratic society. It is, however, inevitably restricted by other important values, including the right to privacy: the control individuals exercise over their sensitive personal information. The English law, since the enactment of the Human Rights Act 1998, has undergone a tectonic shift in its recognition of this right protected by Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) which the Act assimilated into domestic law. The new civil wrong, 'misuse of private information,' now affords greater protection to an individual's 'private and family life, home and correspondence.' The press is, of course, no longer th...
Does the rise of populism, authoritarianism, and nationalism threaten the welfare of the rule of law? Is this fundamental democratic ideal under siege? In this timely and important book, Raymond Wacks examines the philosophical roots of the rule of law and its modern, often contentious, interpretation. He then investigates 16 potential ideological, economic, legal, and institutional dangers to the rule of law. They range from the exercise of judicial and administrative discretion and parliamentary sovereignty, to the growth of globalisation, the 'war on terror', and the disquieting power of Big Tech. He also considers the enactment and enforcement in several countries of Draconian measures to curtail the spread of COVID-19, which has generated fears that these emergency powers may outlive the pandemic and become a permanent feature of the legal landscape, thereby impairing the rule of law. Wacks identifies which issues among this extensive array pose genuine risks to the rule of law, and suggests how they might be confronted to ensure its defence and preservation.
Professor Raymond Wacks is a leading international expert on privacy. For more than three decades he has published numerous books and articles on this controversial subject. Privacy is a fundamental value that is under attack from several quarters. Electronic surveillance, biometrics, CCTV, ID cards, RFID codes, online security, the monitoring of employees, the uses and misuses of DNA, - to name but a few - all raise fundamental questions about our right to privacy. This Very Short Introduction also analyzes the tension between free speech and privacy generated by intrusive journalism, photography, and gratuitous disclosures by the media of the private lives of celebrities. Professor Wacks concludes this stimulating introduction by considering the future of privacy in our society. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Law is at the heart of every society, protecting rights, imposing duties, and establishing a framework for the conduct of almost all social, political, and economic activity. Despite this, the law often seems a highly technical, perplexing mystery, with its antiquated and often impenetrable jargon, obsolete procedures, and endless stream of complex statutes and legislation. In this Very Short Introduction Raymond Wacks introduces the major branches of the law, describing what lawyers do, and how courts operate, and considers the philosophy of law and its pursuit of justice, freedom, and equality. In this second edition, Wacks locates the discipline in our contemporary world, considering the pressures of globalization and digitalisation and the nature of the law in our culture of threatened security and surveillance. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Some would argue that scarcely a day passes without a new assault on our privacy. In the wake of the whistle-blower Edward Snowden's revelations about the extent of surveillance conducted by the security services in the United States, Britain, and elsewhere, concerns about individual privacy have significantly increased. The Internet generates risks, unimagined even twenty years ago, to the security and integrity of information in all its forms. The manner in which information is collected, stored, exchanged, and used has changed forever; and with it, the character of the threats to individual privacy. The scale of accessible private data generated by the phenomenal growth of blogs, social m...
The Englishman's home is his castle, or so generations of Britons ha thought. The British have long been obsessed with privacy and this obsession has provoked considerable debate amongst legislators, lawyers and the media. In recent years, the controversy has raged on with, on one hand, the media claiming public interest, and on the other, public figures claiming invasion of their privacy. This title argues that the freedom of the press can be reconciled with the right of privacy. Following an account of the justification for free speech and privacy and a careful analysis of the law, the author argues that the combined force of three recent developments provides adequate means for the exercise of judicial recognition of individual's right to privacy: the expanding remedy for breach of confidence the revived action for the infliction of emotional distress and the growing influence of international recognition of "privacy" especially the jurisprudence of the European Convention of Human Rights.