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Essays describing the legal profession in the civil law world.
Vincenzo Tomeo’s pioneering research in the 1960s and 1970s drew attention to the importance of popular culture in our understanding of the operation of the justice system. He was the first to recognize that how laws are interpreted and put into effect depends heavily on how the public understand them. This understanding comes from the ideas and understanding which the public have about the justice system. These ideas, in an era of mass popular culture, come largely from film. In his groundbreaking research he examined how judges and the police were viewed in popular film. He also stressed the importance of popular culture as opposed to classical accounts of law and justice and showed how these meshed with law and justice on film. The Judge on the Screen preceded the attention paid to popular culture by over a decade and provided empirical data some thirty years before any such work was carried out by Anglo-American and other European scholars. This classic work now appears for the first time in an English translation with additional supporting materials.
The accession of eight post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe (and also of Malta and Cyprus) to the European Union in 2004 has been heralded as perhaps the most important development in the history of European integration so far. While the impact of the enlargement on the constitutional structures and practices of the EU has already generated a rich scholarly literature, the influence of the accession on constitutionalism, democracy, human rights and the rule of law among the new member states has been largely ignored. This book fills this gap, and addresses the question of the consequences of the "external force" of European enlargement upon the understanding and practice of democracy and the rule of law and among both the main legal-political actors and the general public in the new member-states. A number of leading legal scholars, sociologists and political scientists, both from Central and Eastern Europe and from outside, address these issues in a systematic and critical way. Taken together, these essays help answer a fundamental question: does the European Union have the potential of promoting and consolidate democracy and human rights?
From Old Times to New Europe considers the post-totalitarian legal framework in today's Europe, arguing that the study of totalitarianism and post-totalitarianism continues to be significant as ever. Drawing mainly on the Polish experience, this analysis focuses on the significant part played by history in the development of the region's identity and preferences concerning the role of the state in public and private life. It examines the political, socio-economic and legal aspects of key events and draws comparisons with other CEE states, whilst implementing key socio-legal theories to explain trends and strains in this post-Communist and post-totalitarian period. With the benefit of access to archival sources in Poland and Russia, this book will be of interest to students and researchers of European law, law and society and international criminal justice.
First Published in 1997. During the 1990s transnational criminal organizations of all kinds have received increased scrutiny from law enforcement agencies, intelligence analysts, and academic researchers. While there are many differences of both interpretation and assessment regarding a whole range of issues, divisions are particularly acute in the area of Russian organized crime. This title gives a brief history of Russian Organized Crime before exploring recent trends, major mafia gangs and their relationship overseas.
Exploring the relationship between gender and law in Europe from the nineteenth century to present, this collection examines the recent feminisation of justice, its historical beginnings and the impact of gendered constructions on jurisprudence. It looks at what influenced the breakthrough of women in the judicial world and what gender factors determine the position of women at the various levels of the legal system. Every chapter in this book addresses these issues either from the point of view of women's legal history, or from that of gendered legal cultures. With contributions from scholars with expertise in the major regions of Europe, this book demonstrates a commitment to a methodological framework that is sensitive to the intersection of gender theory, legal studies and public policy, and that is based on historical methodologies. As such the collection offers a valuable contribution both to women's history research, and the wider development of European legal history.
Why do some lawyers devote themsevles to a specific social movement or political cause? What can we learn from such lawyers about the relationship between law and politics. CAUSE LAWYERING offers an insightful portrait of lawyers who sacrifice financial advantage in the name of a more just society. These telling essays show how cause lawyering is indispensable to the legitimization of professional authority.
This original book challenges the assumption that the post-war period is hallmarked by the triumph of the rule of law. It presents a sophisticated interpretation of the true role played by law in modern society, sidestepping the usual emphasis in legal theory on normative questions. Tim Murphy approaches his subject by focusing on adjudication as a social practice and as a set of governmental techniques. From this viewpoint, he explores how the relationship between law, government and society has changed in the course of history in significant ways. In so doing, he addresses the central concerns of scholars, students, and the public in relation to the future of law.
During the 1990s, reforms in the English legal profession transformed traditions, over the vigorous objections of the judiciary, Bar, and Law Society. This book mines that tumultuous period for insights into the prospects of professionalism in the 21st century.