Hugh Collins – författare

In this introduction to Marxism and the law, Hugh Collins presents a unified and coherent view of Marxism, which he uses to examine the specific characteristics of legal institutions, rules, and ideals. He pays particular attention to the place of ideology in law, the distinction between base and superstructure, and the destiny of law in a Communist society.His principal theme is the Marxist critique of the ideal of the Rule of Law. He argues that the main purpose of a Marxist theory of law is to expose the belief in the Rule of Law as being a subtle and pervasive ideology which serves to obscure the structures of class domination within the State.The author frequently subjects the Marxist approach to criticism and he shows that many of the Marxist claims about law are unproven or misconceived. The book is written in straightforward non-technical language which requires no knowledge of either Marxism or law.

The latest title in the Oxford Monographs on Labour Law series, this study elucidates the general legal rules and principles of the law of unfair dismissal, as well as offering an account of the social, political, and philosophical context in which the idea of protection from `unfair dismissal at work' has developed and currently operates, and will appeal not only to legal academics working in the field of labour law but also to readers interested in jurisprudence and legal theory.

Using an interdisciplinary approach involving economics, sociology, and law, Regulating Contracts explores fundamental questions about contracts and legal regulation. What kind of social relation do contracts create, or, more precisely, how do contracts cover social interaction? How are contractual relations or more generally markets constructed? Does the law play a significant role in contractual practices, and in particular what do lawyers, courts, and legal sanctions contribute to the contractual social order? For what distributive purposes does the law attempt regulation? The controversial conclusions of this study suggest that the law plays an insignificant role in the construction of markets, and that law and lawyers could provide better assistance by using indeterminate regulation that permits the recontextualization of legal reasoning. Legal regulation of contracts concerned with redistributive tasks, such as redress of unfairness, countering unjust power relations, and access to justice, is evaluated both with respect to the objectives of regulation and the search for the most efficient and efficacious form of regulation.

The contract of employment is the central legal institution of modern English employment law. It provides the foundation upon which most statutory employment rights are constructed; it provides a conduit for the implementation of norms negotiated in collective bargaining; and it continues to provide a contractual structure for the terms and conditions of employment for a significant proportion of the working population. The Contract of Employment provides the most ambitious and comprehensive treatise on the theoretical and doctrinal aspects of the English contract of employment in the common law world. Under the general editorship of Professor Mark Freedland, the text has been produced by a team of world leading experts in employment law. Part I examines the theoretical context to the contract of employment, studying its structure and development from a wide variety of theoretical and comparative perspectives. Part II provides an exposition and analysis of the doctrinal aspects of the contract of employment. The coverage of The Contract of Employment is unrivalled in its depth, detail and sophistication. The legal analysis is always informed by a keen sense of the modern labour market context of the contract of employment, and it is sensitive to contemporary challenges such as precariousness, the interaction with migration law, the role of legislation in the contract of employment, and the decline of collective bargaining. It will be the principal reference point for the practitioners, judges, and academics concerned with the contract of employment as a legal category, both nationally and internationally.

This collection of essays presents an interdisciplinary investigation by lawyers and philosophers into the philosophical ideas, concepts, and principles that provide the foundation for the field of labour law and employment law. The book addresses the doubts that have been expressed about whether a body of labour law that protects workers is needed at all, what should be regarded as the proper scope of the field in the light of developments such as the integration of work and home life by means of technology, the globalization of the economy, and the precarious kinds of work that thrive in the gig economy. Paying particular attention to political philosophy and theories of justice, the contributions focus on four themes: I. freedom, dignity, and human rights; II. distributive justice and exploitation; III. workplace democracy and self-determination; and IV. social inclusion.

Using an interdisciplinary approach involving economics, sociology and law, Regulating Contracts explores fundamental questions about the purposes and effects of legal regulation of contractual relationships. What kind of social relation do contracts create, or, more precisely, how do contracts govern social interaction. How are contractual relations, or more generally, markets constructed? Does the law play a significant role in particular practices, and in particular, what do lawyers, courts, and legal sanctions contribute to the contractual social order? For what distributive purposes does the law attempt regulation?The controversial conclusions of this study suggest that the law plays an insignificant role in the construction of markets, and that law and lawyers could provide better assistance by using indeterminate regulation that permits the recontextualization of legal reasoning. Legal regulation of contracts concerned with redistributive tasks, such as redressing unfairness, countering unjust power relations, and improving access to justice, is evaluated both with respect to the objectives of regulation and the search for the most efficient and efficacious form of regulation.The argument in the book is that control of unfairness is both desirable and practicable, that power relations should be modified for the sake of efficiency, and that better access to justice is unhelpful to the resolution of contractual disputes.

This updated edition offers a fresh approach to the law governing employment relations, emphasising the contemporary policy themes of social inclusion, competitiveness, and the rights of citizenship in the workplace. It acts as a succinct and accessible overview for those new to the subject as well as an excellent summary for students.Employment Law covers all the main areas of the subject including contracts of employment, anti-discrimination law, trade unions, industrial action, and human rights in the workplace. It also discusses how UK law, under the influence of EU law and international protection of human rights, has been transformed for the twenty-first century by pursuing new goals such as helping to achieve a better balance between work and life, to improve the competitiveness of business through partnership institutions, and to provide superior protection for the basic rights of employees in the workplace. Offering frequent comparisons with the law of other countries, including the United States, the book also discusses the effectiveness of employment regulation as well as examining the different national and transnational methods available.

This updated edition offers a fresh approach to the law governing employment relations, emphasising the contemporary policy themes of social inclusion, competitiveness, and the rights of citizenship in the workplace. It acts as a succinct and accessible overview for those new to the subject as well as an excellent summary for students.Employment Law covers all the main areas of the subject including contracts of employment, anti-discrimination law, trade unions, industrial action, and human rights in the workplace. It also discusses how UK law, under the influence of EU law and international protection of human rights, has been transformed for the twenty-first century by pursuing new goals such as helping to achieve a better balance between work and life, to improve the competitiveness of business through partnership institutions, and to provide superior protection for the basic rights of employees in the workplace. Offering frequent comparisons with the law of other countries, including the United States, the book also discusses the effectiveness of employment regulation as well as examining the different national and transnational methods available.

This book provides an accessible introduction to jurisprudence and legal theory. It sets out a course of study that offers a highly effective series of introductions into a wide variety of theories and theoretical perspectives, from traditional approaches such as Natural Law to modern ones such as Feminist Theory, Economic Analysis of Law and Foucault and Law, _ The book is designed for students of jurisprudence and legal theory, but it will also assist those studying law and legal systems within courses on Political Science, Philosophy and Sociology.

Previous editions of this text have consistently been a favourite amongst common law lawyers. This new edition has been brought fully up-to-date and will be of interest to those studying 'advanced' obligations/common law modules. Undergraduates who study contract courses with a strong socio-legal tradition will also find this text invaluable as it uniquely grounds the nature of contract law in its social and political context.

Hugh Collins argues that the European Union should develop a civil code to provide uniform rules for contracts, property rights and protection against civil wrongs, thus drawing together the differing national traditions with respect to the detailed regulation of civil society. The benefits of such a code would lie not so much in facilitating cross border trade, but in establishing foundations for a denser network of transnational relations of civil society, which in turn would help to overcome the present popular resistance to effective and functional political institutions at a European level. These principled foundations for a more inclusive and less balkanised civil society in Europe also provide elements of a required European social model that offers necessary safeguards for consumers, workers and disadvantaged groups against the pressures of market forces in an increasingly global economic system.

Hugh Collins argues that the European Union should develop a civil code to provide uniform rules for contracts, property rights and protection against civil wrongs, thus drawing together the differing national traditions with respect to the detailed regulation of civil society. The benefits of such a code would lie not so much in facilitating cross border trade, but in establishing foundations for a denser network of transnational relations of civil society, which in turn would help to overcome the present popular resistance to effective and functional political institutions at a European level. These principled foundations for a more inclusive and less balkanised civil society in Europe also provide elements of a required European social model that offers necessary safeguards for consumers, workers and disadvantaged groups against the pressures of market forces in an increasingly global economic system.

Labour Law, now in its third edition, is a well established text which offers a comprehensive and critical account of the subject by a team of leading labour lawyers. It examines both collective labour relations and individual employment rights, including equality law, and does so while having full regard to the international labour standards as well as the implications of Brexit. Case studies and reports from government and other public agencies illuminate the text to show how the law works in practice, ensuring that students acquire not only a sophisticated knowledge of the law but also an appreciation of its purpose and the complexity of the issues which it addresses.

Labour Law, now in its third edition, is a well established text which offers a comprehensive and critical account of the subject by a team of leading labour lawyers. It examines both collective labour relations and individual employment rights, including equality law, and does so while having full regard to the international labour standards as well as the implications of Brexit. Case studies and reports from government and other public agencies illuminate the text to show how the law works in practice, ensuring that students acquire not only a sophisticated knowledge of the law but also an appreciation of its purpose and the complexity of the issues which it addresses.

Well-functioning contract law is a crucial prerequisite for economic development. However, even though international trade has increased enormously in recent decades, we still know little about the contract enforcement mechanisms that exist in today's globalised markets. The aim of this work is to shed light on the governance of complex cross-border contracts by developing a comprehensive theoretical framework for understanding the relevance of both formal and informal institutions. This framework is then applied to an empirical study of cross-border software development contracts. Combining a unique data set of 41 qualitative expert interviews with statistical data and surveys, the author demonstrates that state contract laws show fundamental signs of dysfunction across borders. Companies engaged in globalised exchange therefore rarely use this mechanism. Even the European Union's supranational enforcement order is, in practice, insignificant. Against all expectations, international commercial arbitration also turns out to be limited in its ability to provide a workable legal infrastructure for global commerce. With global trade lacking a reliable formal legal order, companies have reacted by creating their own informal governance structures. This book explains how complex exchange in global markets has emerged in the absence of a global legal order.

Indirect discrimination (or disparate impact) concerns the application of the same rule to everyone, even though that rule significantly disadvantages one particular group in society. Ever since its recognition by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1971, liberal democracies around the world have grappled with the puzzle that it can sometimes be unfair and wrong to treat everyone equally. The law’s regulation of private acts that unintentionally (but disproportionately) harm vulnerable groups has remained extremely controversial, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom. In original essays in this volume, leading scholars of discrimination law from North America and Europe explore the various facets of the law on indirect discrimination, interrogating its foundations, history, legitimacy, purpose, structure, and relationship with other legal concepts. The collection provides the first international work devoted to this vital area of the law that seeks both to prevent unfair treatment and to transform societies.Cited by Justice Miller in R v Sharma, 2020 ONCA 478, Court of Appeal for Ontario, 24 July 2020; by Justice Abella in Fraser v Canada (Attorney General), 2020 SCC 28, Supreme Court of Canada, 16 October 2020; and by Justice Chandrachud in Nitisha v Union of India, WP(C) No-001109 - 2020, Supreme Court of India, 25 March 2021.

Corporate social responsibility codes are guidelines that companies voluntarily develop and publish with the objective of showing the public their commitment to respect human rights, to improve fundamental workplace standards worldwide and to protect the natural environment. These corporate codes have become a crucial element in the regulatory architecture for globally operating companies. By focusing on the characteristics of the codes, their effects on society and their legal consequences, this book seeks to provide a comprehensive analysis of corporate codes and the law. Enforcing Corporate Social Responsibility Codes develops proposals on the relationship between global corporate self-regulation and the national private law systems. It uses methods of comparative law and sociological jurisprudence to argue that national private law can, and in fact should, enforce these codes as genuine legal obligations. The author formulates legal policy recommendations for English and German private law that indicate how the proposed legal enforcement could be realised in practice.The dissertation on which this book is based was awarded the second prize in the humanities category of the Deutscher Studienpreis (German Thesis Award) by the Koerber Foundation in November 2015.

In this important compendium, one of the leading scholars of EU law and its legal framework, reflects on his previous writings in the context of current challenges the European project is facing. More than a simple restatement, it offers an important theoretical comment at this defining time for EU law. The author offers a welcome counterbalance to what some perceive to be a surfeit of optimism when assessing the EU and its development. In so doing, Professor Joerges identifies three flaws in the current European ideology. Firstly, he points to the intellectual weakness of the “integration through law” ideology. Secondly, the book sets out the systematic neglect of “the economic” and its political dynamics. Finally, it addresses the complacency with respect to Europe’s darker legacies. This is an important critical (and candid) assessment of Europe at its half century.

With the rise of automation and artificial intelligence, the companies that will succeed in the future are those who operate under a constant state of innovation. Not just that, they will often need to ensure that they pursue ‘open innovation’.This book explores the contractual basis for innovation, examining the legal challenges raised by contracts to innovate. Offering a dual perspective, it takes an empirical approach to examine how agreements are structured to overcome the inherent uncertainty implicit in innovative activity. It also presents a legal framework for contracts to innovate, based on the duty of loyalty to the contractual network, which could provide guidance to navigate the uncertainty of these relationships.

This book analyses enrichment law and its development and underpinning in social culture within three geographical regions: the United States, western members of the European Union and the late Ottoman Empire. These regions correspond, though imperfectly, with three different legal traditions: the American, continental and Islamic traditions. The book argues that we should understand law as a mimetic artefact. In so doing, it explains how typical patterns and exemplary articulations of wrongful enrichment law capture and reiterate vocal cultural themes found in the respective regions. The book identifies remarkable affinities between poetic tendencies, structures and default dispositions of wrongful enrichment law and cultural world views. It offers bold accounts of each region’s law and culture providing fertile grounds for external and comparative elucidations of the legal doctrine.

Should workers ever lose their job because of their political views or affiliations? Should female employees be entitled to wear a headscarf in the workplace for religious reasons? Can it ever be right for an employer to dismiss someone for personal activities undertaken in their leisure time? What restrictions, if any, should be placed on the right to strike ?Engagingly written, this innovative new textbook provides an entry point for exploring these and other topical issues, enabling students to analyse the applicability of human rights to disputes between employers and workers in the UK. It offers an original perspective on the traditional topics of employment law as well as looking in greater depth at new issues, such as employees’ use of social media or the enforcement of human rights in the gig economy.Uniquely, the book considers the most important international Conventions that are relevant for the law in the UK, especially the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Social Charter, Conventions of the International Labour Organisation, and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.A central question that each of the chapters addresses is whether UK employment law is compatible with human rights law. Each chapter discusses all the key cases drawn from various jurisdictions, including the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights.Written by a stellar team of authors, this textbook is an invaluable teaching aid for both postgraduate and undergraduate students studying employment law, human rights, human resource management, and industrial relations.

Indirect discrimination (or disparate impact) concerns the application of the same rule to everyone, even though that rule significantly disadvantages one particular group in society. Ever since its recognition by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1971, liberal democracies around the world have grappled with the puzzle that it can sometimes be unfair and wrong to treat everyone equally. The law’s regulation of private acts that unintentionally (but disproportionately) harm vulnerable groups has remained extremely controversial, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom. In original essays in this volume, leading scholars of discrimination law from North America and Europe explore the various facets of the law on indirect discrimination, interrogating its foundations, history, legitimacy, purpose, structure, and relationship with other legal concepts. The collection provides the first international work devoted to this vital area of the law that seeks both to prevent unfair treatment and to transform societies.Cited by Justice Miller in R v Sharma, 2020 ONCA 478, Court of Appeal for Ontario, 24 July 2020; by Justice Abella in Fraser v Canada (Attorney General), 2020 SCC 28, Supreme Court of Canada, 16 October 2020; and by Justice Chandrachud in Nitisha v Union of India, WP(C) No-001109 - 2020, Supreme Court of India, 25 March 2021.

With the rise of automation and artificial intelligence, the companies that will succeed in the future are those who operate under a constant state of innovation. Not just that, they will often need to ensure that they pursue ‘open innovation’.This book explores the contractual basis for innovation, examining the legal challenges raised by contracts to innovate. Offering a dual perspective, it takes an empirical approach to examine how agreements are structured to overcome the inherent uncertainty implicit in innovative activity. It also presents a legal framework for contracts to innovate, based on the duty of loyalty to the contractual network, which could provide guidance to navigate the uncertainty of these relationships.

This book analyses what elements of legal regulation would best resolve the longstanding issues of imposition of terms and unfair terms in boilerplate ‘contracts of adhesion’. The problem is not a new one, first recognised by Sir Frederick Pollock, but it has persisted over the intervening years. So though the question is a longstanding one, the answer provided by the book is truly innovative. It adopts a ‘law in context’ methodology to offer solutions. The new methodological approach is combined with insights from global regulatory theory and cutting edge solutions such as private collectivised proceedings and remedies, streamlined adjudication, and administrative enforcement systems. It takes a global approach, looking at models in the US, Canada, the UK, and the EU. As the use of boilerplates is set only to increase as privatisation and globalisation spread, the answers provided by this book are much needed.

In this important compendium, one of the leading scholars of EU law and its legal framework, reflects on his previous writings in the context of current challenges the European project is facing. More than a simple restatement, it offers an important theoretical comment at this defining time for EU law. The author offers a welcome counterbalance to what some perceive to be a surfeit of optimism when assessing the EU and its development. In so doing, Professor Joerges identifies three flaws in the current European ideology. Firstly, he points to the intellectual weakness of the “integration through law” ideology. Secondly, the book sets out the systematic neglect of “the economic” and its political dynamics. Finally, it addresses the complacency with respect to Europe’s darker legacies. This is an important critical (and candid) assessment of Europe at its half century.

Should workers ever lose their job because of their political views or affiliations? Should female employees be entitled to wear a headscarf in the workplace for religious reasons? Can it ever be right for an employer to dismiss someone for personal activities undertaken in their leisure time? What restrictions, if any, should be placed on the right to strike ?Engagingly written, this innovative new textbook provides an entry point for exploring these and other topical issues, enabling students to analyse the applicability of human rights to disputes between employers and workers in the UK. It offers an original perspective on the traditional topics of employment law as well as looking in greater depth at new issues, such as employees’ use of social media or the enforcement of human rights in the gig economy.Uniquely, the book considers the most important international Conventions that are relevant for the law in the UK, especially the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Social Charter, Conventions of the International Labour Organisation, and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.A central question that each of the chapters addresses is whether UK employment law is compatible with human rights law. Each chapter discusses all the key cases drawn from various jurisdictions, including the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights.Written by a stellar team of authors, this textbook is an invaluable teaching aid for both postgraduate and undergraduate students studying employment law, human rights, human resource management, and industrial relations.

This book provides the philosophical foundations for the application of constitutional rights in private law—and more broadly, for social justice-oriented private law reform.It does this by connecting lessons from political and moral philosophy to those from constitutional and private law theories about their nature and limits. This allows the author to construct a framework for bringing constitutional rights and social justice to bear on private law’s ongoing operation. This is an impressively rigorous analytical work, which will be widely welcomed by private lawyers, legal theorists and social rights scholars.

This book examines the English and German version of the numerus clausus principle which holds that there is a closed list of permitted property rights. It challenges recent views that the principle renders property law inflexible and unable to accommodate social and economic changes. Relying on a novel approach combining property theory and comparative research of English and German law, it argues that the restrictions the principle imposes on the creation of new property types actually does accommodate social changes through a process of ‘functional transformation’ of the existing property rights. This is a fascinating, unique study, that makes a rigorous, original contribution to property law theory.