Civilrätt

Boken Civilrätt är en mer än 100-årig klassiker. Den ger en introduktion till civilrätten.

Efter en inledande översikt av rättsordningen behandlas centrala delar av civilrätten:

allmän förmögenhetsrätt särskilda avtalstyper immaterialrätt fastighetsrätt associationsrätt och arbetsrätt skadeståndsrätt och försäkringsrätt familjerätt och successionsrätt.

I denna 28:e upplaga har omfattande ändringar gjorts på arbetsrättens område. På grund av den nya lagen om företagsrekonstruktion är det avsnittet omskrivet. Avsnittet om upphovsrätt har också reviderats med anledning av nya lagregler. I övrigt har uppdateringar gjorts på grund av nya lagregler om kvarglömd egendom, distansavtal, betalningar, utmätning, bostadsrätter och skadestånd.

Till denna bok hör Civilrätt Övningsbok av Stefan Zetterström, som också utkommit i en ny uppdaterad upplaga. Köps separat.

Om författareC.G. Björling var bokens ursprungliga författare. Han efterträddes av Åke Malmström som efterträddes av Anders Agell. Tore Sigeman författade under kapitlet om arbetsrätt. Sedan 2010 är Christina Ramberg ansvarig för revidering av boken.

Civilrätten rör relationer mellan enskilda personer eller företag – i handeln, på arbetsplatsen, i familjerelationer med mera. I Civilrättens grunder belyses hela civilrätten. Boken är avsedd att läsas vid allehanda universitetsutbildningar, antingen som introduktionsbok eller som enda bok beroende på utbildningens inriktning. Den kan med fördel även användas som komplement på mer avancerade kurser. Framställningen ger en systematisk överblick och framhäver sambanden mellan olika delar av civilrätten. På de centrala områdena – rörande olika slags avtal, skadestånd och familjejuridik – är boken tillräcklig som handbok för många praktiskt verksamma och i privatlivet.

Med fler än 700 frågor – inklusive svar och lösningar – är Civilrätt Övningsbok ett heltäckande komplement till den klassiska boken Malmströms Civilrätt. Boken kan dock även användas fristående.

Boken är avsedd för både studenten och läraren. Ytterligare inlärningsstöd ges genom ett antal övningstentor och korsord.

Till sin struktur bygger frågedelen på samma avsnittsindelning som huvudboken. Kortsvarsfrågorna syftar främst till att studenten ska lära sig olika begrepp, deras innebörd och betydelse. De problemorienterade frågorna är i huvudsak utformade som hypotetiska fall, vilka resulterar i olika rättsliga konflikter som studenten ställs inför. Svaren till frågorna baseras på Civilrätt och aktuell författningstext – det krävs inga andra kunskapskällor.

Övningsboken till Civilrätt följer såväl upplägg som omarbetningar av Civilrätt.

Om författarenStefan Zetterström är jur. kand. och universitetsadjunkt i civilrätt vid Juridiska fakulteten, Uppsala universitet. Han har tidigare gett ut flera läroböcker.

Dagligen uppstår frågor av civilrättslig karaktär som polisen på ett eller annat sätt måste ta ställning till i sin dagliga verksamhet. Som exempel kan nämnas allemansrätten och hittegodslagen men även frågor om vad som gäller i förhållande till störande grannar. Många straffbestämmelser grundas på civilrättsliga begrepp. Vid brottsutredningar är det viktigt att känna till dessa. Så är t ex fallet med många förmögenhetsbrott respektive förfalskningsbrott. Några exempel på sådana grundbegrepp är äganderätt, besittning, fullmakt och urkund. I konflikter och våld i nära relationer eller mellan grannar har kunskaper i familjerätt respektive hyresrätt ofta visat sig vara av stort värde i kommunikationen med parterna. Här kan särskilt nämnas ändringar i Jordabalken som har förbättrat villkoren för en hyresgäst som utsatts för våld av en närstående att få överta ett hyreskontrakt. Därför behandlas dessa ändringar utförligt i denna upplaga. Boken är en handledning i när polisen får, respektive inte får, befatta sig med civilrättsliga problem. När polisen inte får agera, ges råd om vilken information som kan lämnas. Efterfrågan på denna bok har varit så stor, att vi nu har valt att ge ut en ny uppdaterad femte upplaga. Författarna har samtliga erfarenhet av praktisk juridisk verksamhet varför även denna upplaga har fått en klar och pedagogisk utformning. Redaktionellt ansvarig är jur.dr. Gösta Westerlund.

Private Security and the Law, Fourth Edition, is a unique resource that provides a comprehensive analysis of practices in the security industry as they relate to law, regulation, licensure, and constitutional questions of case and statutory authority. It is an authoritative, scholarly treatise that serves as a solid introduction for students regarding the legal and ethical standards that shape the industry.

The book takes you step-by-step through the analysis of case law as it applies to situations commonly faced by security practitioners. It describes the legal requirements faced by security firms and emphasizes the liability problems common to security operations, including negligence and tortious liability, civil actions frequently litigated, and strategies to avoid legal actions that affect business efficiency. It also examines the constitutional and due-process dimensions of private security both domestically and internationally, including recent cases and trends that are likely to intensify in the future. New features of this edition include: a chapter on the legal implications of private contractors operating in war zones like Afghanistan; updated coverage of statutory authority, as well as state and federal processes of oversight and licensure; and special analysis of public-private cooperative relationships in law enforcement. A historical background helps readers understand the present by seeing the full context of recent developments.

This book will appeal to: students in physical security, security management, and criminal justice programs in traditional and for-profit schools; security professionals; and those working in law enforcement.

Authoritative, scholarly treatise sheds light on this increasingly important area of the law Historical background helps readers understand the present by seeing the full context of recent developments National scope provides crucial parameters to security practitioners throughout the US NEW TO THIS EDITION! A chapter on the legal implications of private contractors operating in war zones like Afghanistan, updated coverage of statutory authority, updated coverage of state and federal processes of oversight and licensure, special analysis of public-private cooperative relationships in law enforcement

Cheating is deeply embedded in everyday life. The costs of the most common forms of cheating total close to a trillion dollars annually. Part of the problem is that many individuals fail to see such behavior as a serious problem. "Everyone does it" is a common rationalization, and one that comes uncomfortably close to the truth. That perception is also self-perpetuating. The more that individuals believe that cheating is widespread, the easier it becomes to justify. Yet what is most notable about analysis of the problem is how little there is of it. Whether or not Americans are cheating more, they appear to be worrying about it less. In Cheating, eminent legal scholar Deborah Rhode offers the only recent comprehensive account of cheating in everyday life and the strategies necessary to address it. Because cheating is highly situational, Rhode drills down on its most common forms in sports, organizations, taxes, academia, copyright infringement, marriage, and insurance and mortgages. Cheating also reviews strategies necessary to address the pervasiveness and persistence of cheating in these contexts. We clearly need more cultural reinforcement of ethical conduct. Efforts need to begin early, with values education by parents, teachers, and other role models who can display and reinforce moral behaviors. Organizations need to create ethical cultures, in which informal norms, formal policies, and reward structures all promote integrity. People also need more moral triggers that remind them of their own values. Equally important are more effective enforcement structures, including additional resources and stiffer sanctions. Finally, all of us need to take more responsibility for combatting cheating. We need not only to subject our own conduct to more demanding standards, but also to assume a greater obligation to prevent and report misconduct. Sustaining a culture that actively discourages cheating is a collective responsibility, and one in which we all have a substantial stake.

Civil wrongs occupy a significant place in private law. They are particularly prominent in tort law, but equally have a place in contract law, property and intellectual property law, unjust enrichment, fiduciary law, and in equity more broadly. Civil wrongs are also a preoccupation of leading general theories of private law, including corrective justice and civil recourse theories. According to these and other theories, the centrality of civil wrongs to civil liability shows that private law is fundamentally concerned with the expression and enforcement of norms of justice appropriate to interpersonal interaction and association. Others, sounding notes of caution or criticism, argue that a preoccupation with wrongs and remedies has meant neglect of other ways in which private law serves justice, and ways in which private law serves values other than justice. This volume comprises original papers written by a wide variety of legal theorists and philosophers exploring the nature of civil wrongs, their place in private law, and their relationship to other forms of wrongdoing.

This title explores the normative foundations of European contract law. It addresses fundamental political questions on contract law in Europe from the perspective of leading contemporary political theories. Does the law of contract need a democratic basis? To what extent should it be Europeanised? What justifies the binding force of contract and the main remedies for breach? When should weaker parties be protected? Should market transactions be considered legally void when they are immoral? Which rules of contract law should the parties be free to opt out of? Adopting a critical lens, this book interrogates utilitarian, liberal-egalitarian, libertarian, communitarian, civic republican, and discourse-theoretical political philosophies and analyses the answers they provide to these questions. It also situates these theoretical debates within the context of the political landscape of European contract law and the divergent views expressed by lawmakers, legal academics, and other stakeholders. This work moves beyond the acquis positivism, market reductionism, and private law essentialism that tend to dominate these conversations and foregrounds normative complexity. It explores the principles and values behind various arguments used in the debates on European contract law and its future to highlight the normative stakes involved in the practical question of what we, as a society, should do about contract law in Europe. In so doing, it opens up democratic space for the consideration of alternative futures for contract law in the European Union, and for better justifications for those parts of the EU contract law acquis we wish to retain.

This title explores the normative foundations of European contract law. It addresses fundamental political questions on contract law in Europe from the perspective of leading contemporary political theories. Does the law of contract need a democratic basis? To what extent should it be Europeanised? What justifies the binding force of contract and the main remedies for breach? When should weaker parties be protected? Should market transactions be considered legally void when they are immoral? Which rules of contract law should the parties be free to opt out of? Adopting a critical lens, this book interrogates utilitarian, liberal-egalitarian, libertarian, communitarian, civic republican, and discourse-theoretical political philosophies and analyses the answers they provide to these questions. It also situates these theoretical debates within the context of the political landscape of European contract law and the divergent views expressed by lawmakers, legal academics, and other stakeholders. This work moves beyond the acquis positivism, market reductionism, and private law essentialism that tend to dominate these conversations and foregrounds normative complexity. It explores the principles and values behind various arguments used in the debates on European contract law and its future to highlight the normative stakes involved in the practical question of what we, as a society, should do about contract law in Europe. In so doing, it opens up democratic space for the consideration of alternative futures for contract law in the European Union, and for better justifications for those parts of the EU contract law acquis we wish to retain.

European Private International Family Law provides a comprehensive examination of the new Brussels IIb Regulation (Regulation 2019/1111). This regulation replaces the Brussels IIa Regulation, which has been the cornerstone of European private international family law since August 2004, and is applicable from 1 August 2022.In this volume, Michael Wilderspin provides a subject-by-subject, article by article commentary, which analyses in detail every provision of the new regulation. This analysis covers key topics including jurisdiction, the recognition and enforcement of decisions in matrimonial matters, matters of parental responsibility, and international child abduction. Michael Wilderspin also examines relevant cases from the European Courts of Justice and national courts, and the principles derived from them. Furthermore, this book explores the difficulties and complications that can arise between this regulation and other international instruments, such as the Hague Child Protection Convention 1996. The commentary also offers practical assistance on how properly to apply the new regulation and highlights where it has changed in relation to the previous one.

The trust is a highly popular mode of property-holding and one of the most important innovations in the law of equity. It presents the jurist with numerous conceptual, doctrinal, and ethical challenges. In addition to being used towards the pursuit of good, trusts have also been used for ill, and the interaction of trust law with other laws agitates received principles of justice, efficiency, and coherence in the law. Trust law remains, nevertheless, under-theorized. While its technical and doctrinal aspects have been studied intensively, the foundational questions to which they give rise have remained largely unexamined. This volume takes an important step towards filling this gap. The chapters in this book explore some of these quandaries with a view to initiating and encouraging further engagement and learning. They identify different challenges and adopt a variety of methodological approaches and perspectives towards their resolution, ranging from conceptual questions about what is 'the trust' and 'trusts law', chapters analysing the legal and/or moral statuses of each of the settlor, trustee, and beneficiary, to chapters questioning the moral foundations of different trusts and range of pursuits towards which parties have deployed them.

It is a fundamental principle of justice that a person cannot be made subject to the jurisdiction of the English court without valid notification via the service of proceedings. The procedure and law surrounding the service of documents nevertheless remains a frequently misunderstood aspect of English civil procedure. Mistakes in service can lead to satellite disputes, adverse judgments, jurisdictional challenges, lost claims, and allegations of professional negligence. Service in Civil Proceedings: Law and Practice is the definitive practitioner's text on the rules and principles governing service in civil and commercial proceedings both in and out of jurisdiction. Written by two experienced commercial barristers, it combines rigorous analysis with practical insights drawn from years of experience. It does not follow the strict structure of the Civil Procedure Rules (or international instruments), but rather the sequence in which issues typically arise in practice.The text provides detailed guidance on service of the claim form (and other documents) within the jurisdiction of England and Wales and internationally. It includes dedicated sections on both service within and out of jurisdiction, as well as the practical mechanics of effecting service abroad (including under the Hague Service Convention). Readers will also find guidance for more complex situations, including 'saving applications' to extend time for service, seeking alternative service, or even dispensing with the procedure. Finally, there is coverage of linked topics, including the commencement of proceedings and timing, as well as service issues that arise from the defendant's perspective, including the process and law for challenging service and jurisdiction pursuant to CPR Part 11.Fully aligned with the latest amendments to the CPR, the international position, and case law, this work offers clarity on these intricate rules and practical guidance for their application. Designed to assist in both routine and complex scenarios, it is an essential resource for civil and commercial litigators.

Non-instrumentalist private law theory has been dominated by an interpretivist methodology that seeks to understand the concepts, doctrines, and structures of the law in principled terms. This has resulted in the neglect of purely normative analysis and a failure to engage systematically with the methodologies of moral and political philosophy.Wrongs, Harms, and Compensation: Paying for our Mistakes departs from this approach, arguing instead that the justification of tort law is dependent on our underlying moral corrective duties. In this book, Adam Slavny develops a pluralistic account of these duties, which encompasses both wrongful and non-wrongful conduct, complicating the view that torts should be regarded as a coherent set of wrongs. He also places the practice of enforcing corrective duties in a broader context, arguing that it should not be isolated or immune to critiques based on distributive justice, and that our duties are in fact consistent with institutional arrangements other than tort law, including various types of compensation schemes. What emerges is neither a wholesale defence of or attack on tort law, but an insistence that its normative foundations are much more complex, diverse, and malleable than a focus on current legal practices would suggest.

The doctrine of contributory negligence, which is a cornerstone of private law, is very frequently invoked in practice and also raises a host of pressing theoretical issues. This volume provides legal practitioners and scholars with a clear and comprehensive exposition of the legal principles governing contributory negligence alongside an empirically informed analysis of the way in which the doctrine operates in various recurrent factual scenarios. The doctrinal analysis is supplemented by a consideration of the historical antecedents of the relevant principles and their normative underpinnings. Central to the book are six chapters in which the authors provide an introductory overview of the doctrine; and then proceed to consider its scope; when a finding of contributory negligence will be made; the consequences of such a finding; the relationship between the doctrine and other rules; and matters relating to procedure and appeals. A detailed appendix sets out the discounts imposed for contributory negligence in a range of frequently occurring situations. Although the focus is on the position in the United Kingdom, account is also taken of the case law and literature in several other common law jurisdictions.

Friston on Costs is the acclaimed and often-cited authority on the law of costs.Separated into sixteen well-defined and easily navigable parts, this substantial and encyclopaedic text covers all aspects of the law of civil costs from funding and contracts of retainers, all the way through to the assessment of costs (both between opposing parties and between solicitor and client). The fourth edition has been updated to take into account the considerable number of authorities on this difficult and technical topic. Areas of interest to specialists have also been expanded upon, such as the recoverability of the costs of inquests, the costs of solicitors who act in their own cause, and disclosure of litigation funding.Friston features thorough cross-referencing throughout, enabling the user to easily locate answers to even the most complex of costs issues. It is an invaluable resource for costs judges, academics, and practitioners alike.

Friston on Costs is the acclaimed and often-cited authority on the law of costs.Separated into sixteen well-defined and easily navigable parts, this substantial and encyclopaedic text covers all aspects of the law of civil costs from funding and contracts of retainers, all the way through to the assessment of costs (both between opposing parties and between solicitor and client). The fourth edition has been updated to take into account the considerable number of authorities on this difficult and technical topic. Areas of interest to specialists have also been expanded upon, such as the recoverability of the costs of inquests, the costs of solicitors who act in their own cause, and disclosure of litigation funding.Friston features thorough cross-referencing throughout, enabling the user to easily locate answers to even the most complex of costs issues. It is an invaluable resource for costs judges, academics, and practitioners alike.Companion website: www.oup.com/friston

Standing in Private Law: Powers of Enforcement in the Law of Obligations and Trusts develops the idea that we should attend more to 'standing', conceived as a power to hold another accountable before a court as a distinct private law concept. Prominent lawyers have claimed that private law does not have or need standing rules, yet this seems implausible. If private law is obligation-imposing, we need rules about who can sue on these obligations to hold their bearers accountable. This book argues that a reason why standing has been relatively overlooked and under-conceptualized, receiving meagre attention from private lawyers, is because it has been obscured from plain sight: it has been swallowed up by the more dominant and capacious concept of a 'right'. However, standing is a distinct and separable private law concept that can and should be distinguished more clearly from 'right'. Doing so is necessary for the continued rational development of private law doctrine. It is also necessary for a deeper theoretical understanding of standing's significance, and its place within the remedial apparatus of private law. This book argues that an implicit standing rule exists across the law of obligations. It examines its justifiability, and the justifiability of exceptions to the rule. It also shows how and why recognising standing's distinctiveness can help us to interpret, develop, and resolve debates within different areas of private law, including the laws of contract, torts, unjust enrichments, and relatedly, the law of trusts.

In 1896 the U.S. Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson upheld `equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races' on all passenger railways within the state of Louisiana. In this account, which has implications for present-day America, Lofgren traces the roots of this landmark case in the post-Civil War South, stressing the constitutional, legal, and intellectual premises that shaped this episode.

This is the fourth and final volume of Feinberg's magisterial work, The Moral Limits of the Criminal Law. In it Feinberg examines the philosophical basis for the criminalization of so-called `victimless crimes' such as pornography and consensual sexual activity. The first three volumes of the work, Harm to Others, Offense to Others, and Harm to Self, are also available in paperback.

Opponents of same-sex marriage in the United States claim that allowing gays and lesbians to marry would undermine the institution of marriage, weaken family structures, and cause harm to children. Drawing from 17 years of data and experience with same-sex marriage in Scandinavia (in the form of registered partnerships), Gay Marriage: For Better or for Worse? is the first book to present empirical evidence about the effects of same-sex marriage on society. Spedale and Eskridge find that the evidence refutes conservative defense-of-marriage arguments and, in fact, demonstrates that the institution of marriage may indeed benefit from the legalization of gay marriage. If we look at the proof from abroad, the authors show, we must conclude that the sanctioning of gay marriage in the United States would neither undermine marriage as an institution, nor harm the wellbeing of our nation's children. "A very interesting book that people should read."--Bill O'Reilly, Host, The O'Reilly Factor"Whatever your views are now on same-sex marriage, this is the book to read to be informed about why same sex couples want legal recognition and what legal union means to them and to the larger community. Spedale and Eskridge give detailed accounts of the effects of registered partnerships in Scandinavia--and along the way, offer fascinating and engaging pictures of many people's lives."--Martha Minow,Jeremiah Smith Jr. Professor, Harvard Law School "Spedale and Eskridge illuminate with remarkable even-handedness a debate that tends to generate more heat than light. They provide a cogent analysis of conservative arguments that same-sex matrimony threatens conventional marriage, and argue persuasively that enabling same-sex partners to marry may actually strengthen that beleaguered institution."--John Podesta,President and CEO, Center for American Progress "An important and timely contribution. It should be required reading for anyone interested in the future of families in America."--Martha Albertson Fineman, Robert W. Woodruff Professor, Emory Law School

With increased international trade transactions and a corresponding increase in disputes arising from those transactions, the application of the doctrine of Forum Non Conveniens - the discetionary power of a court to decline jurisdiction based on the convenience of the parties and the interests of justice - is of great relevance to threshold issues of which country's court should preside over a controversy involing nationals of difference countries. Forum Non Conveniens History, Global Practice, and Future under the hague Convention of Court Agreements provides an in-depth analysis of the common law doctrine of Forum Non Conveniens as it has evolved in the four major common law countries (UK, US, Canada, and Australia). The book also analyses the similarities and differences of the doctrine among those four countries. It compares Forum Non Conveniens to the more rigid analogous doctrine of Lis Alibi Pendens found in civil law countries, which requires automatic deference to the court where a dispute is first filed and explains current initiatives for coordinating jurisdictional issues between the common law and civil law systems, the most important of which is the 2005 Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements. The authors explain how the Hague Convention provides a rational approach to the confluence of common law and civil law doctrines and how its application to international transactions is likely to temper judicial application of the doctrine of forum non conveniens and provide greater predictability with respect to enforcement of private party choice of court agreements.

The Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce has become an important forum for international commercial arbitration, with parties from more than 30 countries, especially Western European countries and increasingly Russia, other Eastern European Countries, and China. The author offers practitioners several background chapters on commercial arbitration in Sweden and a detailed analysis of each section of the Swedish Arbitration Act (SAA). This is a ready-reference handbook analyzing Swedish arbitration- the SAA, the Rules, and cases-and also includes references and commentary with respect to international commercial arbitration in general. The author's intention is to help practitioners "in search of rapid guidance regarding the interpretation of a particular provision or who wish to solve a practical problem.""This Third Edition of Commercial Arbitration in Sweden provides us all with a valuable and up-to-date understanding of the Swedish system in operation, and a comprehensive commentary on the SCC Rules, both new and existing. World business has the means, through this work, to see why Sweden and Stockholm are good choices for their international arbitrations."-- ? Phillip Capper, Head of International Arbitration, Lovells; Nash Professor of Engineering Law, King's College, University of London; former Chairman of the Faculty of Law, University of Oxford

Armed conflict today involves a plethora of non-State actors including armed groups, private military companies, and hackers operating in the cyber domain. Frequently, these non-State actors act in a way that violates international law, for example by harming civilians, and they commonly act with the benefit of some form of State support. This raises critical questions about State responsibility. Attribution of Non-State Actor Conduct During Armed Conflict explores when and how international law attributes non-State actor conduct to a State, thereby triggering that State's international responsibility. Focusing on the six rules of attribution outlined in the International Law Commission's Articles on State Responsibility, the book provides a rigorous analysis of their practical application in the context of armed conflict. Using detailed case studies from the conflicts in Syria, Ukraine, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it examines each of the rules of attribution in turn, demonstrates when they would apply, and evaluates their effectiveness in holding States accountable for non-State actor conduct performed on their behalf. Critically assessing the legal and practical limitations of existing frameworks, the book argues that the predominant interpretation of the rules of attribution leaves an accountability gap, which enables States to act via proxy in a manner they could not lawfully operate via their own State organs. Combining doctrinal clarity with real-world relevance, it investigates how the inadequacies in the regulation of States' support to non-State actors in conflict situations should be remedied.

In this book Dr Kelly presents the first full-length exposition and sympathetic defence of Jeremy Bentham's unique utilitarian theory of justice. He rescues Bentham's reputation from crude nineteenth- and twentieth-century caricatures, and develops a sophisticated and subtle interpretation of Bentham's moral theory which places him at the heart of the British Liberal tradition. Drawing heavily on Bentham's unpublished civil and distributive law writings, classic and recent Bentham scholarship, and contemporary work in moral and political philosophy, Dr Kelly shows how Bentham developed a moderate welfare-state liberal theory of justice with egalitarian leanings, the aim of which was to secure the material and political conditions of each citizen's pursuit of his own conception of the good life in co-operation with others. This strikingly original interpretation makes a valuable contribution to the growing literature on Bentham's legal and political thought, and develops a utilitarian theory of justice which offers much to contemporary political philosophy.

This book examines systematically the underlying theory of evidence in Anglo-American legal systems and identifies the defining characteristics of adjudicative fact-finding. Stein develops a detailed innovative theory which sets aside the traditional vision of evidence law as facilitating the discovery of the truth. Combining probability theory, epistemology, economic analysis, and moral philosophy; he argues instead that the fundamental purpose of evidence law is to apportion the risk of error in conditions of uncertainty. Stein begins by identifying the domain of evidence law.He then describes the basic traits of adjudicative fact-finding and explores the epistemological foundations of the concept. This discussion identifies the problem of probabilistic deduction that accompanies generalizations to which fact-finders resort. This problem engenders paradoxes which Stein proposes to resolve by distinguishing between probability and weight. Stein advances the principle of maximal individualization that does not allow factfinders to make a finding against a person when the evidence they use is not susceptible to individualized testing.He argues that this principle has broad application, but may still be overridden by social utility. This analysis identifies allocation of the risk of error as requiring regulation by evidence law. Advocating a principled allocation of the risk of error, Stein denounces free proof for allowing individual judges to apportion this risk as they deem fit.He criticizes the UK's recent shift to a discretionary regime on similar grounds. Stein develops three fundamental principles for allocating the risk of error: the cost-efficiency principle which applies across the board; the equality principle which applies in civil litigation; and the equal best principle which applies in criminal trials. The cost-efficiency principle demands that fact-finders minimize the total cost of errors and error-avoidance.Under the equality principle, fact-finding procedures and decisions must not produce an unequal apportionment of the risk of error between the claimant and the defendant. This risk should be apportioned equally between the parties. The equal best principle sets forth two conditions for justifiably convicting and punishing a defendant. The state must do its best to protect the defendant from the risk of erroneous conviction and must not provide better protection to other individuals. Regulating both the admissibility of evidence and its sufficiency, these principles explain and justify many existing evidentiary rules. Alex Stein is Professor of Law at the Benjamin N.Cardozo School of Law,New York.

How foreign law is established, and whether it must be relied upon at all, are central issues in private international law, with important implications in principle and in practice. Whether litigants are free to ignore the foreign elements in a dispute goes to the heart of the conflicts process, and without effective means to establish the content of foreign law the object of that process is undermined. The cost and unpredictability of establishing foreign law also have an important impact on litigation, affecting the parties' choice of forum, and how cases are argued and decided.This book, the first detailed examination of the topic in English law, is an account of the pleading and proof of foreign law from an English perspective, which also places the law in a comparative context, and considers options for reform. It provides a practical guide to the subject, but also presents the conflicts process in a way which is both novel and illuminating. Recognized as the leading account of the subject, this book is the first point of reference for both scholars and practitioners. It is frequently cited with approval in the courts, in England and elsewhere, notably in leading cases such as MCC v Bishopsgate Investments (1998, Court of Appeal), Shaker v Al Bedrawi (Court of Appeal, 2002), and Neilson v Overseas Projects Corporation (High Court of Australia, 2005).

The 'Frontiers of Liability' is the title of a series of high-level seminars held in All Souls College, Oxford during 1993 and 1994. Drawing together top academics, practitioners and judges, these seminars have sought to identify current trends in English law and have provided a forum for experts to give their assessment of how the law will develop in the future. The papers produced for the first four seminars were reproduced in volume 1 of 'Frontiers of Liability'. The next four seminars and the comments made by the distinguished rapporteurs are reproduced in this volume. These essays will be of interest to anyone concerned with international sales, the law of contract, tort and restitution, and equity and trusts.

This book provides a history of some of the main institutions of South African private law and in so doing explores the process through which integration of the English common law and the continental civil law came about in that jurisdiction. Here is a book aimed at both European and South African audiences. For European lawyers it provides a stimulating insight into the way the process of harmonization of private law has occurred in South Africa and may occur within the European Union. By analysing the historical evolution of the most important institutions of the law of obligations and the law of property the book demonstrates how the two legal traditions have been accommodated within one system. The starting point for each essay is the "pure" Roman-Dutch law as it was transplanted to the Cape of Good Hope in the years following 1652 (and as it has been examined in considerable detail in another volume edited by Robert Feenstra and Reinhard Zimmerman, published in 1992). the analysis focuses on how the Roman-Dutch law has been preserved, changed, modified or replaced in the course of the nineteenth century when the Cape became a British colony; and on what happened after the creation of the union of South Africa in 1910. Each essay therefore attempts, in the field of law with which it is dealing, to answer questions such as: what was the level of interaction between the civil law and the common law? What were the mechanisms that brought about the particular form of competition, coexistence or fusion that exists in that area of law? Is the process complete or is it still continuing? Is it possible to observe the emergence, from these two routes, of a genuinely South African private law? How is the result to be evaluated? In establishing reception patterns at the level of specific areas of law, they go beyond generalization about the compatibility of the two traditions and present evidence of a possible symbiosis of English and Continental law.For South African readers the principal value of the book is that it offers essays by the most prominent South African private lawyers refelecting on the history of their subjects. It therefore constitutes the first stage in the writing of a history of substantive private law in South Africa. So far the focus has mainly been on the so called "external history" of South African law, and such texts as there are on the development of the institutions of private law are often in Afrikaans and mainly to be found in unpublished theses. Thus this book fulfils a real need for those teaching South African private law and legal history.Although the volume investigates a specific aspect of the making of modern South African law it is imperative not to lose sight of the fact that private law in that country, as every way else did not develop in a vacuum, but as part of a wider political and social prcess. For this reason the book opens with an essay which contextualizes the contributions that follow, giving a view of the "setting" in which the development of South Africa took place: colonial domination, cultural imperialism, and racial and nationalistic ideologies. Two further introductory essays pay specific attention to the impact of the procedural framework on the substantive private law and to the "architects" of the mixed system.