Private Law Books

A Matter of Interpretation: Federal Courts and the Law (The University Center for Human Values Series)

Antonin Scalia

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Subjects -> Law -> Constitutional Law -> General AAS
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 34 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

We are all familiar with the image of the immensely clever judge who discerns the best rule of common law for the case at hand. According to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a judge like this can maneuver through earlier cases to achieve the desired aim--"distinguishing one prior case on his left, straight-arming another one on his right, high-stepping away from another precedent about to tackle him from the rear, until (bravo!) he reaches the goal--good law." But is this common-law mindset, which is appropriate in its place, suitable also in statutory and constitutional interpretation? In a witty and trenchant essay, Justice Scalia answers this question with a resounding negative.

In exploring the neglected art of statutory interpretation, Scalia urges that judges resist the temptation to use legislative intention and legislative history. In his view, it is incompatible with democratic government to allow the meaning of a statute to be determined by what the judges think the lawgivers meant rather than by what the legislature actually promulgated. Eschewing the judicial lawmaking that is the essence of common law, judges should interpret statutes and regulations by focusing on the text itself. Scalia then extends this principle to constitutional law. He proposes that we abandon the notion of an everchanging Constitution and pay attention to the Constitution's original meaning. Although not subscribing to the "strict constructionism" that would prevent applying the Constitution to modern circumstances, Scalia emphatically rejects the idea that judges can properly "smuggle" in new rights or deny old rights by using the Due Process Clause, for instance. In fact, such judicial discretion might lead to the destruction of the Bill of Rights if a majority of the judges ever wished to reach that most undesirable of goals.

This essay is followed by four commentaries by Professors Gordon Wood, Laurence Tribe, Mary Ann Glendon, and Ronald Dworkin, who engage Justice Scalia's ideas about judicial interpretation from varying standpoints.

The Enemy Combatant Papers: American Justice, the Courts, and the War on Terror

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Editorial Review:

The Enemy Combatants Papers presents the five major enemy combatant cases of the post-9/11 era. Presented in narrative form, these original documents tell the story that clarifies the questions at the heart of the American detention of alleged combatants in the war on terror. These documents discuss the right to counsel, the right to a trial, the right for the accused to see the evidence against him, and the intersection between domestic and international law. The book highlights the tension between the needs of national security and the liberties allotted to alleged enemies of the state by highlighting the basic question of what the U.S. Constitution guarantees and to whom. In these documents, the reader can follow the evolving arguments about presidential powers in time of war, habeas corpus, the Geneva Conventions, balance of powers, and matters of detention and prisoner treatment. Complemented with a comprehensive timeline and appendices that include the relevant cases from the Civil War, World War II, and the Korean War and the premises for setting up military commissions and Combatant Status Review Tribunals, this book is meant for those who seek to understand the issues - legal, political, and military - that have dominated the search for balance between justice and security in the war on terror.

Kaplan PMBR Finals: Conflict of Laws: Core Concepts and Key Questions (Kaplan Pmbr Finals)

Kaplan PMBR

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 2.0 of 5

Skip it 2 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Only 25 T/F, 15 MC, and 4 short essay, along with a very brief outline. AND, you are getting less than 50 pages of material, they filled out the back with a 'sample' from the Constitutional Law review book. This book is about $5 worth of review, not $25.

Editorial Review:

The Kaplan PMBR FINALS Series is designed to provide students with all the ammunition needed to succeed on their law school exams.

Unlike other commercial outline series, Kaplan PMBR FINALS: Conflict of Laws features several integrated sections: substantive course outlines, question summary outlines, practice questions, and fully detailed explanatory answers.

Kaplan PMBR FINALS: Conflict of Laws contains three types of questions of varying difficulty. The True/False questions merely require the student to know the black letter of the law. The multiple choice questions require knowledge of the black letter law and some legal reasoning skills. The essay questions require deep thought and extensive legal reasoning.

Declining Jurisdiction in Private International Law (Oxford Monographs in Private International Law)

J. J. Fawcett

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Editorial Review:

This work addresses the issue of declining jurisdiction in private international law, a subject of immense scholarly and practical importance. It contains 17 national reports and the general report on the subject of "Rules for declining to exercise jurisdiction' which were written for the XIVth congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law held in Athens/Delphi last year. Written by a group of leading scholars, these original papers will be a of great interest to all those interested in the Conflict of Laws and International commercial litigation.

The Reasons Requirement in International Investment Arbitration: Critical Case Studies

W. Michael Reisman

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Editorial Review:

This collection of essays emerged from a seminar on international investment law taught jointly by the editors at the Yale Law School. The participants brought a rich experience and, as important for a subject like this, a rich national diversity. A considerable part of the seminar involved close reading of recent international investment arbitral awards. These decisions have emerged as the most important engines of legal development in this field. Interestingly, in almost all instances, it was felt that the right decision had been reached. But without the building blocks that reasons reflect, one could not reconstruct or "reverse engineer" the reasoning of the tribunal. From this experience, it was concluded that it would be a useful exercise to examine the adequacy of reasons in some of the most important recent international investment law awards in order to see if there were significant trends with policy implications. The studies in this collection represent the best of the seminar.

Drafting International Contracts: An Analysis of Contract Clauses

Marcel Fontaine, Filip De Ly

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Subjects -> Business & Investing -> International -> General AAS

Editorial Review:

This book is a must-have resource for anyone working in international business, a straightforward, easy-to-use tool featuring all the latest trends and developments. It is a summary of 25 years (1975-2000) of meetings and discussions of the International Contracts Working Group, comprised of professional lawyers, corporate counsel, and academics. This book features: systematic analysis of the main clauses present in international contracts; formalization of international contract practice; and, a complete image or what the drafting of an international contract is or should be in the 21st century. It is based on the large samples and actual clauses taken from the files and personal experience of participants. It includes abundant quotations of actual clauses, with critical assessments. You can understand how international contracts are drafted in practice. It leads to dynamic conception of contract law. Key terms defined include: Letters of intent, Memorandums of understanding, Recitals, No oral modifications and Non-renunciation clauses, Best efforts, Penalty clauses and Liquidated damages, Exemption and limitation of liability clauses, Force majeure, Hardship, Most-favored customer, and First refusal clauses. International Lawyers and corporate counsel will learn: formation and performance of the contract - contract re-negotiation, amendments to initial agreements; survival of contract through several obligations which will bind parties, "post-contractual" obligations; termination of the contract; specific features of long-term contracts; exemption and limitation of liability clauses; effect of market conditions; use of contractual procedures that determine the conditions under which contract clauses are to be triggered and dealt with (contractual processualization); use of contractual documents that formalize the above mentioned contractual procedures (contractual formalization or documentalization) as for instance with regard to recitals and entire agreement clauses; use of objective standards of conduct to avoid escalation of disputes (contractual objectivation); classical theory vs. modern advancements; and, much more.

Commentary on the UN Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG)

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Editorial Review:

This work contains a commentary on the United Nations Uniform Sales Law which has been enacted by more than 60 countries, including many EU states, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and China. The first edition has become an important source of guidance on the Convention, being frequently cited by courts and tribunals all over the world. As with the first, the second edition will assist practitioners and scholars in their understanding of the impact of the CISG on modern domestic laws and on the unification of parts of the law of international commerce. The work contains a comparative analysis of relevant decisions by courts and arbitration tribunals and commentary on the application of the Convention. In addition to a general update, the second edition includes an index of cases and coverage of Part II of the UNIDROIT Principles.

The Conflict of Laws (Clarendon Law Series)

Adrian Briggs

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Editorial Review:

Could you sue in England if you made a contract with someone overseas, or if you had an accident overseas? If you were to sue in England in one of these cases, which country's laws would be applied? Would you have anything to worry about if you were sued overseas but didn't intend to go back to the country concerned? Could you take steps in England to stop someone suing you overseas?

The Conflict of Laws provides a complete yet accessible survey of English private international law. It examines the jurisdiction of English courts (and whether their judgments are enforced and recognized across Europe) and the effect of foreign judgments in England. It looks at the principles of choice of law for cases which have an international element, for example contracts made or performed in other jurisdictions or with other parties, torts committed overseas or by foreign parties, international fraud, dealings with property overseas, and family and personal matters (particularly marriage, divorce, and annulment) across different jurisdictions. As the law becomes less 'English' and more 'European', real and difficult questions are generated by there being two sources of legislative authority, and two streams of judicial authority: mapping how they come together is a big challenge. This fully updated second edition explores how these changes are altering the foundations of the subject.

In the established tradition of the Clarendon Law Series, The Conflict of Laws is both an introduction to the subject and a critical consideration of its central themes and debates.

Civil Jurisdiction Rules of the EU and their Impact on Third States (Oxford Private International Law)

Thalia Kruger

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Editorial Review:

This book covers the development and current position of civil jurisdiction rules in the EU, with an analysis of the three main regulations on civil jurisdiction and the effect of these rules on parties domiciled or habitually resident outside the EU, particularly with regard to the recognition and enforcement of judgments made within the EU in external jurisdictions. The book also looks into the institutional issue of external relations the European Community maintains with third States, principally how these third States are able to conclude international agreements with EU Member States.

Cheshire, North & Fawcett: Private International Law

James Fawcett, Janeen Carruthers, Peter North

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Editorial Review:

The new edition of this well-established and highly regarded work has been fully updated to encompass the major changes and developments in the law, including the newly finalized Rome II Regulation. The book is invaluable for the practitioner as well as being one of the leading students' textbooks in the field, giving comprehensive and accessible coverage of the basic principles of private international law, a popular law school option.

It offers students, teachers and practitioners not only a rigorous academic examination of the subject, but also a practical guide to the complex subject of private international law. Written by academics who both previously worked as solicitors, there is extensive coverage of commercial topics such as the jurisdiction of various courts and their limitations, stays of proceedings and restraining foreign proceedings, the recognition and enforcement of judgments, the law of obligations with respect to contractual and non-contractual obligations. There are also sections on the various aspects of family law in private international law, and the law of property, including the transfer of property, administration of estates, succession and trusts.