Leading scholars provide a fresh theoretical look at the reasons why many legal development projects fail and explore in rich empirical detail how different societies interpret global legal reforms and the implications of this for development aid.

The 14 essays that make up this 2003 volume are written by leading international scholars to provide an authoritative survey of the state of comparative legal studies. Representing such varied disciplines as the law, political science, sociology, history and anthropology, the contributors review the intellectual traditions that have evolved within the discipline of comparative legal studies, explore the strengths and failings of the various methodologies that comparatists adopt and, significantly, explore the directions that the subject is likely to take in the future. No previous work had examined so comprehensively the philosophical and methodological foundations of comparative law. This is quite simply a book with which anyone embarking on comparative legal studies will have to engage.

García-Villegas compares the scholarship on the relationship between law, political power, and society in the United States and France.

This book presents a unified set of arguments about the nature of jurisprudence and its relation to the jurist’s role. It explores contemporary challenges that create a need for social scientific perspectives in jurisprudence, and it shows how sociological resources can and should be used in considering juristic issues. Its overall aim is to redefine the concept of sociological jurisprudence and outline a new agenda for this. Supporting this agenda, the book elaborates a distinctive juristic perspective that recognises law’s diversity of cultural meanings, its extending transnational reach, its responsibilities to reflect popular aspirations for justice and security, and its integrative tasks as a general resource of regulation for society as a whole and for the individuals who interact under law’s protection. Drawing on and extending the author’s previous work, the book will be essential reading for students, researchers and academics working in jurisprudence, law and society, socio-legal studies, sociology of law, and comparative legal studies.

A collection of essays on the social history of legal medicine including case studies on infanticide, abortion, coroners' inquests and criminal insanity.

Learning Law is an accessible and engaging introduction to Australian law for students considering a career in the legal profession. This text teaches students how to deal with legislation and cases, focusing on core topics and contextualisation. This second edition has been thoroughly updated and revised, with significant changes including: six new chapters – First Peoples and the law, research, the ethical lawyer, statutory interpretation, lawyers and clients, becoming a lawyer – more coverage of parliaments and courts, new Living Law boxes that showcase the diverse career paths available to law graduates and new Critical Perspective boxes to engage students with critical analysis. Written in a conversational style, Learning Law will leave students feeling more knowledgeable about, and confident in, their interactions with Australian legal institutions and legal professionals. This text is an essential resource that law students will refer to throughout their studies and in the early stages of their career.

Leading law and society scholars apply an empirically grounded approach to the study of transnational legal ordering and its effects within countries.

This book develops an analytical legal framework for determining the substantive fundamental rights obligations of corporations.

Transnational Legal Orders offers an empirically grounded approach to the emergence of legal orders beyond nation-states that reframes the study of law and society.