This publication takes up the fundamental question 'What is law?' through a comparative study of canon law and secular legal theory. The book also includes comparative consideration of the failure of canon law to address the clergy sexual abuse crisis the canon law of marriage, administrative law, the rule of law and much more.

Winner, IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award in Politics/Current Events: A systems theorist and a legal scholar present a new paradigm for protecting our planet. This is the first book to trace the fascinating parallel history of law and science from antiquity to modern times, showing how the two disciplines have always influenced each other—until recently. In the past few decades, science has shifted from seeing the natural world as a kind of cosmic machine best understood by analyzing each cog and sprocket to a systems perspective that views the world as a vast network of fluid communities and studies their dynamic interactions. The concept of ecology exemplifies this approach. But law is stuck in the old mechanistic paradigm: The world is simply a collection of discrete parts, and ownership of these parts is an individual right, protected by the state. Fritjof Capra, physicist, systems theorist, and bestselling author of The Tao of Physics, and distinguished legal scholar Ugo Mattei show that this obsolete worldview has led to overconsumption, pollution, and a general disregard on the part of the powerful for the common good. Capra and Mattei outline the basic concepts and structures of a legal order consistent with the ecological principles that sustain life on Earth that better addresses many of the economic and social crises we face today. This is a visionary reconceptualization of the very foundations of the Western legal system, a kind of Copernican revolution in the law, with profound implications for the future of our planet. “Thoughtful . . . The authors propose a philosophy and jurisprudence that is deeply radical—upending centuries of Western tradition and culture—but possibly crucial to solving looming environmental problems.” —Publishers Weekly

This second edition of the pioneering Hyatt and French Community Association Law coursebook is an ideal vehicle for introducing students to this increasingly important subject. From housing just 2 million Americans in 1970, common interest communities had grown to house 57 million, or 19% of the American population, by 2006. Community associations, which manage these communities, bear similarities to not-for-profit corporations, municipal governments, and trusts, but are different. The evolving body of community association law draws from all these fields but reflects the unique character and needs of common interest communities. Reflecting the expertise of its authors, the book combines academic rigor and practical knowledge. Primary materials include important cases, statutes (including proposed revisions to UCIOA), the Restatement (Third) of Property, Servitudes, and references to the growing body of literature on gated communities, co-housing developments, private governments, and other property regimes used to avoid the tragedy of the commons in groups that hold common property.

In this visionary book, Cormac Cullinan explains how, if the community of life on Earth is to survive, a new understanding of nature and a new concept of legal systems are needed. Cullinan proposes a new approach or "e;Earth Jurisprudence"e; and gives practical guidance on how to begin moving towards it. He shows that this philosophy could help develop new legal systems that would foster human connections to nature. It would encourage personal and social practices that ensure our planet remains liveable.Wild Law is an inspiring and stimulating book, which fuses politics, legal theory, ancient wisdom and personal experiences into a fascinating and eminently readable story.

This third edition of Community Care Practice and the Law has been substantially rewritten and restructured to reflect the rapid legal and policy changes affecting the community care field. It provides comprehensive and jargon-free explanations of both community care legislation and other areas of the law directly relevant to practitioners. Topics covered include: • assessment and eligibility criteria (`fair access to care') and waiting times • placing people in care homes • non-residential, domiciliary and home care services • carers' assessments and services • home adaptations and disabled facilities grants * direct payments * continuing health care and health services generally, including community equipment services * joint working between local authorities and the NHS * single assessment process, intermediate care * decision making capacity and incapacity * information sharing * adult protection * human rights and disability discrimination * health and safety at work legislation including manual handling people subject to immigration control, including asylum seekers care standards. Numerous examples of legal cases and ombudsman investigations clearly illustrate the practical impact of legislation on community care. A separate chapter provides an at-a-glance view of the whole range of legislation underpinning the everyday work of practitioners. The author also identifies the underlying mechanisms, tensions and problems affecting community care law and practice. Primarily covering England in detail, much of the legal case law covered and the legal principles involved are of general relevance across the United Kingdom, and where material is not directly applicable to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, short summaries offer general pointers for the position in these three countries. This book is an essential guide for practitioners and managers in both the statutory and voluntary sectors, policy makers in local and central government, advocates, lawyers and social work students.

In this important book eighteen of Europe's most respected jurists and legal scholars look at long-term developments in Community and Union law with a view to shedding light on the current situation and pointing out lessons for the future. They consider major Community law themes as they have developed over the past four decades in institutional and substantive contexts, as well as in such newer areas of development as external relations, economic and monetary union, and the Third Pillar. Starting from the absolute centrality of the Common Market to the European Community enterprise, the authors provide many reminders of how the current situation evolved. Their detailed root analyses of past experiences explore origins, patterns, and implications from the initial concept of market access, through laws relating to individual rights, to such complexities as the 'bottom-up' emergence of constitutional principles. They show that, whether we will in fact soon see a European constitution or not, there is little doubt today that EC law is undergoing what may be best understood as a process of constitutionalization. Seventeen insightful essays give deeper meaning to many events, principles, and issues which have had far-reaching implications for European integration, including the following: the crucial principles made clear by the ECJ in Van Gend andamp; Loos in 1963; the place of fundamental rights in a supranational legal order; tensions to be resolved through political and legal means; exclusive, shared and supporting competences; the gradual rise of principles such as subsidiarity and proportionality; the precautionary principle; the legitimacy and authority of the ECJ; the extent to which fundamental freedoms have become fundamental rights; the procedural rules of European competition policy enforcement; state aid under EC Treaty Article 87(1); the case for harmonization of private law; social policy and equal treatment; institutional balance; the EU as global actor; the evolution of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights; and the Constitutional Treaty. ; ; ; ; The European Union is a dynamic legal order, and continues to face myriad challenges and dilemmas as it expands its membership and considers a European constitution. This concentrated summary of the most important issues in forty years of legal developments reveals both the lasting triumphs along the way and the gaps that require urgent attention if the legitimacy of the Union is not to be impaired. Participants in European law and government, from citizens and students to the highest levels of policy making, will find here an invaluable resource for the future and much food for thought. These articles were first presented at a conference held at the end of 2003 to mark the 40th anniversary of the Common Market Law Review, and were originally published in a special issue of the Review.

These essays seek to re-locate the relationship between the traditional concerns of legal theory and the sociology of law by establishing a consistent theoretical approach to the analysis of law in contemporary Western societies.

This book expands on established doctrine in legal history and sets out a challenge for legal philosophers. The English medieval village community offers a historical and philosophical lens on the concept of custom which challenges accepted notions of what law is. The book traces the study of the medieval village community from early historical works in the nineteenth century through to current research. It demonstrates that some law-making can and has been ‘bottom-up’ in English law, with community-led decisionmaking having a particularly important role in the early common law. The detailed consideration of law in the English village community reveals alternative ways of making and conceiving of law which are not dependent on state authority, particularly in relation to customary and communal property rights. Acknowledging this poses challenges for legal theory: the legal positivism that dominates Western legal philosophy tends to reject custom as a source of law. However, this book argues that medieval customary law ought to be considered ‘law’ if we are ever going to fully understand law – both then and now. The book will be a valuable resource for researchers and academics working in the areas of Legal History, Legal Theory, and Jurisprudence.