Laughing at the Gods Great Judges and How They Made the Common Law

Name: Laughing at the Gods
Brand: Cambridge University Press
SKU: 9781107662766
Price: 289.90 HKD
Availability: OutOfStock
Author: Allan C. Hutchinson
ISBN: 9781107662766

By Allan C. Hutchinson

Cambridge University Press June 2012

Specifications

ISBN-13: 9781107662766
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication: June 2012
Format: Paperback , 328 pages
Jurisdiction: International ? Countri(es) for reference only

Details

Any effort to understand how law works has to take seriously its main players – judges. Like any performance, judging should be evaluated by reference to those who are its best exponents. Not surprisingly, the debate about what makes a 'great judge' is as heated and inconclusive as the debate about the purpose and nature of law itself. History shows that those who are candidates for a judicial hall of fame are game changers who oblige us to rethink what it is to be a good judge. So the best of judges must tread a thin line between modesty and hubris; they must be neither mere umpires nor demigods. The eight judges showcased in this book demonstrate that, if the test of good judging is not about getting it right, but doing it well, then the measure of great judging is about setting new standards for what counts as judging well.

• Looks behind the mystery of the law to put a human face on law

• Shows law as a messy and pragmatic social practice rather than a detached exercise in formal rule-application

Preface	ix
1 In Search of Great Judges: Playing by Their Own Rules	1
2 Lord Mansfield: A Long Journey	21
3 John Marshall: A Founding Judge	51
4 Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.: The Magnificent Yankee	81
5 James Atkin: An Ordinary Person	111
6 Tom Denning: An English Gardener	141
7 Thurgood Marshall: A Man on a Mission	173
8 Bertha Wilson: Making the Difference	207
9 Albie Sachs: Of Struggles and Lies	237
10 Judging the Future: A Leap in the Dark	267
References	279
Index	301