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Apex Courts and the Common Law

Apex Courts and the Common Law

Edited by Paul Daly

Published by: University of Toronto Press

Imprint: University of Toronto Press

1 b&w illustration, 4 b&w tables

Digital download
9781487530167
Published: April 2019

Digital download
9781487530174
Published: April 2019

Description
Contents
Praise

For centuries, courts across the common law world have developed systems of law by building bodies of judicial decisions. In deciding individual cases, common law courts settle litigation and move the law in new directions. By virtue of their place at the top of the judicial hierarchy, courts at the apex of common law systems are unique in that their decisions and, in particular, the language used in those decisions, resonate through the legal system.

Although both the common law and apex courts have been studied extensively, scholars have paid less attention to the relationship between the two. By analyzing apex courts and the common law from multiple angles, this book offers an entry point for scholars in disciplines related to law – such as political science, history, and sociology – who are seeking a deeper understanding and new insights as to how the common law applies to and is relevant within their own disciplines.

Introduction – Paul Daly

Part I: Decision Making by Common Law Apex Courts

1. The Role of the Supreme Court of Canada in Shaping the Common Law – Beverley McLachlin
2. Apex Courts and the Development of the Common Law – Brice Dickson
3. The Common Law, the High Court of Australia and the United States Supreme Court – Peter Cane
4. Against All Odds: Numbers Sitting in the UK Supreme Court and Really, Really Important Cases – James Lee
5. The Reference Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Canada – Carissima Mathen

Part II: Public Law Issues

6. Judicial Review in the American States – Robert Williams
7. The Common Law, the Constitution and the Alien – Audrey Macklin
8. Administrative Law and Rights in the UK House of Lords and Supreme Court – Jason Varuhas
9. The Continuing Significance of Dr. Bonham’s Case – Han-Ru Zhou

Part III: Common Law Concepts

10. The Development of an Obligation to Perform in Good Faith –Angela Swan and Jakub Adamski
11. Cause and Courts – Sandy Steel
12. What is happening to the law of unjust enrichment? – Steve Hedley
13. The Supreme Court, Fundamental Principles of Property Law, and the Shaping of Aboriginal Title – Bruce Ziff

Afterword – William B. Ewald

"Apex Courts and the Common Law identifies the distinctive role of apex courts, exploring how they have used and adapted the common law method to elucidate the law in relation to human rights, public law, and private law. This is a subject of great interest in Canada and beyond as there is a very lively debate involving lawyers, political scientists, and the public at large about the proper scope and limits of the judicial role."
~Robert J. Sharpe, Court of Appeal for Ontario and Faculty of Law, University of Toronto