Common law

About: Common law is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 30135 publications have been published within this topic receiving 280701 citations. The topic is also known as: judicial precedent & judge-made law.

Towards a European Civil Code

Abstract: General issues substantive law family law and law of succession contract law - general issues contract law - specfic contracts restitution tort property trust company law.

Culture and History in Medieval Iceland: An Anthropological Analysis of Structure and Change

Abstract: In 930, Iceland first established a common law for the island and became an autonomous republic, which lasted until it came under the sovereignty of the Norwegian king nearly three and a half centuries later. This volume is a two-part analysis of that society, known as the Icelandic "commonwealth" or "Freestate." The first section examines how medieval Icelanders classified and perceived such domains as time, space, kinship, political organization, and cosmology, linking together these various realms to present an integrated picture of the society's world-view. The second section focuses on the changes that took place during the period in the fields of ecology, demography, religion, property relations, and the law, and explains how and why these changes, interacting with more fundamental social structures and beliefs, undermined--and ultimately destroyed--the society.

The Use of Armed Force in Occupied Territory

Abstract: This book explores the international law framework governing the use of armed force in occupied territory through a rigorous analysis of the interplay between jus ad bellum, international humanitarian law, and international human rights law. Through an examination of state practice and opinio juris, treaty provisions and relevant international and domestic case law, this book offers the first comprehensive study on this topic. This book will be relevant to scholars, practitioners, legal advisors, and students across a range of sub-disciplines of international law, as well as in peace and conflict studies, international relations, and political science. This study will influence the way in which States use armed force in occupied territory, offering guidance and support in litigations before domestic and international courts and tribunals.

Data protection legislation: interpretation and barriers to research

Abstract: Research has been described as “a powerful means of achieving” the objectives of the Department of Health, namely “to improve the health and well-being of the population and to secure high quality care.”1 There is, however, a need to find a balance between facilitating important research and protecting the confidentiality of patients. As the capabilities of information technology grow, legal frameworks and professional guidance need to be created or refined to safeguard the rights of patients. Some areas of the common law duty of confidentiality and the new Data Protection Act 1998 (box, p 891), which constitutes the United Kingdom's implementation of the relevant European Union directive,2 are causing difficulties of interpretation within the NHS. With few exceptions, broad debate about the implications of the new act is lacking, particularly in the context of epidemiological research that uses patients' records.6-8 Questions of consent, anonymisation of data for research, and access to medical notes for research purposes (rather than audit) have been addressed in a range of literature.9-13 Some of these documents are being updated; this may indicate that there are uncertainties about the legal issues involved in implementing the act. Local variations in interpretation may cause particular difficulties for researchers conducting multicentre epidemiological studies, as the case study that will be described in this article shows. In the meantime, those who must make decisions about confidentiality are still confused. This confusion exists for several reasons. Firstly, there is the interpretation of the act (and to an extent the common law duty of confidentiality). The interpretation is subject to debate, and no case law exists which might clarify the interpretation. Secondly, there is a dearth of up to date and clear policy guidance. Thirdly, the new system of “Caldicott guardians” (box) is untried, and guardians as well …

Economic and Legal Aspects of the Most Favoured Nation Clause

Abstract: The Most-Favored Nation clause (MFN) forbids Members of a trade agreement to discriminate between trading partners. It is typically seen as one of the main features of the multilateral trading system, and appears in several of the agreements in the World Trade Organization. There seems to be a rather widespread belief among policy makers that there are strong economic rationales for the MFN provision. The purpose of the Paper is to survey economic theory that may shed light on whether this view is well founded or not, and to summarise salient features of the case law as it concerns MFN.