Dear Colleagues:

 

Congratulations go out to Andrew Burrows and Anthony Gray on their recent publication of new books with CUP and Hart respectively. A brief summary of each follows.

 

A Burrows, Thinking about Statutes: Interpretation, Interaction, Improvement (CUP, 2018)

https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/law/english-legal-system/thinking-about-statutes-interpretation-interaction-improvement?format=PB

 

We are in the age of statutes; and it is indisputable that statutes are swallowing up the common law. Yet the study of statutes as a coherent whole is rare. In these three lectures, given as the 2017 Hamlyn Lecture series, Professor Andrew Burrows takes on the challenge of thinking seriously and at a practical level about statutes in English law. In his characteristically lively and punchy style, he examines three central aspects which he labels interpretation, interaction and improvement. So how are statutes interpreted? Is statutory interpretation best understood as seeking to effect the intention of Parliament or is that an unhelpful fiction? Can the common law be developed by analogy to statutes? Do the judges have too much power in developing the common law and in interpreting statutes? How can our statutes be improved? These and many other questions are explored and answered in this accessible and thought-provoking analysis. A 20% discount is available if the instructions on the attached form are followed.

 

A Gray, Vicarious Liability: Critique and Reform (Hart, 2018)

https://www.bloomsburyprofessional.com/uk/vicarious-liability-9781509920235/

 

Notions of strict liability have grown increasingly isolated in the law of tort, given the exponential growth in the tort of negligence. They require intellectual justification. Such a justification has proven to be elusive and largely unsatisfactory in relation to vicarious liability and to concepts of non-delegable duty. The law of three jurisdictions studied has now apparently embraced the 'enterprise risk' theory to rationalise the imposition of vicarious liability. This book subjects this theory to strong critique by arguing that it has many weaknesses, which the courts should acknowledge. It suggests that a rationalisation of the liability of an employer for the actions of an employee lies in more traditional legal doctrine which would serve to narrow the circumstances in which an employer is legally liable for a wrong committed by an employee. Order online at www.hartpublishing.co.uk – use the code CV7 at the checkout to get 20% off your order.

 

Happy Reading,

 

Jason Neyers
Professor of Law
Faculty of Law
Western University
Law Building Rm 26
e. jneyers@uwo.ca
t. 519.661.2111 (x88435)