Private Law and Power

by Kit Barker, Simone Degeling, Karen Fairweather, Ross Grantham

Overview

The aim of this edited collection of essays is to examine the relationship between private law and power - both the public power of the state and the 'private' power of institutions and individuals. It describes and critically assesses the way that private law doctrines, institutions, processes and rules express, moderate, facilitate and control relationships of power. The various chapters of this work examine the dynamics of the relationship between private law and power from a number of different perspectives - historical, theoretical, doctrinal and comparative. They have been commissioned from leading experts in the field of private law, from several different Commonwealth Jurisdictions (Australia, the UK, Canada and New Zealand), each with expertise in the particular sphere of their contribution. They aim to illuminate the past and assist in resolving some contemporary, difficult legal issues relating to the shape, scope and content of private law and its difficult relationship with power.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781509929726
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	05/30/2019
Series:	Hart Studies in Private Law
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.67(d)

About the Author

Kit Barker is Professor of Private Law, Karen Fairweather is an Associate Lecturer and Ross Grantham is Professor of Commercial Law, all at the TC Beirne School of Law, University of Queensland.
Simone Degeling is Professor of Law at UNSW Australia.

Table of Contents

Preface v

Foreword vii

Acknowledgements ix

List of Contributors xiii

Part 1 Issues

1 The Dynamics of Private Law and Power Kit Barker 3

Part 2 Power, History and Society

2 Power, History and the Law of Contract in Eighteenth Century England Warren Swain 31

3 Redressing Inequality in Personal Credit Transactions: 1700-1974 Karen Fairweather 53

4 Tort Law and Government Liability in the Administrative State Peter Cane 83

Part 3 Doctrines, Institutions and Process

5 Property and Power: The Judicial Redistribution of Proprietary Rights Craig Rotherham 107

6 Trustees' Powers and Social Justice Matthew Harding 137

7 Undue Influence and the Spiritual Economy Simone Degeling 159

8 A Public Law Tort: Understanding Misfeasance in Public Office Donal Nolan 177

9 Public Power, Discretion and the Duty of Care Kit Barker 207

10 The Legitimacy of the Company as a Source of (Private) Power Ross Grantham 239

11 Reshaping Responsibility: The Emerging Private Law of Institutional Wrongs Mayo Moran 263

12 Class Actions: Uses and Abuses of the Process of Courts Justice Philip McMurdo 285

Index 301