Common Values and the Public-Private Divide

This text is a critical study of the public/private law divide in the common law tradition. Professor Oliver's starting point is that special substantive duties of legality, fairness and rationality are imposed by the common law on bodies discharging public functions, but not always on bodies discharging what are considered 'private' functions. She questions the validity of the traditional dichotomy, and proposes new criteria for imposing such duties in accordance with underlying values, in...