1st Edition
The Future of Governance A Radical Introduction to Law
This book offers a radically different introduction to law, one that reflects the challenges and opportunities presented by the rapid technological developments of our time.
Traditionally, law has been about historic principles and rules and their application to a particular set of facts; and courts, judges, and disputes have been central to the legal enterprise. Against this approach, this book highlights four radical and revisionist ideas: by bringing modern technologies into the foreground; by presenting law as one particular mode of governance in a larger picture of governance that now includes technological modalities; by insisting that we have to think outside the traditional doctrinal box to engage with a broad range of governance questions; and by emphasizing that human communities cannot flourish without good governance to which both lawyers and law are central. These four radical threads are woven into a discussion of the modern landscape of law, and together they offer a distinctly contemporary contribution to the quest for good governance. The challenge for lawyers now, the book maintains, is to contribute to thinking, both locally and globally, about how we take advantage of the opportunities presented by the newest technology, without compromising the essential conditions for human life and co-existence, and without losing what we value in law’s governance.
This book is aimed at students who are studying Law at university and Legal academics, and others, interested in the current and future impact of technology on law.
1. Introducing Law Part One: A Radical Introduction 2. Four Radical Threads 3. Law as ‘Civilising’ 4. Law as Governance 5. Law as Rules: Thinking Inside the Box, Thinking Outside the Box 6. Law in our Technological Times Part Two: Legal Landmarks 7. The Landscape of Law: Legal London 8. Thinking Like a Lawyer 9. Handling Statutes 10. Handling Cases Part Three: Key Concepts 11. The Concept of Law 12. Coherence 13. The Rule of Law 14. The Regulatory Environment 15. Organising Concepts 16. Flexible Concepts 17. Prohibitions, Permissions, and Requirements18. Rights, Duties and Powers 19. Crime and Punishment, Harm and Liberty 20. Property 21. Precaution and Prevention Part Four: Values 22. Fundamental Values: The Conditions of Possibility 23. Community Values: Human Rights and Human Dignity 24. Privacy 25. Consent 26. Justice 27. Ethics 28. Conscientious Objection and Civil Disobedience Part Five: Law’s Imperfect Governance and its Many Challenges 29. Law’s Governance: The Range of Challenges 30. Law’s Promise: Order, Democracy, and Justice 31. Authority of Lawmakers and Respect for Law 32. Getting Regulation Right: The Politicians’ Claim 33. Regulatory Effectiveness 34. Regulatory Acceptability and Legitimacy 35. Disputes: Resolution, Prevention, and Technical Solutions Part Six: Lawyers and Legal Services 36. Lawyers 37. The Automation of Legal Services and Social Acceptability 38. Smart Lawyers and Smart Legal Institutions Part Seven: Final Reflections 39. The Radical Threads Revisited 40. Good Questions and Good Governance
Biography
Roger Brownsword is Professor in Law at King’s College London and at Bournemouth University, Honorary Professor at Sheffield University, and Visiting Professor at City University Hong Kong.
