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Sources of English Legal History: Public Law to 1750 is the definitive source book on the foundations of English public law. An extensive collection of illustrative original materials, it is a companion book to
Baker and Milsom Sources of English Legal History: Private Law to 1750, 2e (OUP, 2010).
List of contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Table of Statutes and other Legislation
- Alphabetical Table of Named Cases
- Table of Cases cited by Year
- Table of Extracts from Lectures and Treatises
- List of Abbreviations
- 1: The Monarchy
- 2: Devolution of the Crown
- 3: Charters and Confirmations of Liberties
- 4: The King and the Rule of Law
- 5: The High Court of Parliament
- 6: Parliamentary Legislation
- 7: Subordinate Legislation
- 8: The Central Courts of Common Law
- 9: The Court of Chancery
- 10: Conciliar Courts
- 11: The Church and Its Jurisdiction
- 12: The High Commission
- 13: Local Authority and Jurisdiction
- 14: Liberty of the Person
- 15: Taxation and Purveyance
- 16: Freedom of Trade
- 17: Treason
- 18: Homicide
- 19: Offences in Respect of Property
- 20: Criminal Responsibility
- 21: Criminal Procedure
- 22: The Death Penalty and Its Avoidance
- 23: The Boundaries of English Law
- Index of names
- Index of subjects
About the author
Sir John Baker is Emeritus Downing Professor of the Laws of England and an Honorary Fellow of St Catharine's College, Cambridge. He is an Honorary Bencher of both the Inner Temple and Gray's Inn, and was knighted for his services to legal history in 2003. He has published widely on the subject, including Baker and Milsom Sources of English Legal History (OUP, 2019), An Introduction to Legal History (5th edition, OUP, 2018), The Oxford History of the Laws of England Volume VI (OUP, 2003) and The Law's Two Bodies (OUP, 2001).
Summary
Sources of English Legal History: Public Law to 1750 is the definitive source book on the foundations of English public law. A companion to Baker and Milsom's Sources of English Legal History: Private Law to 1750 2e (OUP, 2010), this new volume offers an extensive collection of illustrative original materials, many of which are previously unpublished. It contains significant new material on the history of habeas corpus, mandamus, and certiorari, as well as well-known constitutional landmarks from the earliest times to 1750.
Writing on the history of public law has tended to focus solely on the texts of statutes and formal records. In contrast, the present book concentrates on the forensic arguments and judicial decisions that led to the emergence of legal principles in the field of public law, including criminal law and the regulation of jurisdictions. It illuminates the growth of public law during the medieval and early modern periods, addressing the state's legislative and judicial organs, its coercive functions, and more broadly, the respective powers of the crown and parliament.
The first work of its kind, this book is an essential resource for anyone interested in legal and constitutional history.
Additional text
Legal history is important because it explains why we do things the way we do. It also confirms that many legal issues and challenges dealt with by lawyers over the centuries have not changed much. We still help people manage their money, buy and sell land, and assist when they get into trouble and have disputes with authority....A theme that permeates this book is the development of ideas about the rule of law, due process and the rights of the individual against the state. This is a work of considerable scholarship, consisting of excerpts from law reports, legislation, charters and other documents which illustrate the way legal history has evolved....This book is full of gems.
