Australia's decision to initiate Whaling in the Antarctic: winning the case versus resolving the dispute

On May 31, 2010, Australia instituted proceedings before the International Court of Justice in the case of Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v. Japan). Although Australian politicians had for some time threatened such a course of action, the decision to proceed with international litigation took many observers by surprise, most basically because Japan appeared to be in a strong legal position and the risks associated with the case appeared greater than Australia's prospects for success. This article examines the background to the whaling dispute and suggests two ways in which litigation in the World Court may contribute to resolution of the dispute no matter the legal outcome of the case.     

Barrister gender and litigant success in the High Court of Australia

We examine the relationship between gender of the barrister and appeal outcomes on the High Court of Australia. We find that an appellant represented in oral argument by a female barrister, opposed to a respondent represented in oral argument by a male barrister, is less likely to receive a High Court justice's vote. However, we also find that the appellant disadvantage of having a female barrister present oral argument is (partially) offset in the case of liberal justices and on panels having a higher proportion of female justices. The extent to which the disadvantage is offset, and potentially turns from being a disadvantage to an advantage, depends on the degree to which the justice is liberal and the proportion of female justices on the panel.

本文探讨律师性别与诉讼结果之间的关系。我们发现这个过程并不对称。如果是由女律师上诉,而辩方是一个或一个以上男性律师,那么性别就是一个因素。不过并不存在相反的情况。我们具体发现,如果诉方是一个女律师,辩方为一男律师,诉方就不大可能获得最高法官的赞同。不过,我们还发现,如果法官具有自由主义精神,如果法官团的女性比例较高,那么女律师的不利情形就有可能被（部分地）抵消。被抵消的程度取决于法官自由精神的强弱,和法官团女性比例的大小。     

Maps in Italian atlases of the sixteenth century,being a comparative list of the Italian maps issued by Lafreri,Forlani, Duchetti,Bertelli and others,found in atlases

ABSTRACT

In 1771, Daniel Paterson entered into a publishing agreement with the bookseller Thomas Carnan to print and publish a travel itinerary known as Paterson’s Roads. This book was to become the most enduringly popular practical road book of the period. However, Paterson and Carnan were soon embroiled in litigation. This article examines the legal cases that arose when the geographical information contained in Paterson’s Roads was re-used, and improved upon, in a subsequent publication. It explores the background to the cases, focusing on what they reveal about the inner workings of the book and map trade of the period, as well as considering some of the broader historical ramifications. The article also demonstrates that these cases are of ongoing legal significance because they played an important role in developing some of the doctrines and principles of copyright law that continue to be controversial today.     

Some manuscript maps recently acquired by the departement des Cartes et plans of the bibliotheque nationale,Paris

Abstract

This paper examines the significance of a rediscovered medieval map (Public Record Office, MPCC 7) of part of the Fenlands of eastern England, previously dated to the mid‐sixteenth century but now recognized as mid‐fifteenth century. The map portrays realistically two important monastic churches, Sempringham Priory and Spalding Priory, which did not survive the Reformation and for which no other contemporary representations are known to exist. Documentary evidence suggests that the map was made at Spalding Priory to record rights to pasture animals in Pinchbeck Fen, and that it passed to the Duchy of Lancaster at the dissolution of the monasteries.     

Regulating interpersonal debt in the bishop's court of Carpentras: litigation,litigators and the court, 1486 and 1487

Using notarial records, this article explains who sued whom at the bishop's court at Carpentras, why they did so and how the court managed people and their debt disputes. In 1486 and 1487, creditors pursued 240 suits over unpaid loans (about three-quarters of the court's business). Litigants spanned the social spectrum and included both Christians and Jews, suggesting that the court was well embedded in the local economy. This diversity, as well as the predominance of ‘horizontal lending’, matches regional trends. Drawing upon anecdotal evidence and quantitative work, the court's procedures, functions and appeal are explained. Since most loans were made orally, proving their existence was difficult. Cases rarely reached rulings and creditors could not expect from ecclesiastical judges the coercive innovations adopted by secular courts. Yet, this church court was a popular forum to authenticate debts, pressure debtors into confession and encourage peaceful, private concords.     

Toxic torts as compensation: Legal geographies of environmental contamination litigation

Residents living in close proximity to contaminated sites may experience adverse effects from financial losses and property devaluation, leading to poor mental health and physical illnesses—effects that may require compensation. The most common legal process of seeking compensation is the toxic tort—litigation pressed on the basis that contamination has harmed the victims. Several recent toxic tort class actions in Australia brought by residents living in areas affected by contamination from per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exemplify that process. Two such actions, those at Williamtown and Richmond, provide an opportunity to explore how toxic torts currently function as a means to secure compensation, whether they mitigate the harms of the contamination and considering how spatio-legal manoeuvres may shape the litigation. In this article, we use a legal geography approach to analyse how plaintiffs’ bodies, litigants’ properties, and the state are constructed and represented by parties involved in these toxic torts. Legal geographers contend that examining the spatio-legal manoeuvres made via litigation can make visible the effects of legal action on those involved and draw out how the law and its instruments may shape places and communities. Toxic tort class actions have allowed those affected by the contamination to be heard and receive some compensation. However, we argue that they do little to alleviate plaintiffs’ concerns about the effects of contamination on their health, properties, and the environment. The findings have significance given that torts will likely play an increasingly prominent role in dealing with such challenges.     

Testing the waters of coastal urbanization: contested projects on Corsica’s protected lands

In the wake of the decentralization reforms implemented in France in the early 1980s, the Coast Protection Act (‘loi littoral’) was enacted in 1986 to counterbalance the significant regulatory powers devolved through those reforms to local municipalities in matters of urban planning. The act’s purpose was to contain urban sprawl, especially in heretofore undeveloped and protected areas such as those found on the Corsican coastline. Many local officials protested that the act would freeze any development on vast tracts of land and become a hindrance to carrying out potentially lucrative tourism projects on the most attractive coastal frontage parcels. The inquiry draws on a statistical sample of 252 legal arguments put forward in 180 claims, which were filed in the Corsican Administrative Court during the 2004–2011 period. From a sociological perspective, we examine in this article the strategies behind litigation and the use of the administrative courts as a means to resolve conflicts that have arisen over the attempted development of protected coastal areas. Special attention is paid to disputes over proposed development projects against which claims have been filed by local inhabitants and state administrators with the intention of containing urban sprawl.     

The Wapentake Courts of The Honour of Pontefract, 1427–1877

Wapentake courts continued to play an important role in the administration of the West Riding throughout the early-modern period and for much of the nineteenth century. This can be demonstrated from the surviving court records of the six wapentake courts of the honour of Pontefract. These show that wapentake courts, acting as sheriff's tourns, performed a central function in early-modern local administration. All the township officers within their jurisdictions, including constables, sworn men (bye-law men) and pinders, were sworn into office at sittings of these courts. The roles of these different township officers are made clear. These courts and the seigneurial courts with jurisdiction over civil suits were inter-dependant, as were the wapentake courts and the courts of quarter sessions. Evolutionary changes in the sittings and functions of these courts are described. The wapentake courts were undermined by nineteenth century reforms of policing and to courts for debt litigation, which eventually led to the final abandonment of these courts despite local support for their continuation.     

从《南部档案》看清代州县的生员诉讼

有清一代,生员的诉讼程序不同于一般民人,他们在收状、问讯等环节享有一定优待,但对其呈词则有加盖儒学戳记之类的诸多要求。律例明确限定了生员的呈告资格及告呈范围,并利用"五生互结"、州县官监督、教官举报等方式约束生员的活动,但制度上的规定与档案所反映的社会实际多有悖离。生员除了因"切己"之事而涉案外,也会主动或被动地参与到亲朋友邻、家族、基层等"不干己"的案件之中。生员涉案的动机虽有谋取私利的情况,但也有维护邻里、家族等小范围秩序的一面。特别是清末办团练、设公局以来,生员参与地方公共事务,在一定程度上分担了州县官在地方治理中的压力。州县官在处理这些案件时,会综合考虑法律规定、案件事实及生员涉案动机等因素,做出合乎情理的审断。生员诉讼背后反映出的不仅是基层社会中官、绅、民之间的交流与博弈,也折射出清末地方社会经济状况及地方社会权力构造的变化等问题。