header-logo header-logo

Book review: Law in a time of crisis

14 May 2021 / Alec Samuels
Issue: 7932 / Categories: Features , Profession
printer mail-detail
48984
  • Author: Jonathan Sumption
  • Publisher: Profile Books Ltd
  • ISBN: 9781788167116
  • Price: £16.99

Released from the restraints of judicial office, Lord Sumption is once again a free spirit, crisply, elegantly, logically and challengingly examining our cherished legal institutions and theories and practices. It is a pity that Lord Sumption is not a real lord anymore, not eligible as a retired law lord to sit in the legislature.

As good old Lord Denning used to say, a good judge has to be more than a mere lawyer—he must be a man of science or maths or history or literature or philosophy or whatever. Sumption was eminently well qualified—a scholarly historian, especially in mediaeval history, of real repute. Aristotle, Coke, Dicey, Marx, Hemingway, all are quoted, among others. He found the old law reports and the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography very useful in his cases. As a distinguished historian, he did not approve of statue wreckers; rage against the past is pointless.

Diversity in the judiciary has become

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll