The Law Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

COVER
CONTENTS
HOW TO USE THIS EBOOK
INTRODUCTION
THE BEGINNINGS OF LAW • 2100 BCE–500 CE
	Observe the words of righteousness • Early legal codes
	This shall be an everlasting statute unto you • The Ten Commandments and Mosaic law
	The Mandate of Heaven • Zhou dynasty China
	The law of the sea • The Lex Rhodia
	The art of ruling well • Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism
	This shall be binding by law • The Twelve Tables
	Law is master of the rulers • Plato’s Laws
	True law is right reason • Aristotle and natural law
	A person is liable for wrongful damage • The Lex Aquilia
	The sacred laws of the castes • The Arthashastra and the Manusmriti
	We cultivate the virtue of justice • Ulpian the Jurist
	Justice, truth, and peace • The Mishnah and the Talmud
	Walk in the way of righteousness • The origins of canon law
LAW IN THE MIDDLE AGES • 500–1470
	Is God a just judge? • Trial by ordeal and combat
	A divine law and a traced-out way • The Koran
	No yard of land was left out • The Domesday Book
	An accusation cannot be repeated • Gratian’s Decretum
	Speak the truth • The Assize of Clarendon
	To none will we deny or delay right or justice • Magna Carta
	Every law is ordained to the common good • Thomas Aquinas
	The merchant’s companion • The Lex Mercatoria
EMPIRE AND ENLIGHTENMENT • 1470–1800
	Protection for any ingenious device • The Venetian Patent Statute
	A boundary from pole to pole • The Treaty of Tordesillas
	All governors shall keep every poor person • The Poor Laws
	Peace is glorious and advantageous • Grotius’s On the Law of War and Peace
	Thy grave error and transgression • The trial of Galileo Galilei
	A turning point in the history of nations • The Peace of Westphalia
	Tyrant, traitor, murderer • The trial of Charles I
	All slaves shall be held to be real estate • Slave codes
	The rights and liberties of the subject • The Glorious Revolution and the English Bill of Rights
	Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live • The Salem witch trials
	The author shall have the sole right of printing • The Statute of Anne
	A grand society of nations • Vattel’s The Law of Nations
	The most important book in the history of common law • Blackstone’s Commentaries
	This Constitution shall be the supreme Law of the Land • The US Constitution and Bill of Rights
	Men are born and remain free and equal in rights • The Declaration of the Rights of Man
THE RISE OF THE RULE OF LAW • 1800–1945
	Justice under the Constitution • The US Supreme Court and judicial review
	Every Frenchman shall enjoy civil rights • The Napoleonic Code
	Let the oppressed go free • The Abolition of the Slave Trade Act
	Purity, activity, vigilance, and discretion • The Metropolitan Police Act
	All contracts by way of gaming shall be null and void • The Gaming Act
	Bound to do no injury to fellow-creatures • The Cruelty to Animals Act
	The damages should be fairly considered • Hadley v. Baxendale
	Who can condemn the woman in this book? • The Madame Bovary trial
	To take a life is revenge, not justice • The abolition of the death penalty
	Even war has rules • The Geneva Conventions
	The rights of every worker • The Trade Union Act
	The Nordic nations are branches of a tree • Scandinavian cooperation
	Evil customs of the past shall be broken off • The Charter Oath
	It is justifiable, but not for detestable curiosity • The “Vivisection Act”
	The state will care for the victims of industry • The Workers’ Accident Insurance System
	No necessity could justify killing • The Queen v. Dudley and Stephens
	Where we are is our property • The St Catherine’s Milling case
	Free and unfettered competition • The Sherman Antitrust Act
	The laws, rights, and duties of war • The Hague Conventions
	A separate legal personality • Salomon v. Salomon & Co. Ltd
	Factories are literally death traps • The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire
	The war against monopoly • The Federal Trade Commission
	Illegal evidence is fruit of the poisonous tree • The exclusionary rule
	Power is the ballot • The Representation of the People Act
	He shall not eat who does not work • The Russian Constitution
	We want a peace which will be just • The Treaty of Versailles
	A duty of care • Donoghue v. Stevenson
	Deadly weapons must be regulated • The National Firearms Act
	From a democracy to a dictatorship • The Nuremberg Laws
A NEW INTERNATIONAL ORDER • 1945–1980
	New evils require new remedies • The Nuremberg trials
	Genocide is a violation of the laws of humanity • The Genocide Convention
	The architects of the better world • The United Nations and International Court of Justice
	A safer world • INTERPOL
	All are equal before the law • The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
	The right to liberty and security • The European Convention on Human Rights
	A court with unparalleled power • The European Court of Justice
	The sister nations have grown together • The Helsinki Treaty
	Let us step back from the shadows of war • The Partial Test Ban Treaty
	My children will not be judged by the colour of their skin • The Civil Rights Act
	The right to remain silent • Miranda v. Arizona
	The foundation of freedom, justice, and peace • The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
	End the blame game • No-fault divorce
	The safety and welfare of witnesses • The Federal Witness Protection Program
	The right of a woman to decide • Roe v. Wade
	Nothing is more priceless than animal life • The Endangered Species Act
LAW IN THE MODERN AGE • 1980–PRESENT
	Boundless, priceless, and threatened • The World Network of Biosphere Reserves
	It is to justice what the telescope is for the stars • DNA testing
	Empower the watchdogs of wrongdoing • The Whistleblower Protection Act
	Together we have overcome. Together we shall overcome • The Americans with Disabilities Act
	A world free of chemical weapons • The Chemical Weapons Convention
	To open trade for the benefit of all • The World Trade Organization
	When does life begin? • The Dickey–Wicker Amendment
	Every parent should have the right to know • Megan’s Law
	If creativity is a field, copyright is a fence • The WIPO Copyright Treaty
	The landmine does not recognize peace • The Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention
	Patients, not criminals • The Portuguese drug strategy
	Marriage should be open to all • Same-sex marriage
	Compassion is not a crime • Euthanasia
	The cause of all humanity • The International Criminal Court
	Doping destroys fair play • The International Convention Against Doping in Sport
	The battle against climate change • The Kyoto Protocol
	It’s sport against these people • The Match-Fixing Task Force
	The right to be forgotten • Google Spain v. AEPD and Mario Costeja González
	A free and open internet • The Open Internet Order
	It’s not about the money. It is about equality • Equal pay certification
DIRECTORY
GLOSSARY
QUOTE ATTRIBUTIONS
CONTRIBUTORS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
COPYRIGHT