Litigation: Past and PresentWilfrid R. Prest, Sharyn L. Roach Anleu Litigation does not have a good press - in fact, it is usually viewed very negatively. Rates of litigation in Western countries are claimed to be spiralling beyond control, and this is said to indicate a fundamental crisis in contemporary Western societies. "Litigation: Past and Present" sheds some much-needed light on these views, by examining actual patterns of litigation, both historical and contemporary, and considering the many ways in which courts provide strategies for social change and social justice. Topics surveyed include the long-range recording of litigation rates, the social uses of legal action, the effectiveness of procedural reforms in reducing litigation, and the impact of legal proceedings and activism on Indigenous rights, and on marriage and family issues. Litigation and its impact are too often discussed in excessively rhetorical and pragmatic terms. This volume, with contributions from internationally recognised scholars, adds much needed empirical research and theoretical perspectives to the discussion. |
Contents
Litigation historical and contemporary dimensions | 1 |
The longitudinal study of civil litigation in England 12001996 | 24 |
Some figures behind the numbers going to law in earlymodern England | 44 |
Litigation in the earl years of the Cantebury settlement 185261 | 59 |
When married women litigate issues from divorce and property disputes in colonial and contemporary Australia | 75 |
Hey but whos counting? The metrics and politics of trends in civil litigation | 96 |
Litigation and the Federal civil justice system | 122 |
Litigation reform 19802000 a radical challenge? | 146 |
Challenging the status quo Indigenous activism and the rule of law in Australia | 171 |
International law as litigation strategy for Indigenous Australians a comparison of the Mabo and Nulyarimma cases | 186 |
| 206 | |
Common terms and phrases
Aboriginal Access to Justice actions adjudication adversarial Adversarial System ALRC 89 Brooks Canterbury century Chancery chapter Christchurch civil justice system civil litigation claims colonial common law Commonwealth costs Court of Australia Crown cultural David Bamford decision defendant dispute resolution divorce early-modern economic England example Federal civil justice Federal Court fiduciary obligation filings Fregon Galanter genocide Hazel Genn High Court increase Indigenous Australians interests international law issues judge Judicial Administration jurisdiction land Law & Society Law Review lawsuits lawyers legal aid legal system legislation litigation rates litigation strategy Lowther Mabo manorial marriage married women Minute Book Motor Accidents native title Nulyarimma Nulyarimma v Thompson Omeo parties plaintiff political Queensland relation relationship role settlement Sir John Lowther social Society Review South Wales Supreme Court Sydney terra nullius Tickell tion trial tribunals University Press Whitehaven