New book publication: James Allan, The Vantage of Law: Its Role in Thinking about Law, Judging and Bills of Rights (Ashgate 2011).
Professor Allan (University of Queensland) is one of Australia's premier originalist-oriented scholars. American readers shouldn't be put off by the sort of odd (from an American perspective) title: Allan's work is insightful, provocative, and engaging.
Here is the publisher's description:
The premise of this book is that a shift of vantage will help elucidate various important issues of law related to judging, to bills of rights and to more abstract questions of legal philosophy. This work begins by focussing on the jurisprudential issue of whether it is desirable to keep separate the demands of law and of morality and uses the device of changing vantages to elucidate the many issues that fall under that aegis. This is followed by a consideration of how judges ought to do their job when interpreting and whether the rule of law ideal differs from rule by judges. The last part of the book focuses explicitly on bills of rights. Building on the earlier parts, the author uses his device of shifting vantages to provide insights into how these instruments affect democratic decision-making and from which perspectives they will look attractive and unattractive. Written in a clear, accessible and engaging style, this book demonstrates that vantage point is a key criterion affecting how one understands and evaluates, firstly, some of the theoretical debates in jurisprudence and then, secondly, what judges are doing and whether a bill of rights is desirable or not.
And from a review by Jeff Goldsworthy (Monash University):
Jim Allan's new book situates his opposition to judicial activism and constitutionally entrenched rights in a broader theoretical context emphasizing the importance of one's perspective towards the law. He is a bold, vigorous, original and colourful writer, and readers will be entertained as well as informed.
Posted at 7:00 AM