Thomas P. Gallanis

THE MYSTERY OF OLD BAILEY COUNSEL

This article proffers a hypothesis about a persistent historical mystery: Why did the use of defense lawyers in felony trials at the Old Bailey in London increase so noticeably in the last quarter of the eighteenth century?

Adversarial Culture, Adversarial Doctrine: Cross-Examination and Leading Questions in The State Trials on CD-ROM

This review article has two purposes. First, it introduces and evaluates a new electronic resource: The State Trials, 1163–1858, on CD-ROM. This product was released recently and has not yet had the chance to gain much attention from legal historians. Second, the article provides one example of how The State Trials CD can contribute to historical research by showing how it raises questions about the received wisdom on an aspect of the history of our adversarial system: the limitation on leading questions in the examination of witnesses.

Making sense of Blackstone's puzzle: Why forbid defense counsel?

There is a puzzle at the heart of the history of the English criminal trial. Defendants accused of serious crimes were denied counsel, but not defendants accused of minor crimes. Why? Sir William Blackstone could find no explanation and denounced the rule as contrary to the “face of reason.” This article proffers an answer. The rule is traced to the thirteenth century and a strong view of the royal prerogative. Royal interests were at stake, and counsel would not be permitted against the king acting ex officio. The rule seems to have been distinctly English; it does not appear to have been transplanted from the Roman-canon law. The rule continued in England, bolstered by new justifications, long after its original rationale had been forgotten.

The Rule Against Perpetuities and the Law Commission’s Flawed Philosophy

The author considers the proposal of the Law Commission that the Rule against Perpetuities should be amended rather than abolished and emphasises the need for a balance between the freedom of the current generation and the freedom of future generations to control property. The article draws attention to the experience of Canada and the United States and suggests that experience undermines the Rules economic rationale and that the Law Commission should consider recommending the Rules abolition.

A Historical Introduction to the Law of Obligations

1 PROLOGUE: THE PREHISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LAW OF OBLIGATIONS 2 STRUCTURAL FOUNDATIONS 3 UNITY AND FRAGMENTATION OF THE MEDIAEVAL LAW OF CONTRACT 4 TRESPASS, TRESPASS ON THE CASE, AND THE MEDIAEVAL LAW OF TORT 5 THE SUBSTANTIVE LAW OF TORTS 6 THE SUBSTANTIVE LAW OF CONTRACT PART 2 THE TRIUMPH OF TRESPASS ON THE CASE 7 TORT, PROPERTY, AND REPUTATION: THE EXPANSION OF THE ACTION ON THE CASE 8 THE RISE OF THE ACTION OF ASSUMPSIT PART 3 THE MODERN LAW OF TORT AND CONTRACT 9 TRESPASS, CASE, AND THE MORAL BASIS OF LIABILITY 10 THE LAW OF TORTS IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY: THE RISE OF THE TORT OF NEGLIGENCE 11 THE LAW OF TORTS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY: EXPANSION AND COLLAPSE OF THE TORT OF NEGLIGENCE 12 FOUNDATIONS OF THE MODERN LAW OF CONTRACT 13 THE RISE OF THE WILL THEORY THE WILL THEORY AND THE CLASSICAL MODEL OF CONTRACT 14 THE DECLINE OF THE WILL THEORY: LEGAL REGULATION AND CONTRACTUAL FAIRNESS PART 4 UNJUST ENRICHMENT 15 UNJUST ENRICHMENT 16 LEGAL CHANGE AND LEGAL CONTINUITY