Book reviews

Books for review should be sent to the Book Review Editor, D.V.E. Royall, at Lanchester College of Technology, Coventry.

SALE OF GOODS by G.H.L. Fridman, published by Sweet & Maxwell, Ltd., at 50s.

PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE by Rowland G. Witchell, (1966) published by Oyez Publications at 37s. 6d.

COMPANY LAW by Kenneth Smith and Denis J. Keenan. (1966) published by Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd. at 30s.

BUILDING LAW by J.R. Lewis published by Allman & Son, Ltd., at 18s 6d.

BUSINESS LAW by Neil Merritt and E.G. Howard Clayton (1966) published by Sweet & Maxwell Ltd. at 35s (hardback) and 18s: 6d. (paperback).

HILL AND REDMAN'S LAW OF LANDLORD AND TENANT (14th Edn) by W. J. Williams, published by Butterworths & Co. Ltd. at £9. 17. 6 (main work with supplement); supplement alone £1. 7. 6d.     

Justificatory Liberalism and Same‐Sex Marriage

Supporters of Justificatory Liberalism (JL)—such as John Rawls and Gerard Gaus—typically maintain that the state may not coerce its citizens on matters of constitutional essentials unless it can provide public justification that the coerced citizens would be irrational in rejecting. The state, in other words, may not coerce citizens whose rejection of the coercion is based on their reasonable comprehensive doctrines (i.e., worldviews). Proponents of the legal recognition of same‐sex marriage (SSM) usually offer some version of JL as the most fundmental reason why laws that recognize marriage only if it is a union between one man and one woman are unjust. In this article I argue that the application of JL in support of legal recognition of SSM does not succeed because the issue under scrutiny—the nature of marriage—is deeply embedded in, and in most cases integral to, many (if not most) citizens’ reasonable comprehensive doctrines. Thus, I argue that because of the effects and consequences of the legal recognition of SSM, it results (or will result) in a violation of JL against dissenting citizens.     

Lying during crisis negotiations: A costly means to expedient resolution

Norman J. Finkel, Commonsense Justice: Jurors’ Notions of the Law Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995, 390pp.     

Descending thoracic aortic aneurysm rupture during postpartum period

Aortic aneurysm refers to the pathological dilatation of the normal aortic lumen involving one or several segments. Thoracic aortic aneurysms are much less common than aneurysms of the abdominal aorta. Descending thoracic aortic aneurysm leading to dissection and spontaneous rupture is a potentially catastrophic illness. Although rare, dissection and rupture of a preexisting aortic aneurysm have been reported during pregnancy and early puerperium. To the best of our knowledge, such cases among young pregnant women are rarely reported in literature. Herein, an autopsy case of spontaneous rupture of a clinically undiagnosed descending thoracic aortic aneurysm during early puerperium in a young woman is presented along with the review of relevant literature. The victim was found dead on her hospital bed on the seventh day of puerperium. Autopsy with ancillary investigations revealed that the young woman died because of hemothorax from a ruptured dissecting descending thoracic aortic aneurysm secondary to chronic aortitis.     

Anonymisation of personal data – A missed opportunity for the European Commission

As early as the 1970's, privacy studies recognised that ‘anonymisation’ needed to be approached with caution. This caution has since been vindicated by the increasing sophistication of techniques for reidentification. Yet the courts in the UK have so far only hesitatingly grappled with the issues involved, while European courts have produced no guidance.     

Edem v. The Information Commissioner and The Financial Services Authority [2014] EWCA Civ 92

From time to time the Court of Appeal feels the need to steer inferior courts and tribunals away from an over-enthusiastic application of a particular direction of travel signposted by its own previous decisions. In the Edem judgment, published on 7 February 2014, the court has taken the opportunity to restrict significantly the application of its decision more than a decade ago in Durant v. Financial Services Authority, ¹ a case that has been relied on by many commercial data protection practitioners to deny subject access or the wider application of the Data Protection Act 1998 on the grounds that the data were not personal in that they did not relate to the individual in question even though the individual's name appeared as part of the data.     

Relationships between characteristics of teachers and teachers' assessments of sources of information

The Researchers' primary purpose was to explore relationships between (a) urban area secondary school teachers' assessments of thirty three sources of information apt to influence their practice and (b) specific characteristics of these teachers. A sample of 245 teachers, or 61% of the set contacted, participated. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of data offered by the respondents were carried out. Both predictable and perplexing outcomes of the data analyses were documented. The Researchers concluded: a) That demographic profiles of teachers can be discerned which are related to assessments of various information sources; and b) that teachers' needs for information can be linked to preferred sources of information. They were unable to explain why variables like years of teaching experience, sex, and age were related significantly to teachers' assessments of sources of information.