Labour Law 2008: 40 Years On

What has happened to British Labour Law over the past 40 years?It has become a larger more juridified subject. But its developmentrequires an understanding of the New Capitalism that has emerged,with capital more mobile and powerful in globalisation. Threeaspects are chosen for comment: First the meaning of the recentreview by the Law Lords of economic torts. Second, the argumentsabout the contract of employment in Britain and Italy, in thecontext of the regulation debate, forthcoming legislation andthe search for acceptable standards of social justice. Thirdly,the scene is set in European law for a new chapter in the tensionbetween employers' economic freedoms in the internal marketand social rights, including the right to strike.