Publications

The fourth edition of Burrows, Finn and Todd’s Law of Contract provides definitive coverage of the law of contract in New Zealand. The clarity and the comprehensive nature of the discussion make this book the first point of reference for the legal practitioner, the law student, and all who are interested in this core field of law. This latest edition maintains and builds upon the exemplary standards set by its predecessors.

The fourth edition includes many new and significant cases concerning, for example, lapse and termination of offers, the interpretation of contracts, privity of contract and third party claims in negligence, unconscionable bargains, assignment of the burden of a contract, cancellation of contracts, and various aspects of damages for breach of contract. New legislation also has been enacted. In particular, chapter 8 has been substantially revised in the light of the requirements of the Property Law Act 2007, and the discussion of limitation of actions in chapter 21 now includes the provisions of the Limitation Act 2010.

Alastair Mowbray, Cases, Materials and Commentary on the European Convention on Human Rights 3^rd ed (Oxford University Press, 2012)

Detailed yet accessible, this comprehensive text presents a thorough examination of the complex and lengthy jurisprudence emanating from Strasbourg. Providing coverage of all major rights enshrined in the European Convention, together with key cases and extensive commentary, Mowbray enables his readers to gain a critical and contemporary understanding of the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the ECHR.

Fully updated to address the latest developments in this vital area of law, the third edition features over 120 new cases as well as analysis of the introduction and consequences of Protocol 14 reforms to the Strasbourg control system. An evaluation of the institutional and procedural workings of the ECHR also allows the reader a valuable insight into how the organisation works and is currently structured.

Lionel Bently , Uma Suthersanen , Paul Torremans, Global Copyright, Three Hundred Years Since the Statute of Anne, from 1709 to Cyberspace

Edited by Lionel Bently, Herchel Smith Professor of Intellectual Property Law, University of Cambridge, UK, Uma Suthersanen, Professor in International Intellectual Property Law, Queen Mary, University of London, UK and Paul Torremans, Professor of Intellectual Property Law, School of Law, University of Nottingham, UK Edward Elgar 2010.

This innovative book celebrates the tri-centenary of modern copyright, which began with the enactment of the Statute of Anne by the British Parliament in 1709, and was soon followed by other copyright legislation abroad. The Statute of Anne is traditionally claimed to be the world’s first copyright statute, and is thus viewed as the origin of a system of national laws that today exists in virtually all countries of the world. However, this book illustrates that while there is some truth in this claim, it is also important to treat it with caution.

Written by leading experts from across the globe, this comprehensive (historical) analysis breaks new ground on modern copyright issues such as digital libraries, illegal downloading and distribution, international exhaustion and ‘new formalities’. The expert contributors consider what lessons can be learnt from the achievements made during the last 300 years, and whether they can be used to overcome the new challenges facing copyright.  This in-depth scientific analysis of the legacy of the Statute of Anne 300 years on from its origins will provide copyright practitioners, academics, policy makers and postgraduate students with a unique and fascinating read.

James J. Fawcett and Paul Torremans,  Intellectual Property and Private International Law (Second Edition), Oxford Private International Law Series, 978-0-19-955658-8 | Hardback | 17 February 2011

This much enlarged and completely re-written second edition offers a comparative approach of private international law and intellectual property law and assesses how these disciplines impact on and co-operate with the other.

Intellectual property has traditionally been regulated on a territorial basis. However, the protection and commercial exploitation of intellectual property rights such as patents, trade marks, designs and copyright occurring across borders are now seldom confined to one jurisdiction. This book considers how the introduction of a foreign element inevitably raises potential problems of private international law, ranging from establishing which court has jurisdiction and which is the applicable law to securing the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments.

Nigel White and Richard Collins (co-editors), International Organizations and the Idea of Autonomy: Institutional Independence in the International Legal Order (Routledge, 2011).  In this book a number of experts from Europe examine various aspects of international organizations in terms of their legal autonomy, powers, responsibility and accountability. Organizations covered include the UN, the EU and the WTO, and contributors include Mary Footer (Nottingham), Jan Klabbers (Helsinki), John Merrills (Sheffield), Tarcisio Gazzini (Amsterdam), Ramses Wessel (Twente), Eric de Brandanbere (Leiden), Jean D’Aspremont (Amsterdam), Edoardo Chiti (La Tuscia), Viljam Engstrom (Turku), Duncan French (Sheffield), Nicolas Hachez (Leuven), Bob Reinalda and Bertjan Verbeek (Nijmegen), and Jan Wouters and Nicolas Hachez (Leuven).  The foreword is written by Jose Alvarez of New York University

Edward J Goodwin, International Environmental Law and the Conservation of Coral Reefs (Routledge, 2011) This book breaks new ground as the first in-depth account of the ways in which multilateral environmental treaty regimes are seeking to encourage and improve the conservation of tropical coral reef ecosystems. The author reveals a wide array of obligations tackling many of the threats to coral reefs as well as the encouraging level of activity on the part of states and convention bodies. Nevertheless, the work reveals the current weaknesses in the legal coverage, particularly as it relates to the absence of a regime to address ocean acidification and the limited progress with regards to land-based sources of pollution. This book will be invaluable to environmental lawyers, legal researchers, marine conservationists and other stakeholders in tropical coral reefs.

Estelle Derclaye and Professor Dr Matthias Leistner, Intellectual Property Overlaps: A European Perspective (Hart Publishing, 2011) aims to find appropriate rules to regulate overlaps and thereby avoid regime conflicts and undue unstructured expansion of IPRs. The book studies the practical consequences of each overlap at the international, European and national levels (where the laws of France, the UK and Germany are reviewed). It then analyses the reasons for the prohibition or authorisation of overlaps.  This analysis enables the determination of criteria and principles that can be used to (re)map the overlaps to achieve appropriateness and legitimacy.

David Fraser, Daviborshch’s Cart (University of Nebraska Press, 2011) offers the first critical examination of Australian attempts to bring alleged Nazi criminals to justice. Based on a review of previously unexamined historical and legal documents and transcripts, Daviborshch’s Cart is more than an account of Holocaust perpetrators who found a safe haven in post-war Australia. It is also the story of the Holocaust in the Ukraine, Nazi extermination policies, and the ways in which future generations translate history into law, archives into proof, and law into justice.

Michael Bowman, Peter Davies and Catherine Redgwell, Lyster's International Wildlife Law (Cambridge, 2010).

This new edition provides a clear and authoritative analysis of the key treaties which regulate the conservation of wildlife and habitat protection, and of the mechanisms available to make them work.  The original text has also been significantly expanded to include analysis of the philosophical and welfare considerations underpinning wildlife protection, the cross-cutting themes of wildlife and trade, and the impact of climate change and other anthropogenic interferences with species and habitat.  Lyster's International Wildlife Law is an indispensable reference work for scholars, practitioners and policy-makers alike.

Aurora Plomer and Paul Torremans (eds), Embryonic Stem Cell Patents (OUP, 2010)

Stem cell research, and particularly embryonic stem cell research, whilst offering the prospect of developing theories for serious life-threatening diseases, also raises a number of difficult and controversial moral questions.  This is reflected in a variety of moral perspectives and regulatory regimes, already adopted or in the process of being developed, in EU Member States.  In particular the "moral exclusion" clause in Article 6 of the EC Directive on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions has created much uncertainty in this field.  This collection of original essays provides comprehensive analysis of the EU patent system as applied to biotechnological inventions and particularly stem cell research, dealing with the overlapping EPC, EU, international and national law regimes bearing on the exclusion of patents in a morally fragmented and contested field.

Duncan French, Matthew Saul and Nigel White (eds), International Law and Dispute Settlement: New Problems and Techniques (Hart, 2010) contains chapters from the editors and from distinguished writers such as Professor Vaughan Lowe (Oxford) and James Crawford (Cambridge), re-examining the role of dispute settlement in international law. International dispute settlement plays a fundamental role in maintaining the fabric of the international legal order, reflecting the desire of States, and increasingly non-State actors, to resolve their differences through international dispute procedures and other legal mechanisms. This edited collection focuses upon the growth and complexity of such legal methods, which includes judicial settlement (courts and tribunals), arbitration and other legal (or what might be termed 'extra-legal') means (international organisations, committees, inspection panels, and ombudspersons).The book was published to mark the retirement of Professor John Merrills (Emeritus Professor of International Law at the University of Sheffield).

Irit Mevorach, Insolvency Within Multinational Enterprise Groups (OUP, 2009)

Winner of an Edwin Coe Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship.

Insolvency within multinational enterprise groups (MEGs) raises complex issues owing to the foreign elements of the case and the multiplicity of debtors. The key problem is deciding to what extent and in which ways should there be 'linkage' between the entities in the course of their insolvency in order to promote insolvency goals. This issue has been neglected in both national and international regimes.

In order to deal with this issue the work provides a theoretical framework, suggesting a balance between Entity-Enterprise issues (drawn from company law theory and the problem of enterprise groups) and Universality-Territoriality issues (drawn from cross-border insolvency and conflict of laws theory). This is further assisted by a taxonomy describing prototypical scenarios of MEGs and their insolvency.

Paul Torremans, Intellectual Property Law (OUP, 2010)

Now in a fully updated and expanded 6th edition, Holyoak and Torremans Intellectual Property Law provides in depth analysis on all aspects of intellectual property law. The book's unique perspective combines a UK approach with all EU and international aspects of this area of law that is increasingly global in its reach.

Estelle Derclaye (ed), Copyright and Cultural Heritage: Preservation and Access to Works in a Digital World (Edward Elgar, 2010)

Hermann Pünder, Hans-Joachim Prießa and Sue Arrowsmith (eds), Self-Cleaning in Public Procurement Law (Carl Heymanns, 2009)

One of the key issues of current debate in public procurement is the extent to which self-cleaning can constitute a defence to exclusion or debarment from public procurement for misconduct. This concept of self-cleaning refers to the cleansing of the company to rid itself of all the influences and structures that led to the misconduct and to ensure that is not repeated. This new book, edited by Professor Hermann Punder, Professor Sue Arrowsmith and Hans-Joachim Priess, examines the concept of self-cleaning and its application in public procurement systems through a study of a number of jurisdictions, including Austria, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Israel and the USA.

David Fraser, The Fragility of Law: Constitutional Patriotism, Collaboration and the Jews of Belgium, 1940-1945 (Routledge-Cavendish, 2008)

Winner of the SLSA-Hart Book Prize 2010. 

This book examines the ways in which, during the Second World War, the Belgian government and judicial structure became implicated in the identification, exclusion and killing of its Jewish residents, and in the theft – through Aryanization – of Jewish property.

David Fraser demonstrates how a series of political and legal compromises meant that the infrastructure for anti-Semitic persecutions and ultimately the deaths of thousands of Belgian Jews was Belgian.