Table Of ContentCONTENTS
HOW TO USE THIS EBOOK
INTRODUCTION
THE BEGINNINGS OF LAW • 2100 BCE–500 CE
Observe the words of righteousness • Early legal codes
This shall be an everlasting statute unto you • The Ten Commandments and Mosaic
law
The Mandate of Heaven • Zhou dynasty China
The law of the sea • The Lex Rhodia
The art of ruling well • Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism
This shall be binding by law • The Twelve Tables
Law is master of the rulers • Plato’s Laws
True law is right reason • Aristotle and natural law
A person is liable for wrongful damage • The Lex Aquilia
The sacred laws of the castes • The Arthashastra and the Manusmriti
We cultivate the virtue of justice • Ulpian the Jurist
Justice, truth, and peace • The Mishnah and the Talmud
Walk in the way of righteousness • The origins of canon law
LAW IN THE MIDDLE AGES • 500–1470
Is God a just judge? • Trial by ordeal and combat
A divine law and a traced-out way • The Koran
No yard of land was left out • The Domesday Book
An accusation cannot be repeated • Gratian’s Decretum
Speak the truth • The Assize of Clarendon
To none will we deny or delay right or justice • Magna Carta
Every law is ordained to the common good • Thomas Aquinas
The merchant’s companion • The Lex Mercatoria
EMPIRE AND ENLIGHTENMENT • 1470–1800
Protection for any ingenious device • The Venetian Patent Statute
A boundary from pole to pole • The Treaty of Tordesillas
All governors shall keep every poor person • The Poor Laws
Peace is glorious and advantageous • Grotius’s On the Law of War and Peace
Thy grave error and transgression • The trial of Galileo Galilei
A turning point in the history of nations • The Peace of Westphalia
Tyrant, traitor, murderer • The trial of Charles I
All slaves shall be held to be real estate • Slave codes
The rights and liberties of the subject • The Glorious Revolution and the English Bill of
Rights
Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live • The Salem witch trials
The author shall have the sole right of printing • The Statute of Anne
A grand society of nations • Vattel’s The Law of Nations
The most important book in the history of common law • Blackstone’s Commentaries
This Constitution shall be the supreme Law of the Land • The US Constitution and Bill
of Rights
Men are born and remain free and equal in rights • The Declaration of the Rights of
Man
THE RISE OF THE RULE OF LAW • 1800–1945
Justice under the Constitution • The US Supreme Court and judicial review
Every Frenchman shall enjoy civil rights • The Napoleonic Code
Let the oppressed go free • The Abolition of the Slave Trade Act
Purity, activity, vigilance, and discretion • The Metropolitan Police Act
All contracts by way of gaming shall be null and void • The Gaming Act
Bound to do no injury to fellow-creatures • The Cruelty to Animals Act
The damages should be fairly considered • Hadley v. Baxendale
Who can condemn the woman in this book? • The Madame Bovary trial
To take a life is revenge, not justice • The abolition of the death penalty
Even war has rules • The Geneva Conventions
The rights of every worker • The Trade Union Act
The Nordic nations are branches of a tree • Scandinavian cooperation
Evil customs of the past shall be broken off • The Charter Oath
It is justifiable, but not for detestable curiosity • The “Vivisection Act”
The state will care for the victims of industry • The Workers’ Accident Insurance
System
No necessity could justify killing • The Queen v. Dudley and Stephens
Where we are is our property • The St Catherine’s Milling case
Free and unfettered competition • The Sherman Antitrust Act
The laws, rights, and duties of war • The Hague Conventions
A separate legal personality • Salomon v. Salomon & Co. Ltd
Factories are literally death traps • The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire
The war against monopoly • The Federal Trade Commission
Illegal evidence is fruit of the poisonous tree • The exclusionary rule
Power is the ballot • The Representation of the People Act
He shall not eat who does not work • The Russian Constitution
We want a peace which will be just • The Treaty of Versailles
A duty of care • Donoghue v. Stevenson
Deadly weapons must be regulated • The National Firearms Act
From a democracy to a dictatorship • The Nuremberg Laws
A NEW INTERNATIONAL ORDER • 1945–1980
New evils require new remedies • The Nuremberg trials
Genocide is a violation of the laws of humanity • The Genocide Convention
The architects of the better world • The United Nations and International Court of
Justice
A safer world • INTERPOL
All are equal before the law • The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The right to liberty and security • The European Convention on Human Rights
A court with unparalleled power • The European Court of Justice
The sister nations have grown together • The Helsinki Treaty
Let us step back from the shadows of war • The Partial Test Ban Treaty
My children will not be judged by the colour of their skin • The Civil Rights Act
The right to remain silent • Miranda v. Arizona
The foundation of freedom, justice, and peace • The International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights
End the blame game • No-fault divorce
The safety and welfare of witnesses • The Federal Witness Protection Program
The right of a woman to decide • Roe v. Wade
Nothing is more priceless than animal life • The Endangered Species Act
LAW IN THE MODERN AGE • 1980–PRESENT
Boundless, priceless, and threatened • The World Network of Biosphere Reserves
It is to justice what the telescope is for the stars • DNA testing
Empower the watchdogs of wrongdoing • The Whistleblower Protection Act
Together we have overcome. Together we shall overcome • The Americans with
Disabilities Act
A world free of chemical weapons • The Chemical Weapons Convention
To open trade for the benefit of all • The World Trade Organization
When does life begin? • The Dickey–Wicker Amendment
Every parent should have the right to know • Megan’s Law
If creativity is a field, copyright is a fence • The WIPO Copyright Treaty
The landmine does not recognize peace • The Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention
Patients, not criminals • The Portuguese drug strategy
Marriage should be open to all • Same-sex marriage
Compassion is not a crime • Euthanasia
The cause of all humanity • The International Criminal Court
Doping destroys fair play • The International Convention Against Doping in Sport
The battle against climate change • The Kyoto Protocol
It’s sport against these people • The Match-Fixing Task Force
The right to be forgotten • Google Spain v. AEPD and Mario Costeja González
A free and open internet • The Open Internet Order
It’s not about the money. It is about equality • Equal pay certification
DIRECTORY
GLOSSARY
QUOTE ATTRIBUTIONS
CONTRIBUTORS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
COPYRIGHT
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