Celebrated for their conceptual clarity, titles in the Clarendon Law Series offer concise, accessible overviews of major fields of law and legal thought. This chapter deals with the tort of conversion. Conversion is best regarded as the tort which protects the owner of goods not against their being damaged (negligence covers that) but against their being dealt with or detained against his will. It is concerned with loss of goods rather than damage to them. The chapter discusses what goods can be converted; what entitlements the claimant in conversion must show; liability in conversion; remedies, such as the return of the goods or damages or both; and length of protection provided to the legal owner of goods.
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11. Conversion
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10. Mental Health Law
A. M. Farrell and E. S. Dove
This chapter explores the law in relation to mental health, and the concepts and principles engaged in its justification and critique. It compares the statutory frameworks across the UK jurisdictions, focusing first on the involuntary treatment of mental health problems, the legal criteria for when these powers may be used, and limitations or safeguards placed on those powers. It then discusses the legal rules which allow decisions to be taken on behalf of adults found to lack capacity to make decisions for themselves, discussing recent trends in case law relating to capacity and best interests. This chapter also considers relevant human rights instruments and their impact on the legal framework, focusing on Article 5 ECHR (the right to liberty), its interpretation in UK law, the impact of the UK Supreme Court Cheshire West (2014) case, and the relationship between mental health law and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The chapter concludes by discussing current programmes of reform in the area.
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12. Disability Discrimination
This chapter examines disability discrimination law under the Equality Act 2010. It focuses on disability discrimination, with disability being treated as a separate protected characteristic. The chapter first considers the historical context and the possible conceptual approaches to the protection of disabled workers. It then addresses the definition of ‘disability’ in section 6 of the Equality Act. This is followed by an analysis of the employer’s duty to make reasonable adjustments in the workplace to accommodate disabled workers. Next, the ‘discrimination arising from disability’ concept is discussed. Finally, the chapter presents some comments and observations on the current state of disability discrimination law in general, taking into account the terms of the Equality Act and European developments.
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19. Design rights
This chapter considers two forms of design right available in the United Kingdom: registered and unregistered design rights. The former is the older concept and was initially applicable to designs intended to be imprinted on linen; the system was extended to other forms of product by the Copyright and Design Act of 1839. This offered protection for ‘the ornamentation and for the shape and configuration of any article of manufacture’. The notion of unregistered design right was introduced to the United Kingdom in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Design rights in tablet computers are also discussed.
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12. Human Rights, Children’s Rights, and Family Law
Helen Stalford, Seamus Byrne, and Nazia Yaqub
This chapter explores children’s rights in the context of family law and family life. It aims to look at family law through the lens of the human rights of children and the associated theoretical, doctrinal, and empirical scholarship. It begins with a brief overview of the international children’s rights framework underpinning this area, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the European Convention on Human Rights. It then points to some of the cultural, legal, and practical obstacles to the protection of children’s rights in the context of family law. The updated chapter responds to changes in the law arising as a result of Brexit and the recent legislative changes on corporal punishment across the different UK jurisdictions.
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10. Public Law Protection
Penelope Russell
Public law protection of children challenges one of the fundamental principles of England and Wales that children are best brought up by their parents. Unlimited state intervention in the family is not permitted and the courts have to strike a balance between maintaining stability for children within their family, and protecting them from harm. This chapter considers the statutory duties of the local authority towards children as well as emergency action to protect a child. It examines what has to be proven to obtain a care order and the evidential difficulties connected with this; in particular, the difficulties posed for the courts where harm is caused to a child by an unknown perpetrator. The chapter ends by exploring the options available to the court at the welfare assessment once the threshold criteria have been met.
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11. Conservation of Nature, Ecosystems, and Biodiversity
Our survival on earth, this chapter argues, depends on the conservation of the world’s natural resources. These resources comprise of soil, water, the atmosphere, plants, trees, and other life forms. The chapter looks at the earth’s current ‘ecological footprint’ and the future of that ecological footprint as it stands now. There is now widespread scientific consensus that biodiversity is being lost, and that pressures on biodiversity are increasing. The chapter asks what we can do about this, in terms of international law. The chapter identifies how international law seeks to ensure the protection and conservation and sustainable use of nature, its ecosystems and biodiversity, and the effectiveness of measures developed to conserve land?based living resources, forests, and deserts.
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12. Conservation of Marine Living Resources
This chapter argues that the conservation of marine living resources presents complex problems of regulation and management. The oceans represent the least understood ecosystem on this earth and this makes the conservation of marine life and resources, and the regulation of such, very difficult and complicated. The chapter gives an overview of the law as it stands. International law on conservation and sustainable use of marine living resources has developed very slowly thus far. Effective regimes for conservation of marine living resources have to address not only sustainable use of targeted stocks, but also incidental catch of other species, conservation of biological diversity, and protection of the marine ecosystems which provide the main habitat for fish stocks and other species. The chapter concludes that developing a legal regime that provides for sustainable use and conservation of the ocean’s living resources and biological diversity within the framework of the general law of the sea will continue to remain problematic.
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6. Legitimate Expectations
Mark Elliott and Jason Varuhas
This chapter examines the doctrine of legitimate expectation and its application to lawfully created expectations as well as the extent, if any, to which it may protect ‘unlawfully generated expectations’. It first explains why legitimate expectations must be protected and goes on to discuss the relationship between two variables that are in play in any situation which potentially engages the legitimate expectation principle: that of legitimacy and that of the mode of protection which may be extended to expectations which satisfy the first criterion. The chapter then tackles the problematic question of unlawfully created expectations, focusing on the importance of securing fairness for the individual. It also considers the issues of constitutionality and public interest, along with representations issued by unauthorized officials and representations concerning action which is ultra vires the agency.
Book
Alan Boyle and Catherine Redgwell
Birnie, Boyle, and Redgwell's International Law and the Environment places legislation on the protection of the environment firmly at the core of its argument. It uses sharp and thorough analysis of the law, sharing knowledge and experience. The chapters provide a unique perspective on the implications of international regulation, promoting a wide understanding of the pertinent issues impacting upon the law. The text starts by looking at international law and the environment. It looks at the rights and obligations of states concerning the protection of the environment. The text also considers interstate enforcement which includes state responsibility, compliance, and dispute settlement. It moves on to consider non-state actors such as environmental rights, liability, and crimes. Climate change and atmospheric pollution are given some consideration. The text also examines the law of the sea and protection of the marine environment. Conservation is dealt with in detail, including the conservation of nature, ecosystems, and biodiversity and marine living resources. Finally, the text looks at international trade.
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16. The right to an adequate standard of living
This chapter examines the right to an adequate standard of living in international human rights law. This is an example of a socio-economic right. It has many components in international law and so this chapter discusses issues such as the right to housing, food, water, and social security. To some commentators this right is the realization of ‘freedom from want’ as it ensures the basic necessities of life. Some elements have been well litigated; housing and forced evictions, for example. Understanding and realization of other elements are still emerging. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a renewed understanding of the importance of the right to an adequate standard of living, especially housing and social security rights as well as the right to clean water.
