Opis

Lord Mansfield. To Be a Judge!

Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego

Autor: Jerzy Zajadło

Jerzy Zajadło’s achievement is that by giving an impassioned account of  Lord Mansfield’s life and career he enhances the Polish reader’s knowledge of  courts and their functioning: of what a judge – as a skilled jurist – must grapple with in passing judgment; of his/her confrontation with social and political expectations. (Let us not be afraid to acknowledge that such confrontations happen, but they have to be faced in accord with a professional ethos and with the tools of the legal trade.) And in this matter the example of Mansfield – as an advisor to the King who was also able as a judge to maintain an appropriate distance and objectivity – may prove particularly instructive. The author manages successfully to capture the distinctive philosophy of judgment demonstrated by Mansfield. That philosophy is expressed in an approach to law that is inclusive and one that cares for the social roots that give it legitimacy. In this way, the author and his subject demonstrate a congruence of cognitive principles. Zajadło’s presentation of Lord Mansfield as a jurist takes place via a discussion of his judgments, and these judgments are the book’s real protagonists. Rarely have doubtful and controversial issues or the dilemmas of judgment been presented in such a readable form.

Professor Ewa Łętowska

Table of contents

INTRODUCTION

History and paradigms 7

CHAPTER I

Childhood and youth – noble birth and thorough education 25

CHAPTER II

Legal practice – a fashionable and effective lawyer 41

The case of Millar v. Taylor (1769) 60

CHAPTER III

Solicitor General, Attorney General,

Member of Parliament, and politician 75

The case of Moses v. MacFerlan (1760) 81

The case of Campbell v. Hall (1774) 96

CHAPTER IV

Chief Justice – judge and Chief Justice

of the Court of King’s Bench 105

The case of Carter v. Boehm (1766) 116

The case of Gregson v. Gilbert (1783) 125

The case of Rex v. Wilkes (1770) 147

CHAPTER V

Final years – a deserved retirement at Kenwood House 159

The case of Somerset v. Stewart (1772) 167

ANNEX 187

BIBLIOGRAPHY 199

INDEX OF PERSONS 213

INDEX OF CASES 219