A common law agenda for labour law

This article assesses the purposes of a re-contractualisation of the employment relationship. It examines in particular the implied duty to act in good faith, and argues that in developing this and other implied terms the judiciary only extends employment protection to further wealth maximisation. It is argued that the common law sees its contribution to labour law as a device for maximising the efficiency of the enterprise and promoting the creation of wealth for the benefit of the national economy. The article examines this thesis by assessing the manner in which good faith has been employed to aid modernisation and competitiveness, to control conflict, to regulate the manner in which employees are treated by their employers, and how the law is more concerned with the substance rather than the form of agreement. It suggests that employment protection is likely to be extended in regard to what the authors have described as "the environment interest". In the context of industrial conflict terms have been consistently developed so as to enhance managerial prerogative. The article concludes that all facets of the duty of good faith, (and other implied terms) have been developed to promote the public interest in a successful econom

Authority in the common law

Copyright @ 2011 The Author.No abstract available

Customary International Law Acts As Federal Common Law in U.S. Courts

This Note discusses how international common law should act as federal common law in U.S. courts. This Note also explores the constitutional challenges involved in incorporating customary international law into U.S. federal common law. Such challenges revolve around the institutions of representative democracy, federal jurisdiction, and the doctrine of separation of powers. Part I of this Note discusses federal common law and customary international law. Part II of this Note presents the negative and positive effects of incorporating customary international law into federal common law. This Note concludes that to preserve national honor among the community of nations, and to protect U.S. citizens from powerful national and international factions, the U.S. federal courts must continue their incorporation of customary international law as a part of federal common law. As in the days of Jonathan Smith, customary international law is the answer to reprehensible oppression

English as common legal language: Its expansion and the effects on civil law and common law lawyers

English has become the common language in a globalized legal world. However, the far-reaching consequences of the domination of key areas of the international practice of law by legal English are not yet fully understood and analysed. This article is concerned with an analysis of the expansion of legal English in global legal practice. This area has also been described as the ‘Law Market’, i.e. the area of activities of global lawyers in coping with the regulatory and legal frameworks in which international businesses function.’2 Much of the existing research into legal English as a common language is concerned with the development of legal English as a vehicle language for non-native English speakers in the sense of a lingua franca.3 The discussion is divided into either promoting the use of legal English as global language4 or pointing to its limitations ‘in that its legal terminology is premised on the tools of the (minority) common law system’5. This article aims to assess the interface and dynamics between lawyers using legal English as a common language as well as foreign languages in their legal work. This includes lawyers trained in the common law and/or civil law. Its aim is to gain a better understanding of global lawyering and communication in law and business relationships and to develop strategies for the internationalization of legal education and training in the UK