Tort Law Defences: 8 (Hart Studies in Private Law) - Softcover

Goudkamp, James

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1509905022 ISBN 13: 9781509905027

Publisher: Hart Publishing, 1952

Synopsis

The law of torts recognises many defences to liability. While some of these defences have been explored in detail, scant attention has been given to the theoretical foundations of defences generally. In particular, no serious attempt has been made to explain how defences relate to each other or to the torts to which they pertain. The goal of this book is to reduce the size of this substantial gap in our understanding of tort law. The principal way in which it attempts to do so is by developing a taxonomy of defences. The book shows that much can be learned about a given defence from the way in which it is classified.

This new paperback edition contains a substantial preface in which the author responds to critics.

Reviews
'James Goudkamp's book can rightly claim to be the first serious attempt to examine tort law defences systematically and it is a very important addition to the private law canon ... [His] analysis is consistently thought-provoking ... [T]his book will provide the framework for future analysis of all private law defences'.
Graham Virgo, The Cambridge Law Journal

'This book ... is the first sustained attempt in the modern law to explore the theoretical foundations of the defences to liability recognised by the law of tort and their interrelationship ... [It is] an instant classic'.
Ken Oliphant and Annette Morris, Yearbook of European Tort Law

'James Goudkamp's Tort Law Defences fills a startling gap in tort law scholarship... [It] provides an impressive foundation for the future study of defences, and will undoubtedly become the standard against which all other works are measured'. Erika Chamberlain, Canadian Business Law Journal

About this title

Review:

... an excellent, thought-provoking and rigorously analytical book, which is clearly written and meticulously researched. --Paul Mitchell Sydney Law Review

...Goudkamp's book is the first scholarly study of tort law defences as a whole, and as such is a major addition to the scholarship of tort law. The range of the author's scholarship is impressive, not only in its scale, in that it has extended over the whole field of the law of torts, but also jurisdictionally, and in the use he makes of criminal law scholarship about defences - which may be a first for torts scholars. There are passages which are heavy on theory ... which are particularly telling in showing the author's mastery of such areas. The work as a whole has carved out a new area in tort law research and is a most impressive contribution to the scholarly literature on this subject. --Peter Handford Torts Law Journal

...Tort Law Defences ... is ... a pioneering work. It challenges us to think harder about doctrines which are extremely important, both on a theoretical and a practical level. --Eric Descheemaeker The Modern Law Review

About the Author:

James Goudkamp is a Fellow of Keble College, Oxford, and an Associate Professor in the Oxford Law Faculty. He holds or has held visiting positions at Harvard Law School, the National University of Singapore, the University of Western Australia and the University of Wollongong.

About this edition

• Publisher: Hart Publishing
• Publication date: 1952
• ISBN 10: 1509905022
• ISBN 13: 9781509905027
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 284