New ebooks purchased this month: April - May 2024

A selection of  law ebook titles were purchased this month, in association with the ebooks@cambridge team. These are all available through iDiscover, and include:

Contract Law : An Introduction to the English Law of Contract for the Civil Lawyer (4th edition), by John Cartwright (Hart Publishing, 2023)

The fourth edition of this acclaimed textbook addresses the developments in English contract law since the last edition, including the impact of the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union, and new case law on the role of good faith, the doctrine of consideration, rectification of written contracts for mistake, economic duress, illegality, contractual interpretation, and damages for breach of contract. After a general introduction to the common law system – how a common lawyer reasons and finds the law – the book explains the principles of the law of contract in English law covering all the aspects of a contract from its formation to the remedies available for breach, whilst directing attention in particular to those areas where the approach of English law is in marked contrast to that taken in many civil law systems.

Disabling Criminal Justice: The Governance of Autistic Adult Defendants in the English Criminal Justice System, by Marie Tidball (Hart Publishing, 2024)

This book considers the governance of autistic defendants and offenders in the UK courts. Utilising the social model of disability, it considers the dominant strategies of governance, including 'vulnerability', which the author argues obscures the rights of disabled people in the criminal justice system. In doing so it sheds light on how this group should be governed. Drawing on rigorously-researched case studies of autistic adult defendants through the court process, the book brings together relevant legal and policy literature, criminological and criminal justice theory and disability studies to provide insight into the 'dividing practices' that affect the governance of disabled defendants' conduct.

Law at the Cutting Edge: Essays in Honour of Sarah Worthington, edited by Sinéad Agnew and Marcus Smith (Hart Publishing, 2024)

This collection celebrates the immense contribution of Sarah Worthington to the field of private law. Defining the subject broadly, experts from the judiciary and the academy address contemporary challenges arising in the fields of agency, company law and insolvency, contract law, equity, the law of money, personal property, restitution and unjust enrichment. The breadth of the contributors' expertise and their willingness to offer innovative and insightful solutions to difficult problems perfectly mirror Sarah Worthington's rigorous and inspirational approach to private law scholarship.

Rights of Nature in Europe : Encounters and Visions, edited by Jenny García Ruales, Katarina Hovden, Helen Kopnina, Colin D. Robertson, and Hendrik Schoukens (Routledge, 2024)

This book addresses the recognition of the Rights of Nature (RoN) in Europe, examining their conceptualisation and implementation. RoN refers to a diverse set of legal developments that seek to redefine Nature's status within the law, gradually emerging as a novel template for environmental protection. Countries like Ecuador and New Zealand, each with distinct histories and ways of dwelling in the world, have pioneered a new era in environmental governance by legally acknowledging rights or personhood for nature, ecosystems, and more-than-human populations.

The Regulation of Digital Technologies in the EU: Act-ification, GDPR Mimesis and EU Law Brutality at Play, by Vagelis Papakonstantinou and Paul de Hert (Routledge, 2024)

EU regulatory initiatives concerning technology-related topics have spiked over the past few years. On the basis of its Priorities Programme, which is focused on making Europe ‘Fit for the Digital Age’, the European Commission has been busily releasing new texts aimed at regulating a number of technology topics, including data uses, online platforms, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence.This book identifies three phenomena which are common to all EU digital technologies-relevant regulatory initiatives: act-ification, GDPR mimesis, and regulatory brutality. These three phenomena serve as indicators or early signs of a new European technology law-making paradigm that now seems ready to emerge. They divulge new-found confidence on the part of the EU digital technologies legislator, who has now asserted for itself the right to form policy options and create new rules in the field for all of Europe.

The Routledge Handbook of Property, Law and Society, edited by Nicole Graham, Margaret Davies, and Lee Godden (Routledge, 2023)

This handbook brings together diverse perspectives, major topics, and multiple approaches to one of the biggest legal institutions in society: property. Property touches on many fundamental human questions. It involves decisions about power, economy, morality, work, and ecology. It also involves ideas about where humans fit in the world and how humans relate to more-than-human life. This book will ask in myriad ways such questions as: what property means, what kinds of property there are, what is and should be the relationship between owned and owner, and what is the impact of different forms of property on life in this world? Drawing on a range of socio-legal and empirical methodologies, renowned scholars and rising stars in property from around the world present current issues and map future directions in research. Coming from the place of law but reaching out through cognate disciplines, this handbook provides a comprehensive and accessible survey of current research at the interface of property, society, and the environment.

All of these ebooks are available to current University of Cambridge staff and students with a Raven password. A full list of ebook platforms can be viewed via the ebooks@cambridge LibGuide.