Product Description

"Arlidge, Eady & Smith on Contempt" combines wide-ranging case law from a number of different areas, with a focus upon the underlying common principles. This text presents a current and comprehensive work, covering both civil and criminal contempt in detail. Key developments include: the increasing significance of the European Convention on human rights; the growing recognition of the role of the media, with particular reference to court reporting and the protection of journalists' sources; the need to compare English and Scottish law, especially for those publishing in both jurisdictions; and full coverage of important decisions within the UK and the Commonwealth.

Product Details

• Published on: 2001-12-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 158 pages

Review
It is important to have a comprehensive 'bible' on the subject and this is most certainly such a book... essential for any lawyer interested in contempt and also a very good read.An authoritative overview which should be a first port of call on contempt issues...Arlidge, Eady and Smith is an important and indispensable work of the higest merit and which no media lawyer can afford to be without. Solicitors Journal.

Customer Reviews

Guidelines on the law of contempt
6 years have elapsed since the 2nd edition was published and Professor Smith joined Sir David Eady to become joint editors of this remarkable and well-needed book on the law relating to contempt. For many people, both lay and professional, there is a mystic about what we mean by contempt and its grave importance to our constitutional principles both north and south of the border. I was particularly impressed by the coverage of two themes throughout the work: the European Union and the media.

`Arlidge, Eady & Smith' tracks down and locates the issues which play such an important part in the uncertain and shifting scene of contempt law with an ease and a fluency all of its own. Across the entire common law world, the new edition arrives at a time when there is an even greater focus on what is, or is not, contempt. Of particular relevance is the inclusion of a large number of decisions from Commonwealth jurisdictions, including Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

As with all the other Sweet and Maxwell Common Law Library publications, `Arlidge, Eady & Smith' offers a mini contents list at the start of each chapter which always makes the finding of information so much easier. The structure of the book is designed so that the various contempt issues are dealt with in detail, chapter by chapter, giving the reader an in-depth analysis and specialist guidance which is often needed in each area of Contempt Law. The book also contains extensive use of case-law and other citations as does the rest of the Common Law Library which gives that Library a brand of its own for legal practitioner publications. There is cross referencing throughout the text which shows how the general principles have been interpreted.

Both current editors, Eady and Smith, have utilised their unsurpassed knowledge as the recognised experts in the field and offer a combination of experience as both a practitioner and an academic, showing how the principles work and how they are applied in practice.

Professor Smith is well known to leading lawyers as he has written numerous articles and books on related topics and is a member of the Criminal Law Review editorial board.

The Honourable Mr Justice Eady (Queen's Bench Division) brings a wealth of practical experience and expertise to this book from his knowledge of defamation and contempt cases. Both editors offer an excellent combination of practitioner and academic experience which gives a focus to the entire subject, showing how it works in principle and how to apply it in practice.

The book is structured in the following way:

* history of the law of contempt
* contempt of court; the constitutional dimensions
* the distinction between criminal and civil contempt
* the statutory regime for strict liability
* contempts by publication at common law
* court orders affecting the media
* court reporting I: restrictions under the 1981 Act
* court reporting II: other statutory restrictions
* protection of sources
* contempt in the face of the court
* direct interference with the administration of justice
* civil contempt
* jurisdiction
* sanctions and remedies
* practice, procedure and public funding
* Scotland and contempt
* Appendices:

- The Contempt of Court Act 1981
- Forms and precedents
- Examples of penalties imposed since 1981
- Phillimore Committee: England & Wales
- Practice Direction - Committal Applications
- Family Division - Practice Direction
- Queen's Bench Division - Practice Direction

When I went through this book in detail, it struck me very quickly that this should be required reading for any journalist who wishes to stay within the law as it currently stands.

The editors take you through the history of the law of contempt and across all the hurdles to sanctions and remedies so that the complete picture of the law of contempt is painted with its analysis of current and future issues. It is indispensable to the serious journalist or broadcaster over the protection of sources and deals in detail with the law relating to the granting and enforcement of injunctions in family cases.

As the leading text on contempt, it has no equal with its cohesive discussion on contempt which can be consulted with confidence.