NCJ Number
73690
Editor(s)
Z Bankowski,
G Mungham
Date Published
1980
Length
211 pages
Annotation
A wide spectrum of original work in the sociology of law is represented in this collection of 11 essays by teachers and researchers from British universities.
Abstract
The papers are grouped into two sections, one focusing on the legal profession and trial processes and the other considering broader issues relating the law to the social order. An analysis of the British Council of Law's activities from 1960 through 1976 reveals its concern with regulating the legal marketplace and promoting solicitors' interests. Various aspects of trials are covered in three essays which address bargaining in the Crown Court, the role of the solicitor in juvenile justice, and the politicization of trials, as illustrated by the activities of the Welsh Language Society between 1963 and 1977. The group of essays on social topics begins with a review of the lay magistry in England and Wales. It examines the potential effects of working-class participation on the bench. Also discussed are police-community relations in a low-income neighborhood with a bad reputation and the characteristics of law centers established in the 1970's. Marxist and sociological theories provide the basis for an analysis of penal control and the ideologies of traditional sexist attitudes upon the enactment and enforcement of these laws. A historical study of pressure groups and their influence on legislation and public police is presented in the essay on gambling. The final selection explores aspects of industrial relations and the law, with particular attention to the contention that Britain is becoming a corporate state and to an assessment of trade unionism. Footnotes and references accompany each article. An index is included. For individual entries, see NCJ 63691-99.