The Grand Experiment

by Foster, Hamar

• ISBN13: 9780774814911
• ISBN10: 0774814918
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-10-30
• Publisher: Univ of British Columbia Pr

Summary

The Grand Experiment reveals how local life and culture in selected colonies interacted with the rule of law that accompanied the British colonial project. This rich account of the "incomplete implementation of the British constitution" in the colonies explores themes of legal translation, local understandings, judicial biography, and"law at the boundaries" - and reveals how far colonial legal history has come during the past two decades. Contributors examine the legal cultures of colonies or former colonies in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with an occasional comparative glance at other colonial societies, such as South Africa and certain United States jurisdictions. They cover a diversity of topics, including dower, prohibition, libel law, the authority of masters on the high seas, the clash of colonial and indigenous legal regimes, circuits courts, "men of law," and the extent to which British courts took note of the decisions made by courts in settler dominions. Rich in empirical detail and analytical reach, The Grand Experiment is a detailed look at the heart of the colonial legal enterprise. It will be of interest to lawyers, scholars, and students seeking to understand the relationship between British colonial legal institutions and the life and culture of the settler societies in which they took root."

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Does Law Matter? The New Colonial Legal History	p. 1
Authority at the Boundaries of Empire
Libel and the Colonial Administration of Justice in Upper Canada and New South Wales, c. 1825-30	p. 15
The Limits of Despotic Government at Sea	p. 38
One Chief, Two Chiefs, Red Chiefs, Blue Chiefs: Newcomer Perspectives on Indigenous Leadership in Rupert's Land and the North-West Territories	p. 55
Rhetoric, Reason, and the Rule of Law in Early Colonial New South Wales	p. 78
Sometimes Persuasive Authority: Dominion Case Law and English Judges, 1895-1970	p. 101
Courts and Judges in the Colonies
Courts, Communities, and Communication: The Nova Scotia Supreme Court on Circuit, 1816-50	p. 117
Fame and Infamy: Two Men of the Law in Colonial New Zealand	p. 135
Moving in an "Eccentric Orbit": The Independence of Judge Algernon Sidney Montagu in Van Diemen's Land, 1833-47	p. 156
"Not in Keeping with the Traditions of the Cariboo Courts": Courts and Community Identity in Northeastern British Columbia, 1920-50	p. 176
Property, Politics, and Petitions in Colonial Law
Starkie's Adventures in North America: The Emergence of Libel Law	p. 195
The Law of Dower in New South Wales and the United States: A Study in Comparative Legal History	p. 208
Contesting Prohibition and the Constitution in 1850s New Brunswick	p. 221
From Humble Prayers to Legal Demands: The Cowichan Petition of 1909 and the British Columbia Indian Land Question	p. 240
Afterword: Looking from the Past into the Future	p. 268
Notes	p. 277
Selected Bibliography	p. 352
Index	p. 380
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.