Research Handbook on Civil Justice
Will be published approx. on 9. December 2025
Book
Hardback
502 pages
978-1-0353-1457-7 (ISBN)
Description
This comprehensive Research Handbook surveys the landscape of civil justice through a global and interdisciplinary lens. World-leading experts provide insight on law's shortcomings, the gap between aspiration and achievement, and the unmet needs of those who have been failed by the legal system as well as a hopeful vision for attaining justice.
Chapters illustrate that the civil justice system is not a single entity but a multifaceted network of institutions and practices. They explore how civil justice is both a highly diverse and dynamic enterprise but also a broader social justice objective aimed at understanding, addressing and expanding the capacities of institutions to address civil wrongs. Presenting distinct perspectives on the field, contributors discuss theories and methods for studying civil justice and identify key avenues for future research.
The Research Handbook on Civil Justice is an essential resource for scholars of comparative law, law and society, as well as the law of obligations. It is also beneficial for civil justice practitioners, policymakers, and foundation and trade associations interested in civil justice.
Chapters illustrate that the civil justice system is not a single entity but a multifaceted network of institutions and practices. They explore how civil justice is both a highly diverse and dynamic enterprise but also a broader social justice objective aimed at understanding, addressing and expanding the capacities of institutions to address civil wrongs. Presenting distinct perspectives on the field, contributors discuss theories and methods for studying civil justice and identify key avenues for future research.
The Research Handbook on Civil Justice is an essential resource for scholars of comparative law, law and society, as well as the law of obligations. It is also beneficial for civil justice practitioners, policymakers, and foundation and trade associations interested in civil justice.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cheltenham
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 244 mm
Width: 169 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-0353-1457-7 (9781035314577)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Edited by Anne Bloom, Executive Director, Berkeley Civil Justice Research Initiative, David M. Engel, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, University at Buffalo School of Law and Richard L. Jolly, Professor of Law, Southwestern Law School, USA
Content
Contents
Foreword x
Introduction - the emergence of civil justice as a legal field 1
Anne Bloom, David M. Engel and Richard L. Jolly
PART I VIEWS OF JUSTICE AS A LEGAL FIELD
Introduction to Part I: Views of justice as a legal field
1 The politics of American civil justice in historical perspective 11
Anne Bloom and Michael McCann
2 The evolving political economy of access to justice: times and places 27
Bryant G. Garth
3 Empirical research on civil justice: a brief history 41
Herbert M. Kritzer
4 Access to civil justice in rural tribal and state courts 60
Michele Statz
5 Competing spheres of civil justice in South Africa 73
Roni Amit
PART II CIVIL JUSTICE CLAIMING
Introduction to Part II: Civil justice claiming
6 The Japanese disputing process from a comparative perspective 90
Masayuki Murayama
7 Dispute resolution as civil justice: the evolution of process pluralism 113
Carrie Menkel-Meadow
8 Apologies, remorse, and amends: civil justice implications 132
Jennifer K. Robbennolt
9 Ghost claims lumping in the civil justice system 149
David M. Engel
10 Pastoral drowning: injuries of the unseen 164
Lochlann Jain
11 Legal consciousness and access to justice 180
Kathryne M. Young
12 Civil legal needs 198
Rebecca L. Sandefur
PART III PERSPECTIVES ON ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE
Introduction to Part III: Perspectives on access to justice
13 Legal capability and access to civil justice 212
Pascoe Pleasence and Nigel Balmer
14 Access to justice and social inequality: building a new agenda for social
reform 231
Daniela Monteiro Gabbay and Maria Cecilia de Araujo Asperti
15 Joining forces, pooling interests: the complicated consequences of
collective civil action 243
Deborah R. Hensler
16 Scaling up smart: centering access to justice in the court technology
revolution 267
Qudsiya Naqui
17 Access to courts and the vanishing trial continued 288
Sarah Staszak
18 The rule of law is fragile: the importance of legitimacy and access 304
Stephen Daniels and Joanne Martin
PART IV CIVIL JUSTICE AND THE STATE
Introduction to Part IV: Civil justice and the state
19 Bringing the state back in: dispute resolution and state-(re)making in the
People's Republic of China 326
Ke Li
20 Is 'public interest lawyering' intelligible across cultures? 349
Frank W. Munger
21 Civil juries and civil justice 368
Valerie P. Hans and Richard L. Jolly
22 Tort law and the role of courts in advancing disability awareness: a critical
analysis 383
Sagit Mor
23 Chinese courts as embedded institutions 395
Kwai Hang Ng
24 Civil justice in mass tort litigation: Bhopal and beyond 409
Arpita Gupta
25 Transnational mass tort litigation: a proposal for an International Court of
Civil Justice 426
Maya Steinitz
26 Civil justice in the European Union 444
Xandra Kramer and Adriani Dori
Afterword: Pursuing civil justice: Back to what future? 461
David Nelken
Foreword x
Introduction - the emergence of civil justice as a legal field 1
Anne Bloom, David M. Engel and Richard L. Jolly
PART I VIEWS OF JUSTICE AS A LEGAL FIELD
Introduction to Part I: Views of justice as a legal field
1 The politics of American civil justice in historical perspective 11
Anne Bloom and Michael McCann
2 The evolving political economy of access to justice: times and places 27
Bryant G. Garth
3 Empirical research on civil justice: a brief history 41
Herbert M. Kritzer
4 Access to civil justice in rural tribal and state courts 60
Michele Statz
5 Competing spheres of civil justice in South Africa 73
Roni Amit
PART II CIVIL JUSTICE CLAIMING
Introduction to Part II: Civil justice claiming
6 The Japanese disputing process from a comparative perspective 90
Masayuki Murayama
7 Dispute resolution as civil justice: the evolution of process pluralism 113
Carrie Menkel-Meadow
8 Apologies, remorse, and amends: civil justice implications 132
Jennifer K. Robbennolt
9 Ghost claims lumping in the civil justice system 149
David M. Engel
10 Pastoral drowning: injuries of the unseen 164
Lochlann Jain
11 Legal consciousness and access to justice 180
Kathryne M. Young
12 Civil legal needs 198
Rebecca L. Sandefur
PART III PERSPECTIVES ON ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE
Introduction to Part III: Perspectives on access to justice
13 Legal capability and access to civil justice 212
Pascoe Pleasence and Nigel Balmer
14 Access to justice and social inequality: building a new agenda for social
reform 231
Daniela Monteiro Gabbay and Maria Cecilia de Araujo Asperti
15 Joining forces, pooling interests: the complicated consequences of
collective civil action 243
Deborah R. Hensler
16 Scaling up smart: centering access to justice in the court technology
revolution 267
Qudsiya Naqui
17 Access to courts and the vanishing trial continued 288
Sarah Staszak
18 The rule of law is fragile: the importance of legitimacy and access 304
Stephen Daniels and Joanne Martin
PART IV CIVIL JUSTICE AND THE STATE
Introduction to Part IV: Civil justice and the state
19 Bringing the state back in: dispute resolution and state-(re)making in the
People's Republic of China 326
Ke Li
20 Is 'public interest lawyering' intelligible across cultures? 349
Frank W. Munger
21 Civil juries and civil justice 368
Valerie P. Hans and Richard L. Jolly
22 Tort law and the role of courts in advancing disability awareness: a critical
analysis 383
Sagit Mor
23 Chinese courts as embedded institutions 395
Kwai Hang Ng
24 Civil justice in mass tort litigation: Bhopal and beyond 409
Arpita Gupta
25 Transnational mass tort litigation: a proposal for an International Court of
Civil Justice 426
Maya Steinitz
26 Civil justice in the European Union 444
Xandra Kramer and Adriani Dori
Afterword: Pursuing civil justice: Back to what future? 461
David Nelken