The Uses of Discretion
Published on 2. February 1995
Book
Paperback/Softback
444 pages
978-0-19-825950-3 (ISBN)
Description
Discretion is a pervasive phenomenon in legal systems. It is of concern to lawyers because it can be a force for justice or injustice: at once a means of advancing the broad purposes of law and of subventing them. For social scientists the discretion exercised by legal actors is an important form of decision-making behaviour, in which legal rules are merely one force in a field of pressures and constraints that push towards certain courses of action or inaction. This book presents a variety of analyses of legal discretion by lawyers and social scientists (drawn from both sides of the Atlantic), who have made discretion and its uses a central part of their scholarly concerns.
Reviews / Votes
this book is now the standard for inquiry on discretion and the law. No legal scholar will be able to ignore its challenge to the conventional wisdom, nor will any social scientist want to begin research on the subject without it * Law and Politics Book Review Vol 4 no 7 (July, 1994) * `Rarely ... is the concept of discretion examined thoroughly. The 11 essays in this volume are a valuable exception.'The IARCA Journal `a valuable publication, which presents a convincing claim to be the last word on its subject'
Public Administration `This collection is a scholarly examination of legal decision-making. It brings together an impressive group of contributors from the UK and the USA. Each essay must be read independently. As a whole this book paints a broad picture of the centrality of discretion and the organizational, economic, historical and social basis within such discretion is exercised.'
LCCJ Newsletter 'it is likely to serve as the standard work of reference on approaches to the study of discretion for some time to come...This is critical scholarship at its best - incisive, insightful and pointing the way towards a new approach to a by now familiar problem. Everyone interested in the study of discretion should read it.' * Social and Legal Studies * Anyone seeking to refine their understanding of the exercise of discretion, its advantages and disadvantages, and the effect of a discretionary approach as opposed to use of a rule or some intermediate standard, will find this book extremely helpful. * Mary Massaron Ross, Appellate Practice Section Newsletter, Fall '99 *
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Oxford University Press
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 26 mm
Weight
628 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-825950-3 (9780198259503)
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
Person
Stephen Hawkins loves the coincidence that one of his heroes, the late great Stephen Hawking, shared a similar name and interests. It's only fitting that Stephen Hawking was known as the Master of Time and Author Stephen Hawkins is a master of Time and Space which is exactly what drumming is all about. Stephen Hawkins strongly believes that all drummers should become their own master of time and space. His motto is "Master the art of leaving space then the things you play in time become great".Stephen was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, UK and has lived in the UK all of his life. By age 20 was working alongside some of the biggest names in British show business-the exact people he aspired to work for as a professional drummer. People such as Paul Daniels, Bobby Davro, Les Dennis, The Three Degrees, Susan Maughan just to name a few. He hopes to teach and inspire a whole new generation of passionate drummers.
Content
Part 1 Issues in the use of discretion: the use of legal discretion - perspectives from law and social science; discretion and rules - a lawyer's view; discretionary decision making - a jurisprudential view. Part 2 Social processes in the use of legal discretion: the myth of discretion; social limits to discretion - an organizational perspective; discretion in a behavioural perspective - the case of a public housing eviction board; organizational horizons and complaint filing; big bang decisions - notes on a naturalistic approach. Part 3 Thinking about the uses of discretion: administrative justice - discretion and procedure in social security decision making; discretion - power, quiescence and trust; the jurisprudence of discretion - escaping the legal paradigm.