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Phillip Taylor

Phillip Taylor

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  • member since June 19, 2009

Reviews

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    • Rated 5 stars

    “A ‘MAGNIFICENT AND TIMELY’ WORK CONCERNING PLACES OF REFUGE FOR SHIPS IN DISTRESS

    An appreciation by Phillip Taylor MBE and Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers

    If you’re professionally involved in the world of shipping, transport and maritime law, whether practitioner, student or academic, you need this invaluable work of reference from Lloyd’s List. It addresses one of the thorniest and most topical issues pertaining to worldwide shipping: the problem of what to do about – and where to put – a vessel foundering in distress off a coastline. Certainly this is a matter that has confounded national and city states since the early days of sail.

    Significantly in the opening pages, the author quotes Pliny the Younger (who [we believe] chronicled the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 71!) who applauds the construction of a port on the Italian coast (now Citta Vechia) as a safe haven that would save countless lives. Just goes to show how long -- and longer -- the problem has been with us and which, almost two millennia later has acquired new and often horrifying dimensions, due to security issues and the risk of environmental pollution.

    It is the reluctance of many coastal states to agree to -- and adhere to -- specific legal arrangements for governing ships in distress which persists as a vexed issue worldwide and which the CMI (Comite Maritime International) has sought to address in the form of the CMI draft Instrument.

    It’s the author, Professor Eric Van Hooydonk, who presented a paper at the 2004 Vancouver Conference entitled ‘The obligation to offer a place of refuge to a ship in distress. A plea for granting a salvage reward to ports and an international convention on ports of refuge.’ This paper has provided the legal underpinning for the work which the CMI continued to do.

    So, in just under 500 pages, the book presents a detailed analysis of the CMI draft Instrument in all its aspects. At the same time it examines developments within the IMO and European States, together with a review of current international law and a summary of leading papers and commentaries on this topic written over the last twenty years.

    The scholarship involved is precise and formidable and in this copiously footnoted work, you’ll find the expected and useful research tools, including extensive tables of international instruments, EU legislation and general legislation, as well as Tables of Cases and an extensive bibliography. As is pointed out in the Foreword, this is an invaluable source of information and knowledge, not only about the CMI draft Instrument, but about the ‘enormous international legal source material that exists, but which so far has been very difficult to access’ – as compelling a reason as any to rush out and purchase this book.


    ”

    Phillip Taylor wrote this review Sunday, September 5, 2010. ( reply | permalink )
  • Information rights : law and practice
    • Rated 5 stars

    “SEEKING OFFICIAL INFORMATION?
    WANT ANSWERS TO AWKWARD QUESTIONS?
    READ THIS INDISPENSABLE GUIDE
    FOR PRACTITIONERS IN THE FIELD OF INFORMATION RIGHTS

    An appreciation by Phillip Taylor MBE and Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers

    If you’re professionally involved in requesting information from officialdom, or handling such requests, this is your must-have reference book to the Freedom of Information Act and other freedom of information legislation.

    Since the previous edition was published in 2007, there have been numerous important decisions from the courts and also from the Information Tribunal on freedom of information law. These developments are reflected in the text, which means that if you specialize in this area, this book will keep you up to date.

    The author, Philip Coppel QC, has expressed the hope that his book will assist in resolving the complexities of the Freedom of Information Act while revealing its subtleties. Certainly, the word ‘complexities’ is more than appropriate when contemplating this mind-bendingly complicated area of law.

    Within its almost 1,500 pages, this erudite and logically organized work of reference deals with the full range of issues pertaining to information rights. In particular, the practical aspects of making requests for information are dealt with: which body to approach…how much time may be involved in dealing with the request …the duty to advise and assist…the transferring of requests…the matter of fees (yes, you have to pay to ask)…the matter of vexatious requests…and of course, much more.

    If you are a practitioner, then you’ll infer that this is a practitioner’s book and the leading work in this field. That being so, you may well probably take the ‘complexities’ of this area of law for granted! Your lay clients and colleagues, however, may be amazed that over half the book, thirteen chapters of it, are devoted to ‘exemptions’, including the notions of “prejudice” and “the public interest”.


    Against the principles stated in the text, each exemption is analyzed, all court judgments and tribunal decisions dealing with the exemption are considered and all available references are cited in the footnotes. Whether you’re preparing a case, or tasked with responding to a request, you will find ample research here to help you make sure that no exemption can ever get past you.

    Research resources are copious, with appendices that include comparative tables and a table of the FOIA’s parliamentary history, as well as an annotated copy of the FOI Act itself, together with related legislation. You’ll also appreciate the discussion of similar legislation in five comparative jurisdictions, from the USA to New Zealand. Finally, the wealth of web references to all cases offers ready access to primary material.

    Yes, in a free society we have information rights; we have the right to ask awkward questions. Or do we? As this very large volume reveals, it’s jolly hard to wrench adequate answers from the grasping tentacles of reluctant officialdom. Good thing this book tells you exactly how to do it.


    ”

    Phillip Taylor wrote this review Thursday, August 19, 2010. ( reply | permalink )
  • The snail and the ginger beer : the story of Donoghue v Stevenson
    • Rated 5 stars

    “NO SNAIL… AND AREN’T YOU GLAD IT’S NOT YOUR NEIGHBOUR YOU DRINK WITH!

    An appreciation by Phillip Taylor MBE and Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers

    This book is a most welcome piece of legal history for all students, lawyers and laymen interested in how we have arrived at the modern law of negligence. It is a “must” for all who have ever wondered what really happened to the snail and the jurisprudence of the judiciary of the time!
    Many will recall that on an August evening in 1928 May Donoghue, a shop assistant, entered a café in Paisley. The circumstances of her visit made famous legal history. A ginger beer was ordered for Mrs Donoghue who famously complained that, to her surprise and shock, a decomposed snail had tumbled from the bottle into her glass. Mrs Donoghue sued for the nervous shock she claimed to have suffered as a result.
    The question whether she had a case in law against the manufacturer of the ginger beer was argued as far as the House of Lords. It is hard to overstate the importance of Donoghue v Stevenson because it represents, perhaps, the greatest contribution made by English and Scottish lawyers to the development of the common law even though it was a split decision.
    The case makes a legal point clear that, even without a contract between the parties, a duty of care is owed by ‘A’ to take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which could reasonably be foreseen as likely to cause injury to his neighbour: ‘B’. This concept, developed by that great and splendid jurist, Lord Atkin, has become known by the universal shorthand, ‘the neighbour principle’. Who, Lord Atkin asked rhetorically, is ‘in law’ my neighbour? Donoghue v Stevenson provides the answer.
    Matthew Chapman tells the full story of this remarkable case brilliantly with all the little bits we missed during our studies and did not have time to know about as students. It provides vivid biographical sketches of the protagonists and of the great lawyers who were involved in the case. The book sets Donoghue v Stevenson in its historical context and re-evaluates the evidence for the 21st century. The roots of the neighbour principle are excavated in the parable of the Good Samaritan and the case law of the United States.
    The constitutional importance of the case is also dealt with in a masterly way- the blow it struck for a moral approach to the law which departed from a rigid doctrine of precedent. Chapman investigates the influence of Donoghue v Stevenson across the common law world: from the USA to the countries of what is now the Commonwealth.
    That snail has a lot to answer for, but at least we have a definitive work on what happened… and we never really believed there was a snail in the first place, but what a good story!
    ”

    Phillip Taylor wrote this review Thursday, June 10, 2010. ( reply | permalink )
  • Love Letters from the Bar Table
    • Rated 5 stars

    “NATURAL JUSTICE AND THE NEW ‘TABLE TALK’

    An appreciation by Phillip Taylor MBE of Richmond Green Chambers


    I’m always interested in the cross section of law books depicting the working of the common law across its jurisdictions. When I came across this curious self published work, ‘Love Letters from the Bar Table’, from Shane Dowling, who has a certain number of ‘issues’ with the legal establishment in Australia, I thought it was worth looking at further.

    A doctrine which is gaining international popularity at present is called ‘judicial recusal’ where a judge stands aside (or is made to stand aside) in certain circumstances based on the two main rules of natural justice: namely, a judge may not act in his own cause; and both sides must be heard. New Zealand academic Grant Hammond has written a definitive work on the current state of the law.

    I think it’s a fair comment to say that we do not have any recognised corruption within the judiciary in the United Kingdom. I, for one, have grave reservations about the strength of any argument suggesting forms of corruption elsewhere amongst judges because of the catastrophic constitutional implications involved.

    So, what I am saying here is that I have no idea of the rights and wrongs of Shane Dowling’s detailed case. I don’t offer an opinion although I have read his documents and his views in the book in some detail. What I do say, however, is that I feel the worth of this book merits some consideration in relation to the basic concepts we hold true in the common law tradition, namely upholding rules of natural justice.

    This book is described as ‘a true story about the systematic scandalisation of the Australian Federal Judicial System’. In 18 chapters and just over 300 pages, a case is being made out that certain people are, by definition, ‘corrupt’ and ‘taking bribes’. But it is one-sided with silence and inaction on the other

    The problem remains that when judicial decisions are made where one party becomes aggrieved by the outcome, the phrase ‘sour grapes’ springs to mind. I feel Dowling doesn’t suffer from sour grapes but has that other perennial, ‘being ignored’.

    It’s only relatively recently in UK that judges now give interviews or sometimes reply to correspondence (through their clerks) so I am not surprised by the tactics employed in the ‘stop (or rather ignore) Dowling’ campaign. Frankly, I doubt whether he will ever get closure on his matter, but he raises a most important principle – that is: ‘when should a judge retire from a hearing’, or, in other words: ‘when can we question a judge?’

    I came away from this book with very perplexed feelings. Mr Rudd will do nothing; the Australian judiciary would never acknowledge any form of corruption as I see it; and the case for a Royal Commission (or whatever name you want to call it in the future) is many years away, if ever it is convened, and gives any form of realistic appraisal to be acted upon. So, what to do?

    Well, Dowling has raised the consciousness of the issue in parallel with increases in judicial recusal applications as the wider public become more aware of the failings of judges. Frankly, it’s a can of worms with no winners on the horizon here.

    But I would like to think that the ironically named ‘Love Letters’ is a marker setting a future agenda for international human rights and upholding the rules of natural justice in the tradition of a discussion on a new ‘Table Talk’ theme- it’s a valuable contribution to the debate about how we face the future in the global discussion age of the internet … and where judges (and politicians) will have to face up to a new agenda of jurisprudential responsibility by answering their critics if our accepted concept of natural justice is ignored.
    ”

    Phillip Taylor wrote this review Wednesday, January 20, 2010. ( reply | permalink )

  • Media and Business Contracts Handbook

    by Deborah Fosbrook, Adrian C. Laing
    • Rated 5 stars

    “CALLING ALL MEDIA FOLK! HERE’S A BIG BOOK OF CONTRACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW ALL ABOUT

    You may not directly use it. But if you work in the media – including the web – in any capacity you should know it’s out there. And if your advisers don’t know about it, tell them. We refer to a large format, but very handy volume from the very reliable legal publishing arm of Sweet & Maxwell Thomson Reuters.

    The title ‘The Media Contracts and Business Contracts Handbook’ aptly summarises what’s in the book and what it can do for you. Briefly, it offers a rather vast range of precedents -- expertly drafted contracts, licences, acquisition and distribution agreements and so on -- for just about every imaginable contract you are likely to encounter in just about any business situation.

    All contracts are written in plain language, expertly drafted, ready to use and accompanied by useful commentary. Any of the contracts can be used as a starting point for adaptation to your specific requirements – very much easier to do via the accompanying CD ROM which really does save time.

    ‘We often find,’ say the authors, ‘that even the structure and general content of an agreement can be of great assistance to an individual who is initially faced with a blank screen and a tight deadline’.

    This is reassuring stuff from specialist legal advisers (counsel and solicitor advocates) who demonstrate an understanding of and insight into, the often horrendous pressures of media life. If used as intended, this volume is nothing if not a great time saver and deadline beater with the requisite unbeatable authority.

    Herein is standard wording for -- some examples here: a website commissioning agreement…television presenter’s contract…publishing agreement between publisher and author…television advertisement agreement…and almost a hundred more.

    And as digital media now permeate every aspect of business, there is much new material in this new edition, including new B2B contracts such as Asset Purchase Agreement, Joint Venture, Founding Shareholders Agreement and Trade Mark User Licence.

    Interestingly, this highly regarded reference work has gone through four editions since 1989. Since then, media types have seen changes more profound and numerous than in any other sector of business, notably in the matter of the ever-expanding Internet, which didn’t even exist in 1989 as a global media entity.

    The digital revolution, has created ‘a new generation of legal and finance executives, say the authors,’ who quite rightly expect lawyers and contract draftsmen to keep pace with the speed and levels of responsiveness expected in the digital age.’

    So, there’s a continuing need for this established and authoritative resource that most media lawyers, agents, publishers, copyright owners and legions of media-based organisations simply couldn’t -- or shouldn’t --live without.”

    Phillip Taylor wrote this review Monday, January 18, 2010. ( reply | permalink )
  • Sir William Garrow: His Life, Times and Fight for Justice
    • Rated 5 stars

    “THE REDISCOVERED LOST ADVOCATE


    As Geoffrey Robertson QC points out in the foreword to this now wildly popular biography of the lost advocate from Waterside Press - following the recent television series - William Garrow was the first great cross examiner at the English Bar who ‘truly can be said to have revolutionized the practice of criminal law’.

    Before Garrow, (an advocate at an earlier incarnation of the “Old Bailey” for 10 years from 1783), the supposedly admirable edifice of English law which had evolved over several centuries, was deeply flawed. When Garrow began his practice, those charged with capital felony “could not be represented by counsel” – a state of affairs that would be deemed unimaginably appalling today.

    Even while this ancient anomaly was breaking down, counsel were still not allowed to address the jury on the prisoner’s behalf. Garrow, almost singlehandedly we surmise, with his trenchant and aggressive adversarial skills, persuaded juries to acquit his often hapless clients, winning battles for them against unscrupulous bounty hunters whose income derived mainly from the blood money they ‘earned’ in accusing the innocent of crimes.

    The authors’ stated purpose in the publication of this biography is ‘to introduce the reader to the life of a remarkable man in the context of his time and family…and secondly to present him as the criminal lawyer who led the way in altering the whole relationship between the state and the individual by his role in the revolutionary introduction of adversary trial.’

    Garrow helped revolutionise criminal trial procedure – a process of which he, and certainly his contemporaries, were only dimly aware, but which would lead inevitably to reinforcing and extending the principles of justice and fair treatment which are at the heart of current human rights legislation. As the authors have observed, “adversariality”, ‘with its lasting impact on worldwide jurisprudence has been ‘a contributing factor in the establishment of a culture of human rights’.

    So, even if you’ve seen the excellent TV series, do read this 170 page book anyway and immerse yourself in the wealth of factual information and comment in the 17 chapters which will give you breadth to the birth of modern advocacy. Much of the information in the 3 appendices sources at the back has been gleaned from original documents, many quoted verbatim and there is an excellent timeline which gives biographical perspective.

    Also, there are startling insights into Garrow’s family life and any number of references made to the social and political issues of the time in which he was involved and the injustices against which he fought, from slavery to animal cruelty.

    Following his ten year career as a young barrister of note, Garrow became a Member of Parliament and later Solicitor General, Attorney General, judge and lawmaker. As Attorney General, it was Garrow who had overall responsibility for the trial and conviction in 1817 of John Hannay, a slave trader, after the passage of the Slave Trade Abolition Act of 1807. Following the efforts of William Wilberforce and others to secure such a law, ‘we must conclude’, say the authors, ‘that it was finally implemented by William Garrow.’

    John Hostettler and Richard Braby (a direct descendent of Garrow) have written a blockbuster of a book, avidly perused not just by the legal fraternity, but by the general public. We now wait expectantly and anxiously for the next TV series as this rediscovered lost advocate is now, rightly, a distinguished 21st century star, two hundred years on, and we are the better for it as the advocacy of the past is unveiled.

    ”

    Phillip Taylor wrote this review Saturday, January 2, 2010. ( reply | permalink )
  • ASBOs: A Practitioner's Guide to Defending Anti-social Behaviour Orders
    • Rated 5 stars

    “FAIR AND CIVILISED’, AS A SANCTION-
    THE FIRST TEXT TO EXAMINE COURT PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE FROM THE STANDPOINT OF THE DEFENCE


    ASBOs—Anti Social Behaviour Orders – are ‘a key element of this government’s social policy’ as the foreword to this thoroughgoing and scholarly legal text reminds us – and as they are firmly entrenched, will likely continue on into the 2010 government as well even with much heralded revisions.

    Originally – around 2003 as we recall – ASBOs sounded like a good idea. They were designed to address the real and vexing problems and distress created by certain behaviour which involves harassment and intimidation.

    Garden Court Chambers barrister, Maya Sikand, writing for the admirable Legal Action Group (LAG) takes the view with this guide, we surmise, that ASBOs have become as widely misused as they are used, targeted as they apparently are, mainly against the young and the mentally disordered.

    ASBOs are all too often now used to deal with ‘disturbed or dysfunctional conduct’ rather than that which is ‘serious and threatening.’ And herein lies the difficulty, notwithstanding the Human Rights Act!

    Where is that magic line between ‘disturbed or dysfunctional’, and ‘serious and threatening’, behaviour? And who is qualified to judge, either during the disturbing event itself, or afterwards in court relying on the often dubious benefits of imperfect recollection and hindsight?

    The author deals with the problem rationally, citing the question of, ‘what should be considered before an ASBO is applied for?’ at the top of the list of at least nine key issues discussed in the text.

    As a legal text, ASBOs is unique as the first book on this rapidly developing subject written in the context of human rights law from the standpoint of a practitioner acting for the defendant and very much a stable publication for LAG. Not only does it tackle the issues, but it deals with the procedural safeguards and the admissibility of hearsay and much more… not to mention, as Edward Fitzgerald QC says in the foreword, ‘the special problems of juveniles subject to ASBOs’ with the attendant wrong sort of publicity.

    Commenting further, Fitzgerald says that the book is:

    ‘not just scholarly and comprehensive. It is above all, practical, clear and helpful. I came to the issue with little prior knowledge of ASBOs. Having read it, I feel equipped to represent people on ASBOs at all levels and sufficiently informed to engage in the wider debate as to the fair and civilized legal response to the real life issues of anti-social behaviour.’

    A masterful and easily accessible guide to a complex and fraught subject, “ASBOs” is an authoritative reference for now, certainly for defence lawyers and also for example, for criminal and housing practitioners, local authorities, the police and the judiciary, or indeed anyone working in the youth justice system and/or organizations dealing with the young, or those with mental health or learning difficulties.

    It will be interesting to see the effect on this ‘fair and civilised’ procedural sanction with the new 2010 government’s criminal justice bill, so we’ll need a new revised edition, Maya! ”

    Phillip Taylor wrote this review Thursday, December 31, 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • Tom Bingham and the transformation of the law : a liber amicorum
    • Rated 5 stars

    “A LIFE IN THE LAW, RICHLY LIVED AND ENRICHING OTHERS!

    An appreciation by Phillip Taylor MBE and Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers

    This volume is a tribute to Lord Bingham, recognized internationally, as well as in the UK, as being one of the most influential judges of 20th century through his judicial and academic work during an historical period which has seen much turbulence, controversy and change.

    During his remarkable career Bingham held in succession the two most senior judicial offices in England and Wales: Master of the Rolls and Lord Chief Justice, followed by the highest judicial office in the United Kingdom, that of Senior Law Lord and an honour by Her Majesty with the Order of a Knighthood of the Garter. Through his scholarly writing he was influential, in the early 1990s, in arguing in favour of UK incorporation of the European Human Rights Convention and later for the creation of a UK Supreme Court.

    This book brings together more than 50 essays written either by colleagues who have known Bingham, or those who have been influenced by him, whether in academia or legal practice. The result is truly diverting, revealing and enlightening, equally for the practitioner or indeed the general reader. Certainly the ‘Biographical Sketch: The Early Years’ section of the introduction – complete with photographs -- is a riveting read.

    Even as a schoolboy, Bingham revealed himself as an intellectual and academic prodigy, later to develop into a polymath with a formidable range of interests, ambitions and achievements. The son of two doctors, one of them, his mother, an American who had grown up on a ranch in California, he displayed an array of talents which could have taken him successfully in almost any direction he might have wanted to go.

    As students of poetry, we were intrigued to learn, for example, of his early prowess in that sphere, winning an award at school for his poem ‘Since Sinai’ which expresses the theme of God revealed through the beauty and power of nature. Subsequently, despite the demands of his profession, he has always found time to write and to preside over a number of bodies, including the Hay Festival. It’s one of the losses to modern public life that our senior judges are not called upon to make more public speeches as the clarity of Bingham’s thought (and those of his colleagues) is a talent this country vastly under-uses: one day, when others read books like this, the position might change, and general communication of information improved from its current woeful state.

    Full of treasures of information and insight -- this book tells in 900 pages, from a number of detailed viewpoints, the story of a life richly lived, whose judicial and academic influence has enriched the life of nations worldwide. In particular, you might be interested in the intriguingly worded Chapter 9 ‘What Decisions Should Judges Not Take?’ by Jeffrey Jowell. Above all, we were impressed with Nicholas Phillips’ account of Lord Bingham’s reputation for unfailing courtesy, especially to members of the Bar who came before him. Would that all judges were like that and we use them more in public life!


    ISBN: 978-01- 995-66181

    ”

    Phillip Taylor wrote this review Friday, November 20, 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Justice Gap: Whatever Happened to Legal Aid?
    • Rated 5 stars

    “LEGAL AID- JUSTICE FOR ALL IN THE MOST FRIENDLESS WING OF THE WELFARE STATE

    An appreciation by Phillip Taylor MBE and Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers

    Legal aid in the UK has had a chequered history. As Helena Kennedy describes, in the foreword to this important book, that the original intention of legal aid was that it was to be an essential component of our welfare system, and to be the legal services pillar of the welfare state.

    On 30th July 1949, when the Legal Aid and Advice Act was granted royal assent, its purpose was to ensure that anyone who needed legal advice would be able to access it – a laudable and utopian aim, but like most utopian objectives, very difficult to sustain and uphold. Disturbingly, legal aid has since been tinkered with, tampered with and considerably eroded.

    View with alarm, for example just two examples of such erosion (among hundreds) cited by authors Steve Hynes and Jon Robins. ‘Successive governments since the 19080s’, they note, ‘had been toying with a conundrum: how to withdraw legal aid without removing access to justice for the ordinary person….According to a report from the London School of Economics, nine million adults fell out of scope for personal injury between 1972 and 1989’.

    ‘In 2000,’ say the authors, ‘New Labour embarked on a huge gamble. In one fell swoop ministers scrapped legal aid for routine personal injury cases. The almost immediate result was the emergence of new breeds of entrepreneurial law firms and a new breed of non-lawyer companies to fill the newly created justice gap.’

    Thus was the legal landscape dismayingly and markedly changed amid waves of quietly expressed disquiet among those few members of the public who knew what was actually taking place whilst it was going on.

    The publication of this short but concise 150 page book marks the 60th anniversary of the Legal Aid and Advice Act. As Helena Kennedy says, it does represent the first major critique of the government’s lamentable record on legal aid.

    Hynes & Robins provide both a history of and commentary on legal aid and delivers well informed and timely criticism of the current government’s attempts to reform the system. Published by the Legal Action Group, the book takes an admirably practical stance on this thorny and difficult subject, postulating and suggesting a number of essential reforms to bridge that almost unbridgeable ‘justice gap.’

    ‘The book is an impressive attempt, says Liberty Director, Shami Chakrabarti, ‘at preserving the hope that everyone might have access to justice in this country’. One hopes that ‘The Justice Gap’ will be considered essential reading – and an essential purchase -- by policy makers present and future, as well as learners, trainees and practitioners in one of the most friendless wings of the welfare state.

    ISBN: 978-1-903307-63-2

    YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUKYRLKhscI





    ”

    Phillip Taylor wrote this review Friday, June 19, 2009. ( reply | permalink )

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