The Life Of Thomas E Scrutton

A biography of Thomas Scrutton, who has been described as 'the greatest English-speaking commercial judge of a century'.

These are the papers from the ninth Cambridge Tax Law History Conference, held in July 2018. In the usual manner, these papers have been selected from an oversupply of proposals for their interest and relevance, and scrutinised and edited to the highest standard for inclusion in this prestigious series. The papers fall within five basic themes. Four papers focus on tax theory: Bentham; social contract and tax governance; Schumpeter's 'thunder of history'; and the resurgence of the benefits theory. Three involve the history of UK specific interpretational issues: management expenses; anti-avoidance jurisprudence; and identification of professionals. A further three concern specific forms of UK tax on road travel, land and capital gains. One paper considers the formation of HMRC and another explains aspects of nineteenth-century taxation by reference to Jane Austen characters. Four consider aspects of international taxation: development of EU corporate tax policy; history of Dutch tax planning; the important 1942 Canada–US tax treaty; and the 1928 UN model tax treaties on tax evasion. Also included are papers on the effects of WWI on New Zealand income tax and development of anti-tax avoidance rules in China.

Draws on archival research to tell the story of the nineteenth and twentieth-century development of commercial law through practice.

Written by one of the leading contributors to the relational theory of contract, Contractual Relations authoritatively explains the form of the existing law of contract by relating it to its economic, legal, and sociological foundations. This volume demonstrates that economic exchange and legal contract rest on a moral relationship by which each party legitimately pursues its self-interest through recognition of the self-interest of the author. This essential relationship of mutual recognition is in stark contrast to the pursuit of solipsistic self-interest that is central to the classical law of contract. Self-interest of this sort is not morally defensible, nor does it enhance economic welfare. It is for these reasons that the classical law is legally incoherent. The fundamental inadequacies of the classical law's treatment of agreement, consideration, and remedy have emerged as the doctrines of the positive law of contract have been progressively developed to give effect to the relationship of mutual recognition. The welfarist criticism of the classical law has, however, failed to develop a workable concept of self-interest, and so is at odds with what must be retained from the classical law's facilitation of economic exchange and the market economy. The relational law of contract restates self-interest in a morally, economically, and legally attractive manner as the foundation of the social market economy of liberal socialism. Contractual Relations is a fundamental critique of the classical law of contract and the welfarist response to the classical law, and an important statement of the relational theory of contract. This is a thoughtful and essential work for academics and research students in law, economics, and sociology.

Peter Ackroyd's The Life of Thomas More is a masterful reconstruction of the life and imagination of one of the most remarkable figures of history. Thomas More (1478-1535) was a renowned statesman; the author of a political fantasy that gave a name to a literary genre and a worldview (Utopia); and, most famously, a Catholic martyr and saint. Born into the professional classes, Thomas More applied his formidable intellect and well-placed connections to become the most powerful man in England, second only to the king. As much a work of history as a biography, The Life of Thomas More gives an unmatched portrait of the everyday, religious, and intellectual life of the early sixteenth century. In Ackroyd's hands, this renowned "man for all seasons" emerges in the fullness of his complex humanity; we see the unexpected side of his character--such as his preference for bawdy humor--as well as his indisputable moral courage.