The English common law system, in which judges make laws, appears strange to continental Europeans more acquainted with the constitutional laws following in the tradition of the Code Napoléon. It places a more intense focus on judicial traditions, which in their turn acquire a greater importance to contemporary culture than their historicity alone can warrant. In consequence, Anglosaxon media have created many television and movie formats to deal with the various aspects of the law in all its stages. All of them discuss and display the manifestation of English law through its traditions, critically as well as appraisingly, from the 18th century to the present. Amazing Grace (2006), a feature movie on William Wilberforce, focused on the abolition of slavery in Britain not as an agenda, but as a reform of the law through lobbying and parliamentary action over several decades. City of Vice (2006), a television series, examines the magistrates John and Henry Fielding (the famous author of Tom Jones), the founders of the Bow Street runners, London’s first police force. Fictionalizing historical cases, it constitutes more than a costume drama version of the police procedural, and was stopped because the magisterial impotence in policing the city that it showed shocked and irritated viewers. It also features that fascinating hybrid figure: the thief taker. Garrow’s Law (2008), a historical courtroom drama series, did much to reestablish its protagonist in the annals of British law history. Based on Garrow’s real cases, it displays the development of adversarial trials initiated by Garrow at the Old Bailey, and the beginnings of penal rights, such as the assumption of innocence until proven guilty (a phrase Garrow coined). The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant (2005) fictionalizes the most notorious escaped convict story of the late 18th century, and examines the question of penal justice, transportation and imprisonment that led to Victorian reforms of the penal system. Porridge (1974-77), a long running comic prison drama series satirised modern views of imprisonment as they have emerged from Victorian penal reforms. In case of the television series we will restrict ourselves to one or two seminal episodes each; we will watch all material in the course of the term; attendance is thus obligatory to ensure your participation. There will be tests on the content of the media we discuss. Course requirements will be discussed in more detail in the first session.
Text:
Partington, Martin. An Introduction to the English Legal System. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.
Suggested Reading:
Sarat, Austin, Matthew Anderson and Catherine Frank. The Law and the Humanities: An Introduction. Cambridge: CUP, 2009.
