Birmingham Law School's Mr James Lee is the editor of a major new book from Hart Publishing, From House of Lords to Supreme Court: Judges, Jurists and the Process of Judging (Oxford, Hart Publishing, 2010), which also features Professor Anthony Arnull, our Barber Professor of Jurisprudence.

The collection comprises the papers presented at the Centenary Seminar of the Society of Legal Scholars, which was organised by the Law School in November 2009. The Seminar celebrated both the Society’s Centenary and the transition from the Judicial House of Lords to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.

The essays examine judicial reasoning and the interaction between judges, academics and the professions in their shared task of interpretative development of the law. The volume gathers leading authorities on the House of Lords in its judicial capacity together with academics whose specialisms lie in particular fields of law, including tort, human rights, restitution, European law and private international law. The relationship between judge and jurist is thus investigated from a variety of perspectives and with reference to different jurisdictions. The aim of the volume is to reflect upon the jurisprudence of the House of Lords and to consider the prospects for judging in the new Supreme Court.

In addition to editing the book, James Lee contributes an essay on the legislative reversal of judicial decisions, while Professor Arnull offers a chapter on the House of Lords and European Law.The other contributors to the collection are Hon Michael Kirby, former Justice of the High Court of Australia, Dr Aileen Kavanagh, Prof Elizabeth Cooke, Prof Jenny Steele, Prof Adrian Briggs, Prof Graham Virgo, Prof Keith Stanton, Dr Alexandra Braun, Prof Alan Paterson and Prof Brice Dickson.

Further information on the book can be found in Hart’s online catalogue