The purpose of this paper is to uncover a new level of thinking regarding the discourse and debate around the standard of reasonable doubt and how it is used in our court rooms. The current argument surrounding the reasonable doubt standard has become circular and reached an impasse. By introducing the lens of social control and using the writings of notable French philosopher Michel Foucault, this paper looks at the origins and development of the reasonable doubt standard and links it with the increasing methods of social control present in punishment as well as evaluating the cultural narrative around its origin and assessing why this standard was permitted to continue to be a cornerstone of the Anglo-American judicial system.

Through the 1930s, an American woman suffering a broken engagement had the opportunity to sue her erstwhile suitor for breach of promise to marry. Relying on cultural and legal materials, my dissertation uses this now-obsolete cause of action as a lens through which to examine both shifting norms of gender and class during the period from 1890 to 1940 and the means by which Americans expected legal mechanisms to simultaneously shape and respond to socio-cultural changes.

<p>"For Better or Worse: Divorce and Annulment Lawsuits in Colonial Mexico (1544-1799)" uses petitions for divorce and annulment to explore how husbands and wives defined and contested their marital roles and manipulated legal procedure. Marital conflict provides an intimate window into the daily lives of colonial Mexicans, and the discourses developed in the course of divorce and annulment litigation show us what lawyers, litigants and judges understood to be appropriate behavior for husbands and wives. This dissertation maintains that wives often sued for divorce or annulment not as an end in itself, but rather as a means to quickly escape domestic violence by getting the authorities to place them in enclosure, away from abusive husbands. Many wives used a divorce or annulment lawsuit just to get placed in enclosure, without making a good faith effort to take the litigation to its final conclusion. "For Better or For Worse" also argues concepts of masculinity, rather than notions of honor, played a strong role in the ways that husbands negotiated their presence in divorce and annulment suits. This work thus suggests a new way to interpret the problem of marital conflict in Mexico, showing how wives ably manipulated procedural law to escape abuse and how men attempted to defend their masculine identities and their gendered roles as husbands in the course of divorce and annulment lawsuits.</p> / Dissertation

<p>After the establishment of the British Protectorate in the Busa&lsquo / idi Sultanate in 1890, the British colonial administration embarked on a policy of transforming the administration of Islamic law and its institutions which included the kadhi, liwali and mudir courts. The ultimate objective of the transformation process was to incorporate such institutions into the colonial enterprise and gradually reform them. Within a span of seven decades of their colonial rule in the Busa&lsquo / idi Sultanate, the British colonial authorities managed to transform the administration of Islamic law and its institutions. Key areas of the transformation process included the formalisation of the administration of Islamic law in which procedural laws related to MPL and wakf regulations were codified. Kadhi courts and wakf commissions were institutionalised and incorporated into the colonial apparatus. In the process of transforming the kadhi courts, the British colonial authorities adopted three major policies: institutional transformation, procedural transformation, and exclusion of criminal jurisdiction from kadhi courts. The focus of the transformation process was on the curtailment of kadhis powers. By 1916 criminal jurisdiction was removed from kadhis and their civil jurisdiction was gradually confined to MPL. Other significant areas of the transformation process were the wakf institutions and slavery. Wakf institutions were related to land issues which were crucial to the colonial politics and the abolition of slavery in the Busa&lsquo / idi Sultanate was a primary concern of the British colonial administration. Through policies of compromise and coercion, the British colonial officials managed to gradually abolish slavery without causing&nbsp / political or social upheavals in the Sultanate. Due to the fact that there was no uniform policy on the transformation exercise undertaken by the British colonial officials on the ground, the reform process was marked with transformative contradictions which seemed to be a hallmark of British colonial policy in the Busa&lsquo / idi Sultanate. For instance, British colonial policies on transforming wakf institutions were caught in a contradiction in that, on the one hand, colonial efforts were geared towards transforming the land system in order to achieve economic development, and on the other hand, the British colonial officials were keen to uphold a paternalistic approach of adopting a non-interference policy in respect of religious institutions. Similarly, in abolishing slavery, the British colonial government, on the one hand, was under pressure from philanthropists and missionaries to end slavery, and, on the other hand, the British colonial officials on the ground portrayed their support of the slave owners and advocated a gradual approach to abolish slavery. Findings of this thesis reveal that the British colonial administration managed to achieve complete reform in some cases, such as, the abolition of liwali and mudir courts and confining kadhis&rsquo / civil jurisdiction to MPL, while in other areas, such as, the management of wakf institutions and the abolition of slavery, the British faced resistance from the Sultans and their subjects which resulted in partial reforms. Hence, in the process of transforming the administration of Islamic law and its institutions in the Busa&lsquo / idi Sultanate, the British colonial administration adopted a dual policy of reforming and retreating.</p>

This thesis looks at the Confrontation Clause from the Sixth Amendment in light of the decision made in Maryland v. Craig. It examines the opinions of Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Antonin Scalia, and determines if their judicial philosophies were consistent with their opinion. It does so by examining the history of the Confrontation Clause from ancient history to the present, and by enumerating the judicial philosophies of O'Connor and Scalia. In conclusion, while O'Connor's majority opinion is consistent with her pragmatic philosophy, Scalia's dissent is not consistent with his originalist views.

This essay focuses on crime history and gender. It is a study of female crimes in the beginning of the 19th century in a small parish (Askeryd Socken) in Småland in the south part of Sweden. The method I have used is to study the records of Municipal Court regarding the citizens of the parish of Askeryd. I have then tried to find out whether the female offenders have been treated different than the male offenders, if there is a certain kind of gender-related crimes and in those cases where comparison is possible, I have examined if the females are treated in a lighter way. (”female discount”), or if they were treated as mentally unstable.The essay shows that in this particular parish during the years 1825 to 1830, female offenders were not treated in a lighter manner. There were certain gender-related crimes, which women were more exposed to than men, but women offenders were not treated as mentally disturbed.

<p>Slavery and freedom are central issues in the historiography of nineteenth-century America. In the antebellum era (1820-1860), personal status was a fluid concept and was never as simple as black and white. The courts provide a revealing window for examining these ambiguities because court cases often served as the venue for negotiations over who was enslaved and who was free. In St. Louis, enslaved men and women contributed to debates and discussions about the meaning of personal status by suing for their freedom. By questioning their enslavement in freedom suits, slaves played an important role in blurring the law's understanding of slavery; in the process, they incurred the enormous personal risks of abuse and the possibility of sale. </p><p>Using the records of over 300 slaves who sued for freedom, as well as a variety of manuscript sources, newspapers, and additional court records, this project traces these freedom suits over time, and examines how slave law and the law of freedom suits shifted, mainly in response to local and national debates over slavery and also to the growing threat of anti-slavery encroachment into St. Louis. When the laws tightened in response to these threats, the outcomes of freedom suits also adjusted, but in ways that did not fit the pattern of increasing restrictions on personal liberty. Instead, the unique situation in St. Louis in the 1840s and 1850s, with its increasingly anti-slavery immigrant population, allowed slaves suing for freedom to succeed at greater rates than in previous decades.</p> / Dissertation

My dissertation examines the transmission and establishment of the institution of slavery from medieval Iberia into the expanding Spanish Empire and its subsequent development. This involves understanding the dynamic interactions between the law, imperial institutions, slave owners, and the enslaved. I embarked upon this subject in response to a lacuna of historical knowledge of the transition and development of slavery as it moved between the Iberian Kingdoms and took root in the expanding Atlantic Empires. Without understanding the medieval background of imperial law it is impossible to understand the particular development of the institution of slavery in Spanish America. / History

<p>After the establishment of the British Protectorate in the Busa&lsquo / idi Sultanate in 1890, the British colonial administration embarked on a policy of transforming the administration of Islamic law and its institutions which included the kadhi, liwali and mudir courts. The ultimate objective of the transformation process was to incorporate such institutions into the colonial enterprise and gradually reform them. Within a span of seven decades of their colonial rule in the Busa&lsquo / idi Sultanate, the British colonial authorities managed to transform the administration of Islamic law and its institutions. Key areas of the transformation process included the formalisation of the administration of Islamic law in which procedural laws related to MPL and wakf regulations were codified. Kadhi courts and wakf commissions were institutionalised and incorporated into the colonial apparatus. In the process of transforming the kadhi courts, the British colonial authorities adopted three major policies: institutional transformation, procedural transformation, and exclusion of criminal jurisdiction from kadhi courts. The focus of the transformation process was on the curtailment of kadhis powers. By 1916 criminal jurisdiction was removed from kadhis and their civil jurisdiction was gradually confined to MPL. Other significant areas of the transformation process were the wakf institutions and slavery. Wakf institutions were related to land issues which were crucial to the colonial politics and the abolition of slavery in the Busa&lsquo / idi Sultanate was a primary concern of the British colonial administration. Through policies of compromise and coercion, the British colonial officials managed to gradually abolish slavery without causing&nbsp / political or social upheavals in the Sultanate. Due to the fact that there was no uniform policy on the transformation exercise undertaken by the British colonial officials on the ground, the reform process was marked with transformative contradictions which seemed to be a hallmark of British colonial policy in the Busa&lsquo / idi Sultanate. For instance, British colonial policies on transforming wakf institutions were caught in a contradiction in that, on the one hand, colonial efforts were geared towards transforming the land system in order to achieve economic development, and on the other hand, the British colonial officials were keen to uphold a paternalistic approach of adopting a non-interference policy in respect of religious institutions. Similarly, in abolishing slavery, the British colonial government, on the one hand, was under pressure from philanthropists and missionaries to end slavery, and, on the other hand, the British colonial officials on the ground portrayed their support of the slave owners and advocated a gradual approach to abolish slavery. Findings of this thesis reveal that the British colonial administration managed to achieve complete reform in some cases, such as, the abolition of liwali and mudir courts and confining kadhis&rsquo / civil jurisdiction to MPL, while in other areas, such as, the management of wakf institutions and the abolition of slavery, the British faced resistance from the Sultans and their subjects which resulted in partial reforms. Hence, in the process of transforming the administration of Islamic law and its institutions in the Busa&lsquo / idi Sultanate, the British colonial administration adopted a dual policy of reforming and retreating.</p>

The thesis uses the study of an individual’s book collection to examine wider themes in eighteenth century Scottish legal, social, political, and intellectual history. Charles Areskine’s library was made up of the books he needed as an advocate and judge, the texts he wanted to use to better understand the law and its history, and the books he used to enhance his ability to participate in the intellectual milieu of early eighteenth century Britain. Charles Areskine of Alva, Lord Tinwald (1680-1763) was an important Scottish lawyer and judge. Following a legal education in the Netherlands, he became an advocate and was called to the Bar in 1711. Areskine’s legal career was very successful and he attained high positions in the Scottish legal establishment becoming Lord Advocate (1737-1742) and Lord Justice Clerk (1748-1763). He was appointed to the bench as Lord Tinwald in1744. He served in parliament and developed his country estates at Tinwald in Dumfriesshire and at Alva in Clackmannanshire. Areskine is an interesting figure in the early Scottish Enlightenment not least because he began his career not in legal but in academic circles. He was a regent at the University of Edinburgh when he was barely out of his teens and from 1707 to 1734 he was the first Professor of the Law of Nature and Nations at Edinburgh. Areskine was also a traveller, a client of the earl of Ilay, a friend to philosophers, a patron of the arts, and a book collector. A manuscript which lists of the contents of Areskine’s library survives in the National Library of Scotland as NLS MS 3283. ‘Catalogŭs Librorŭm D. Dni. Caroli Areskine de Barjarg, Regiarŭm Causarum Procŭratoris. 1731’ lists 1290 titles divided into books on legal topics, which are not given any specific headings, and ‘Libri Miscellanei’. Although it is clearly dated as 1731, the manuscript was continuously added to and acted as a library catalogue throughout Areskine’s life. The list provides important evidence about Areskine’s participation in the legal, intellectual, and cultural concerns of the early Scottish Enlightenment. Areskine’s law books provide evidence for his scholarly interest in the history of law while showing the types of books lawyers turned to in order to fashion their arguments in the courts. His ‘miscellaneous’ books demonstrate his engagement with the wider cultural concerns of the first half of the eighteenth century. The books that eighteenth century Scottish lawyers owned provide evidence for their interests and influence. Areskine was not unique: his book collecting was part of a wider tradition among Scottish lawyers. Areskine’s legally educated patron, Archibald Campbell, had one of the largest private libraries in Britain and his colleagues on the Bench, Lord Arniston and Lord Hailes, created collections which they stored in specially built rooms in their houses. Because so many of them survive in the Alva Collections of the Advocates Library and the National Library of Scotland, it has been possible to examine Areskine’s books for clues about who owned them before he did and what happened to them after his death. Several inscriptions and bookplates survive in the Alva books which give evidence for a lively book market which was centred on the Scottish legal community. Advocates bought and sold many of their books at auctions. This study shows that books on topics of interest to Scottish lawyers changed hands and stayed in use for decades.