Civil liberties and human rights in England and Wales /

The author (Univ. of Birmingham) has produced a weighty textbook, over 900 pages, which is a very detailed account of the law as it now exists in England and Wales on a variety of civil liberties. He first outlines the place of rights and freedoms in liberal theory, and ways of protecting both individual and social rights in international and domestic law. He then provides an admirably clear and coherent account of the law relating to a wide range of freedoms in the light of liberal theory, and of international human rights treaties such as the European Convention on Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Convention on the Rights of the Child. He analyzes the legal aspects of personal freedoms and bodily integrity, the right of life, the right to confidentiality and to privacy, sexual freedom and family life, freedom from arbitrary arrest, and freedoms of expression, press, movement, and protest. Feldman believes that the future of civil liberties is as important as it has ever been; he concludes that rights must be safeguarded by legal and constitutional provisions. Very well presented and arranged, but will largely interest specialists in British politics and law. Graduate; faculty. M. Curtis Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick