Month: August 2009

Being a civil libertarian student, I have found Bailey, Harris & Jones: Civil Liberties Cases, Materials & Commentary to be an invaluable resource for referencing cases and a variety of materials. This edition (coming nearly eight years after the last edition) provides an inviting new take on this vast subject area in a written format that is surprisingly readable.

Because of the considerable time-lag between editions, Bailey, Harris & Jones: Civil Liberties Cases, Materials & Commentary has undergone two considerable changes: firstly, both David Harris and David Ormerod have been unable to be involved with this edition and, secondly, the material has been split into five parts.  These five parts are now: introduction; life, liberty and association;  privacy; freedom of expression; and discrimination.  Fortunately, these two important changes have not effected the content of the text: this is some achievement.

Bailey, Harris & Jones: Civil Liberties Cases, Materials & Commentary covers all traditional areas you would expect of a civil liberties text book including freedom of expression, freedom from racial discrimination and terrorism.   This later topic is particularly important given the increase in security, chiefly in America and the United Kingdom, following the increase in terrorist attacks over the last ten years.  Unlike many cases and materials text, this actually provides a variety of source material complemented by the continuously thought-provoking commentary.

Students looking for a supplement to library research or a text which will save valuable time searching for those important sources should look no further than Bailey, Harris & Jones: Civil Liberties Cases, Materials & Commentary.  It is expertly written and researched with a number of well-selected extracts (having a grey background to distinguish them from the commentary).  It also has an online resource centre which promises to include periodic updates meaning it is excellent value for money.

Reviewed on 2 August 2009