We all know the famous observations of legal historians about the influence of procedure on the development of the the common law. Maine’s remark about substantive law being “gradually secreted in the interstices of procedure” and Maitland’s quip about the buried forms of action that “still rule us from their graves” remind us that procedural […] Read more

A challenge for lawyers is to fit new concepts to old language. Law is in a constant state of flux, adapting always to new realities. Sometimes, however, doctrines change rapidly and without courts considering the knock-on effects on other doctrines. The problem of tribunal reconsiderations of their decisions is an example. Say tribunals may reopen […] Read more