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The European Courts: A Portrait through History
Editors: Professor Randall Lesaffer, Professor Remco van Rhee & Professor Alain Wiffels

Institutes and organisations can currently place bulk orders at a significant discount depending on the number of copies ordered. Please contact Dr Joel Burden at jb@tmiltd.com or +44(0)20 7336 0144 for details.


The European Courts: A Portrait through History is a beautifully-illustrated hardback book written in a lively and accessible style by a team of Europe's leading legal historians. This fascinating book will appeal to members of the legal community interested in the history of their profession, and should gain a natural place on any legal education booklist.

This publication introduces the largely forgotten history of our common European legal past: showing how a system of supreme courts, common European legal education, and cross-references to each other's case law were part of the forensic practice in the historical European states whose modern successors are now members of the Council of Europe and the European Union.

The book offers a chronological and thematic overview of the development and the continuity of the European court system from regional and national to European level. European court systems responded to the needs of society and concepts of judicial organisation. Legal proceedings and the effects of case law and legal education show a remarkable continuity from the 12th century onward.

The different stages of European legal development are illustrated by relevant themes referring to:

• The actors (judiciary, advocacy, public opinion and parties).
• Constitutionality (the rule of law, law enforcement, independence of the judiciary, trias politica).
• Accessibility and distribution of case law.
• Education.
• Legal symbolism.
• The Common Law and Continental Law concepts.

The themes are visualised through reconstructions of legal proceedings and legal practice, chronicles, anecdotes, literary contributions, painting, pictures and other sources.

Third Millennium Publishing (TMP) is the publisher of an extensive series of illustrated hardback books with leading legal, educational, and other institutions within the UK including the Houses of Parliament. To view our titles published for Lincoln's Inn and The Inner Temple, two of the four English Inns of Court, please follow the links below.

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