Description

In this paper, I consider the interrelation between legal norms and legal systems—or, more prosaically, between private law and civil procedure. I approach the issue from a number of different angles, but two central questions are: first, is there any way to make sense of the recurrent (but confused) thought that a norm without a mode of enforcement is no norm at all? And, second, what norms should be promulgated in a world with a non-ideal legal system?

About the Speaker

Frederick Wilmot-Smith is a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, and practising barrister. His academic work principally concerns private law theory and doctrine and the theoretical questions concerning the nature of the justice system. He co-edited three books on private law defences and his first monograph, Equal Justice, was published by Harvard University Press in 2019. His work has been cited before the United Kingdom Supreme Court, as well as numerous other courts worldwide. As a barrister his practice spans commercial and public law. He has appeared in numerous appellate cases, including twice in the Supreme Court in respect of the Franked Investment Income litigation.