Glanville Williams

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Glanville Llewelyn Williams QC, LL.D., F.B.A. (15 February 1911 – 10 April 1997) was an influential Welsh legal professor and formerly the Rouse Ball Professor of English Law at the University of Cambridge. Throughout his lifetime he also served as an Honorary and Emeritus Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge and Honorary Bencher of Middle Temple; as well as lecturing at Cambridge he previously served as the Professor of Public Law and Quain Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of London.

His influential law book Learning the Law, now in its thirteenth edition, is a critically-acclaimed and popular introductory text for legal undergraduates. Dubbed "Guide, Philosopher and Friend", the book is published by Sweet & Maxwell.

In The Sanctity of Life and the Criminal Law (1957), Williams criticized Christian (especially Roman Catholic) opposition to contraception, artificial insemination, sterilization, abortion, suicide and euthanasia.

In 1976, he was famously impersonated by Campbell McComas, an Australian comedian, at a hoax lecture at Monash University, Melbourne. Many people who knew Williams personally were reportedly fooled by the hoax.

[edit] Selected works

Books

  • Learning the Law 1969 - (present)[1]
  • The Sanctity of Life and the Criminal Law 1957
  • Foundations of the Law of Tort 1976 - 1984[2]
  • Textbook of Criminal Law 1978 - 2003

Notable articles

  • Dominion Legislation Relating to Libel and Slander.[3] Possibly Williams' first peer-reviewed article.
  • Liability for Animals. An Account of the Development and Present Law of Tortious Liability for Animals, Distress Damage Feasant and the Duty to Fence.[4] Article in one of the most authoritative law journals: Modern Law Review.
  • The Aims of Tort[5] An Essay Examining the various purposes of actions in Tort, broadly: Appeasement, Justice, Deterrence and Compensation. Appeasement is promptly dismissed as archane. Justice is interwoven within Deterrence and Compensation. Williams concludes that the purpose of actions for torts of intension is Deterrence and Compensatory for other torts. In this essay, Williams also pre-emptively advocates mandatory motor third party insurance and 'workmen insurance' (legislated as National Insurence).
  • The Definition of Crime[6] Granted that crimes are treated differently than other legal wrongs, Williams attempts to distinguish the crime from the non-criminal wrong (breach of contract, tort, ect). He dismantles arguments based upon severity of court order (damages or punishment), social attitude or sense of morality and public vs private damages. Williams finally begrudgingly concludes that only the legal definition can consist: a crime is an act that is legally prosecuted by ciminal proceedings.
  • Statute Interpretation, Prostitution and the Rule of Law.[7]
  • Oblique Intention:[8] A discussion of the merits of imposing criminal intention whereby a defendant knows an offence (the acts of which are criminalized) will insue but has no purpose as to that offence. e.g. A strategic bomber may purposes to destroy an airbase knowing that the airbase is situated next to a school. The purpose is not the killing of children, it is recognised that children will die, it is fair to assume that if the strategic bomber could avoid killing children he would, but he goes ahead anyways. Infanticide is of oblique intent.[9]

Published Lectures

  • Proof of Guilt: Study of the English Criminal Trial 1963
  • Mental Element in Crime 1966

Notice

  • The preface to Winfield's 1937 textbook of tort gives recognition to Williams for proof reading at the age of 26 - already an honorary LLD.[10]

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Authoring handed to A.T.H Smith before 2005 edition
  2. ^ Authoring handed to B.A Hepple before 1984 edition
  3. ^ (1939) 21 Journal of Comparative Legislation and International Law 161.
  4. ^ (1940) 3 MLR 334:
  5. ^ (1951) 4 CLP 137:
  6. ^ (1955) 8 CLP 107:
  7. ^ in Tapper, C, Crime, Proof and Punishment (1981, Butterworths: London).
  8. ^ (1987) CLJ 417
  9. ^ The example is taken from Simest, A.P, "Why Distinguish Intention From Foresight?"; in Simester, A.P [ed] & Smith, A.T.H [ed], Harm and Culpability, Oxford: OUP, 1996 at 71.
  10. ^ Winfield, "Textbook of the Law of Torts", 1938, London: Sweet & Maxwell at vi
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