Stephen Thomson,
The Nobile Officium:
The Extraordinary Equitable Jurisdiction of the Supreme Courts of
Scotland
An ambitious new text has just been published on the nobile
officium – the extraordinary equitable jurisdiction of the Supreme Courts
of Scotland. The author, Stephen
Thomson, spoke about this unusual jurisdiction at the conference “Filling
the Gaps: The Study of Judicial Creativity
and Equity in Mixed Jurisdictions and Beyond” at the University of Catania
in May 2013, co-organised by the World Society of Mixed Jurisdiction Jurists.
The nobile officium enables the Supreme Courts of Scotland to
(i) supply a legal norm where an existing norm is deficient, unavailable or
absent, or (ii) provide alleviation where the application of an existing norm
would be unduly excessive, oppressive or burdensome. The jurisdiction has found application across
broad areas of civil and criminal jurisdiction, and continues to form an
important aspect of procedural law.
Dr. Thomson has brought his research forward to the
point of publication and produced the first ever text to systematically examine
the nobile officium. Of potential
interest to Juris Diversitas readers, this text provides a unique national case
study in equitable jurisdiction (and moreover in a mixed jurisdiction). Dr. Thomson
launched the book with a lecture to distinguished practitioners, scholars and
invited guests at the Faculty of Advocates and Supreme Courts of Scotland,
Parliament House, Edinburgh. The text
has been well received, carrying a foreword by Lord Hope of Craighead KT,
former Deputy President of the UK Supreme Court.
COVER TEXT
The nobile officium of the Court of
Session and the High Court of Justiciary is a long-established but elusive
power. The extraordinary equitable jurisdiction of the Supreme Courts of
Scotland continues to be relevant and useful today but its scope and
limitations are poorly understood. This is the first book to systematically
examine the nobile officium. Placing it in its historical and conceptual
context, the book explores the development and application of the nobile
officium in such diverse areas as:
ñ Trusts
ñ Judicial
factors, curators, tutors and guardians
ñ Bankruptcy,
insolvency and sequestration
ñ Custody
of children
ñ Public
officers
ñ Statutory
omissions
ñ Civil
procedure
ñ Criminal
law and procedure
This ambitious text provides original and
informative commentary and analysis for practitioners, teachers and students of
Scots law.
“A work of real scholarship which makes a
significant contribution to the literature on Scots law.” Lord Hope of
Craighead
THE AUTHOR
Stephen Thomson is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty
of Law, The Chinese University of Hong
Kong. He holds a Ph.D. in constitutional
and administrative law from the University of Edinburgh.
BOOK DETAILS
Avizandum Publishing
May 2015
300 pages
ISBN 9781904968337
£48.00
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