Blackstone's Tower: The English Law School - College of Social ...

The Quest For a Core
exposition of the law as it is, independent of utility. My own view is that Bentham's
conception of Expository Jurisprudence, though relatively undeveloped, was
almost as directly dependent on the principle of utility as Censorial Jurisprudence.
That is contested. What is clear is that Bentham advanced a utilitarian theory of
positive law that was based on and given coherence by a particular version of pol itical
morality. See further, RB at pp. 107-108.
25 There is an extensive controversy about Bentham's "influence" on reform in the
nineteenth century, but this does not bear on his clearly marginal role in the
development of academic law in England.
26 An excellent introduction is S. Guest, Ronald Dworkin (1992).
27 Law's Empire p. 13. "Legal practice" is not here confined to legal practitioners,
but embraces all actors within a legal system; Dworkin is using history and sociology
as examples of external points of view.
28 ibid p. 14.
29 ibid.
30 At p. 413.
31 For a balanced account, see C. Veljanowski "Legal Theory, Economic Analysis
and the Law of Torts," (1986) LTCL Chap. 12.
32 A.W.B. Simpson, "The Common Law and Legal Theory" (1973), reprinted in
LTCL, Chap. 2, C. Sampford, The Disorder of Law (1989). Autopoiesis is one
sophisticated attempt to revive the idea that legal thinking is systematic in an
important sense, see above Chap. 5, n. 36.
33 RE Chap. 4.
34 See above Chap. 2.
35 See para. 108.
36 See para. 49.
37 The main variant is that some law degrees provide for "half subjects", but patterns
are changing with the advent of "modularisation" and "semesterisation" and may
change further if professional pressures on the academic stage are relaxed.
36 The proposal requires the approval of ACLEC which began a major review of legal
education in 1993. This could lead to a different system of recognition of degrees.
39 William Twining, "Preparing Lawyers for the Twenty-first Century" (1992) 3
Legal Education Rev. 1.
40 Above, Chap. 6, n. 87.
41 The system which allows non-law graduates to "convert" in one year has been
sharply attacked, e.g. P. Birks, "Short Cuts" in Reviewing Legal Education
(forthcoming, 1994). The ACLEC Consultation Paper on The Initial Stage (June,
1994) reasserts the view that the law degree should not be the only route of entry
(4.27), but leaves open the question whether one academic year is sufficient for
a conversion course for non-law graduates.
42 The Marre Committee, op. cit., Chap. 2 n. 17 (1988) recommended "that consideration
be given to teaching trusts and land law as a composite subject", op. cit.
at p. 119 (para. 13.19-13.24), thereby returning to the Ormrod conception of
five core subjects.
43 At one level the core subject issue was of more symbolic than practical importance
in that the Ormrod Committee recommended the recognition of all existing law
degrees and there is no record of a single honours law degree being refused recognition.
Practical problems arise with some mixed and modular degrees.
44 In recent years the Law Society's strengthened secretariat has provided greater
continuity, but the governance of the Bar still suffers from its complexity and
rapid turnover of key personnel.
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