''Halsbury's Laws of England'' is a uniquely comprehensive encyclopaedia of law, and provides the only complete narrative statement of

law in England and Wales English law is the common law list of national legal systems, legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly English criminal law, criminal law and Civil law (common law), civil law, each branch having its own Courts of England and Wales, ...

. It has an alphabetised title scheme covering all areas of law, drawing on authorities including Acts of Parliament of the United Kingdom, Measures of the Welsh Assembly, UK case law and European law. It is written by or in consultation with experts in the relevant field. ''Halsbury's Laws'' has an annual and monthly updating service. The encyclopaedia and updates are available in both hard copy and online, with some content available for free online.

History

In 1907

Stanley Shaw Bond Stanley Shaw Bond (8 July 1877 - 1943) was the owner of legal publishers Butterworth and Co who "introduced professionalism into law publishing". He was the son of Charles Bond (publisher), Charles Bond. He was responsible for the creation of ''Ha ...

, editor at

Butterworths LexisNexis is a part of the RELX corporation that sells data analytics products and various databases that are accessed through online portals, including portals for computer-assisted legal research (CALR), newspaper search, and consumer inform ...

, began a project to produce a complete statement of the law of

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is En ...

that was authoritative, comprehensive and up-to-date. Bond tracked down the former

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...

, The Earl of Halsbury, on holiday in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative ...

to invite him to be the editor-in-chief of ''The Laws of England''. Traditionally, the role of editor-in-chief of ''Halsbury's Laws'' is held by a former Lord Chancellor, and the current incumbent is

Lord Mackay of Clashfern James Peter Hymers Mackay, Baron Mackay of Clashfern, (born 2 July 1927) is a British advocate. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, Lord Advocate, and Lord Chancellor (1987–1997). He is a former active member of the House of L ...

. In 2007, ''Halsbury's Laws'' celebrated its centenary with an evening of seminars led by Lord Mackay of Clashfern and professor

Richard Susskind Richard Eric Susskind OBE FRSE (born 28 March 1961) is a British author, speaker, and independent adviser to international professional firms and national governments. He is the IT adviser to the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, holds ...

, and the publication of a collection of centenary essays.

First edition

The first edition was published in 31 volumes from 1907 to 1917.John S James and Leslie F Maxwell. ''

A Legal Bibliography of the British Commonwealth of Nations ''A Legal Bibliography of the British Commonwealth of Nations'', formerly ''Sweet & Maxwell's Legal Bibliography'', is a bibliography of law published in London by Sweet & Maxwell Sweet & Maxwell is a British publisher specialising in legal ...

''. Second Edition. Sweet & Maxwell. 1957. Volume 2. Page 152. Since then, new editions have been launched at intervals of about 20 to 30 years. Volume 1 was published in 1907. Its articles run from action to bankers and banking. The volume deals with action,

admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

agency Agency may refer to: Organizations * Institution, governmental or others ** Advertising agency or marketing agency, a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients ** Employment agency, a business that ...

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

s, allotments, animals, arbitration,

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition e ...

, bailment and bankers and banking. Volume 2 was published in 1908. Its articles run from

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debto ...

to bills of exchange. It contains but four treatises, upon bankruptcy and

insolvency In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company ( debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-shee ...

(335 pages),

barristers A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and givin ...

(67 pages), bastardy (28 pages) and bills of exchange, promissory notes and negotiable instruments (124 pages). Volume 5 (companies) is devoted entirely to company law, and forms a treatise of 768 pages on that subject. After a general consideration of the nature and domicile of companies, the work considers briefly the history of company legislation. Then follows an elaborate treatise on the

Companies Act 1908 A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared g ...

. Special companies, like banking, insurance and public service companies, are considered; as well as chartered companies, the livery companies of the City of London, quasi-corporations, and illegal companies; and a few pages are devoted to foreign companies. The reviewer in the ''Harvard Law Review'' thought the table of cases cited must contain at least five thousand cases. He said the importance of this treatise was at once apparent; and that to the commercial lawyer in the Eastern cities of the United States it would be exceedingly useful. The articles in volume 11 run from descent to ecclesiastical law. It contains a short article on descent and distribution; a discussion of discovery, inspection and interrogatories, under the English practice; an elaborate article on distress; an article on easements and profits, which the ''Harvard Law Review'' said was the most interesting article in the volume to an American lawyer; and an elaborate disquisition on ecclesiastical law. The articles in volume 12 run from education to electric lighting and power. The ''Harvard Law Review'' said that the articles on education and elections had comparatively little value to the American bar, but the hundred pages devoted to electric lighting and power were useful. Volume 20 was published in 1911. Its articles run from markets to misrepresentation. It contains articles on markets and fairs (59 pages), master and servant (221 pages), medicine and pharmacy (82 pages), the Metropolis (106 pages), mines, minerals and quarries (156 pages) and misrepresentation and fraud (110 pages). According to the ''

Harvard Law Review The ''Harvard Law Review'' is a law review published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the ''Harvard Law Review''s 2015 impact factor of 4.979 placed the journal first out of 143 ...

'', the article on master and servant was of constant interest to an American lawyer; and that on misrepresentation and fraud, from the master hand of G. Spencer Bower, was a valuable treatise in itself. Volume 21 was published in 1912. Its articles run from mistake to partition. It contains articles on mistake (34 pages), money and money lending (29 pages), mortgage (283 pages), negligence (134 pages), notaries (9 pages), nuisance (72 pages), Parliament (197 pages) and partition (59 pages). The ''Harvard Law Review'' said that the standard set by the preceding volumes appeared to be maintained and that the series, up to this volume, was a collection of very admirable treatises on English law.

Second, third and fourth editions

The second edition was published in 37 volumes from 1932 to 1941. The editor-in-chief was Viscount Hailsham. The managing editor was Sir Roland Burrows. The second edition of volume 5 was published in 1949. The second and subsequent editions of the encyclopaedia took the name of the said Earl of Halsbury. The third edition was published in 43 volumes from 1952 to 1964. The general editor was

Lord Simonds Gavin Turnbull Simonds, 1st Viscount Simonds, (28 November 1881 – 28 June 1971) was a British judge, politician and Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. Background and education Simonds was born in Reading, Berkshire, the son of Louis DeLu ...

. The fourth edition was published in 56 volumes from 1973 to 1987. The editor-in-chief was

Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone Quintin McGarel Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone, (9 October 1907 – 12 October 2001), known as the 2nd Viscount Hailsham between 1950 and 1963, at which point he disclaimed his hereditary peerage, was a British barrister and Conservati ...

. The editor-in-chief of volumes reissued from August 1998 onwards was

Fifth edition

Publication of the fifth edition began in 2008 and is being published in 103 volumes. It will have a new title scheme, a new updating service, and improved integration of European law. New titles for the fifth edition include, ''Sports Law'', ''Information Technology Law'', ''Financial Services and Institutions'', ''Judicial Review'' and ''Environmental Quality and Public Health''.

Halsbury Legal Awards

The Halsbury Legal Awards debuted in 2013. They celebrate the value that people in law bring to society. The theme of the awards is: "The Whole of the law. Connected". The awards recognise the achievements and talents of individuals and teams across the entire legal sector. The Bar, legal practice, in-house counsel, academia and legal journalism are all recognised, as are contribution to the promotion, growth and value of the sector.

Halsbury Awards

The Halsbury Awards, in association with the

British and Irish Association of Law Librarians The British and Irish Association of Law Librarians (BIALL, http://www.biall.org.uk/) is a professional body which represents information professionals working with legal information. BIALL is a self-supporting association which draws its income p ...

, were sponsored by Halsbury's Laws from 2007 to 2012. They recognise outstanding performance given by legal information services, law libraries and teams managing legal collections and resources.

Related publications

*''

Halsbury's Laws of Australia ''Halsbury's Laws of Australia'' is similar to ''Halsbury's Laws of England'', but is written for Australia. It is an encyclopaedia of the laws of Australia. Published by LexisNexis LexisNexis is a part of the RELX corporation that sells da ...

'' *''

Halsbury's Laws of Canada ''Halsbury's Laws of Canada'' is a comprehensive national encyclopedia of Canadian law, published by LexisNexis Canada, which includes federal, provincial and territorial coverage. It is the only Canadian legal encyclopedia covering all fourteen Ca ...

'' *'' Halsbury's Laws of Singapore'' *'' Halsbury's Laws of Malaysia'' *''

Halsbury's Laws of Hong Kong ''Halsbury's Laws of Hong Kong'' is an encyclopaedia on the laws of Hong Kong based on the model of the Halsbury's Laws of England and is currently the only encyclopaedic legal work in Hong Kong. It covers 80 subject areas and is written by promi ...

'' *'' Halsbury's Laws of India'' *'' Halsbury's Laws of New Zealand'' *'' The Laws of Scotland: Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia''

Bibliography

*Marke, J J. ''A Catalogue of the Law Collection at New York University''. New York University. 1953.

External links

Volume I - 1907 - Action to Bankers and Banking

Volume II - 1908 - Bankruptcy and Insolvency to Bills of Exchange

Volume III - 1908 - Bills of Sale to Burial and Cremation

Volume IV - 1908 - Carriers to Commons and Rights of Common

Volume V - 1910 - Companies

Volume VI - 1909 - Compulsory Purchase of Land and Compensation to Constitutional Law (Parts I - V)

Volume VII - 1909 - Constitutional Law (Part VI to End) to Contract

Volume VIII - 1909 - Copyholds to County Court

Volume IX - 1909 - Courts to Criminal Law and Procedure

Volume X - 1909 - Crown Practice to Dependencies and Colonies

Volume XI - 1910 - Descent and Distribution to Ecclesiastical Law

Volume XII - 1910 - Education to Electric Lighting and Power

Volume XIII - 1910 - Equity to Evidence

Volume XIV - 1910 - Execution to Fisheries

Volume XV - 1911 - Food and Drugs to Guarantee

Volume XVI - 1911 - Highways, Streets, and Bridges to Income Tax

Volume XVII - 1911 - Industrial, Provident and Similar Societies to Interpleader

Volume XVIII - 1911 - Intoxicating Liquors to Libel and Slander

Volume XIX - 1911 - Lien to Malicious Prosecution and Procedure

Volume XX - 1911 - Markets and Fairs to Misrepresentation and Fraud

Volume XXI - 1912 - Mistake to Partition

Volume XXII - 1912 - Partnership to Post Office

Volume XXIII - 1912 - Powers to Railways and Canals

Volume XXIV - 1912 - Rates and Rating to Revenue

Volume XXV - 1913 - Royal Forces to Sheriffs and Bailiffs

Volume XXVI - 1914 - Shipping and Navigation to Solicitors

Volume XXVII - 1913 - Specific Performance to Trover and Detinue

Volume XXVIII - 1914 - Trusts and Trustees to Work and Labour

Volume XXIX - 1915 - Consolidated Table of Cases

Volume XXX - 1917 - General Index - A-L

Volume XXXI - 1917 - General Index - M-Z

Supplement No. 21 - 1931 - Bringing the Work up to 1931

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halsbury's Laws of England * English law Encyclopedias of law British encyclopedias 1907 non-fiction books 1932 non-fiction books 1952 non-fiction books 1973 non-fiction books 2008 non-fiction books 20th-century encyclopedias 21st-century encyclopedias