Book reveiw: Equality: The New Legal Framework
| DOI | 10.1177/096466391102100103 |
| Published date | 01 March 2012 |
| Author | Mark Bell |
| Date | 01 March 2012 |
| Subject Matter | Book reviews |
interrogation towards the future, in dialogue with Chapter 1. Here we are, in the 21st
century, celebrating democracy and participation, but is there an iconography for dem-
ocratic adjudication? Is glass (and technology) its marker? Or is transparency opaque,
because concerns with security and the privatisation of adjudication are creating new
segregated spaces, in which the pedagogy of architecture, decoration and imagery has
turned into a silent abstraction? Still, and contrary to the authors, my belief is that turning
again to ‘images of the past’ – such as the Cardinal Virtues – does not provide the
answer. It is important to remember the past, of course (as South Africa’s Constitutional
Court exemplifies). It is now time, however, to search for new symbolisms, to look for
the irregularities of the imagery of ‘Justice’ and the many voices that seek for ‘Justice’.
Formally speaking, this book is not particularly reader-friendly: it would be prefer-
able to have the endnotes transformed into footnotes at the end of each page, because,
given its weight and format, it is somewhat ‘challeng ing’ looking for a no te at the end
of the book every time one appears in the text!Needless to say, though, this is a book
that academics, teachers and students interested in the subject of justice’s institutions,
the evolution and history of courts and courthouse architecture, or law and aesthetics,
must read.
PATRI
´CIA BRANCO
Centro de Estudos Sociais, Portugal
BOB HEPPLE, Equality: The New Legal Framework. Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2011, xxxviii þ209 pp.,
ISBN 9781849461078, £25 (pbk)
The Equality Act 2010 was the biggest overhaul of British equality legislation since its
modern inception in the 1960s and 1970s. It restructured the framework of the law by
repealing most existing equality legislation and replacing this with a single Act. At the
same time, but perhaps less visibly, it introduced substantive reforms to the contents of
the legislation. Some of this took the form of ‘tidying’, in the sense of harmonising the
legal provisions across all of the protected characteristics. There was, though, some gen-
uine innovation within the Act compared to any of the pre-existing legislation, such as
new provisions on positive action. Hepple’s book is the first in-depth academic analysis
of this complex and wide-ranging legislation, but it is sure to be one of the leading points
of reference for future scholars. The book is very well written in a style that happily
blends accessible and captivating commentary with perceptive insight and reflection.
As such, it will be suitable for a range of readers. Those who are unfamiliar with this area
of law, including students, should find this book a valuable introduction to the field. At
the same time, there is a richness and depth that will make this book stimulating for the
specialists in equality law, whether academic or practitioner.
The quality of the book is underpinned by Hepple’s personal contribution and partic-
ipation in the long-running academic and policy debate that preceded the Act’s adoption.
Notably, he was the co-author of an independent review of anti-discrimination
Book reviews 141
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