Recent Book: Law, Order and the Authoritarian State
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8906200109 |
| Date | 01 January 1989 |
| Published date | 01 January 1989 |
| Subject Matter | Recent Book |
educatepublic opinionsothat it can view the terrorists' activityrealistically
and in correct proportions. This is necessary to create the type
of
environment that helps in maintaining intelligent and objective responses
to a problem often caught with emotional fervour.
RECENT BOOKS
TRESPASS -SUMMARY PROCEDURE
FOR
POSSESSION
OF
lAND
Peter
Birts and Alan Willis
Published by Butterworths,
. The d!lemma of Farmer Leslie Attew:ell when m.embers of the peace convoy
invaded his lands became the focus of national attention last year. A public outcry
arose at the seemingly ineffectual way the civil and criminal law assisted the
dispossessed. This farmer's predicament emphasized argument that change was
necessary and an opportunity was taken to enact in s. 36 of the Public
Order
Act
1986, a means to dale with those who refuse to leave non-residential property.
At the same time change occurred in the civil law to enable speedier relief for
persons
cau~t
in such circumstances. The summary procedure for possession of
land, even WIthpractitioners, is often little used and sometimes' misunderstood. The
authors have prepared in this book a useful manual which analyses the requirements
of the procedure and demonstrates how it is
put
into effect.
The
question of
enforcement is then considered and the neglected area of re-possession after re-
occupation by unlawful occupiers mentioned.
The
reader
is taken through the
procedure in a
lo~cal
step by step approach by the authors who specialize in this
field. The writing IS clear and economical,
'Squalting' may become highly charged and emotive leading to police
intervention irrespective of the
~eneral
need to preserve public order. Careful and
sensitive handling of such issues IS often paramount and a knowledge of civil aspects
of value to the police decision maker. To this latter end this book will assist in that
process.
Law,
Order
and
the Authoritarian State
Edited by Phil Scraton. Published by the Open University Press. Price £9.95 paper-
back, £25eased edition.
As the title suggests, this book is based on the assumption that we live in an
Authoritarian state and, for the most part, the writers ratiocinate from that basic
premise.
Comprising a collection of ten readings in critical criminology by a total of nine
different, but not entirely unconnected authors, the overall pattern tends to
concentrate too deeply on the ills of society thus failing to acknowledge the curative
efforts made to combat the troubles.
As in most 'anthologies' of this type, some are
better
than others in presenting a
balanced viewpoint,
but
the fact that such books become recommended texts for
students and professionals in the field is mildly disconcerting, to say the least.
January 1989 55
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