Social Security Law. Second edition. By H. Calvert. [London: Sweet & Maxwell. 1978. 549 pp. £6·85 paperback.]
| Published date | 01 November 1979 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1979.tb01569.x |
| Date | 01 November 1979 |
Nov.
19791
REV
IBW
S
729
for the parties
ex
post
fact0
by
fixing the
"
price
"
which the dcfendant must
pay for the benefit to which he has helped himself. In some cases, of course,
a
penal element may enter into this, but in other cses the function of the
Court seems purely to search for the sort of pricc the parties would ,themselves
have settled on (see,
e.g.
General Tire
&
Rubber
Co.
V.
Firestone
Tyre
&
Rubber
Co.
C19751
2
All E.R.
173).
Thus the notion of rccompcnse for bcncfit
cuts right across the traditional classification of contract and tort, and it is
not at all evident that the subject is best studied in isolation from the rest
of
the law of obligations.
All this is not to suggest that the second edition of this book is any less to
be welcomed than thc first. But one is increasingly driven to ponder on
our
prescnt three-fold classification into contract, tort and restitution, and, for
my part,
I
am far from being convinced that it is here to stay. P.
S.
ATIYAH.
THE
LAW
OF
SOCIAL SECURITY. By
A.
I.
Ocus
and
E.
M.
BARENDT.
[London
:
Butterworths.
1978. 714
pp.
incl. index.
Ell.75
limp.]
SOCIAL SECURITY LAW. Second edition. By
H.
CALVBRT. [London:
Sweet
&
Maxwell.
1978. 549
pp.
€6.85
paperback.]
WELVARE law, that popular euphemism for an amalgam of social security,
housing, and employment law has already become a subject no progressive
law department can afford not to offer
as
proof of the advanced and catholic
range of its options. In practice most courses centre on social security law,
and indeed some have that more honest title.
As
far as the practising professions are concerned, some have professed
that social security
is
the field of expertise
of
the future. Law centres claim
it as part of their very
raison
dim.
Yet much of Ithe body of this law has
until recently been entirely inaccesible.
The dilemma that confronts both teachers and writers
is
how in such a
field to extract interesting issues of legal principle from a seemingly
impenetrable jungle of statute law and regulation. Then how far are the issues
that can be exposed really ones of significancc for legal as opposed to social
policy? The breadth
of
the subject, as well as the depth, is also unclear.
What should be included in the definition-local authority benefits, housing
allowances, health services benefits? Even in the National Insurance field,
the subject may be somewhat unbalanced; unemployment benefit (which in
financial terms
is
less important) is liable to dominate the scene with its
complex rules of entitlement and disqualification, while retirement pensions
give rise to little legal dispute but consume most of the funds. In any event
what lessons can really be drawn from
a
study of the complex definition
of
"
a day
of
unemployment
''
other than to appreciate the dificulty of drafting
simple benefit rules to cover complex work patterns?
Another problem for authors as well as teachers
is
the difliculty of explaining
how the law operates in practice. Expertise and practical experience
is
largely
confined to officials
of
the
D.H.S.S.
who are not habitually inclined to share
their problems with the outside world. There is of course a mass
of
statistics
on the
use
of
social sccurity benefits, but they are compiled with thc economist
or
administrator rather than the lawyer in mind. Empirical research into the
working of the law
is
limited.
When Professor Calvert's first edition appeared in
1974,
it was then treading
on
virgin territory. No one had until then analysed the decisions of the
National Insurance Commissioners, tackled the legislation of the Social Security
Act, and presented the material in a form which could be of use to students.
Your then reviewer noted some omissions and criticisms but paid tribute to
the importance of the achievement.
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