By Douglas Brown
Lexis Nexis Butterworths
It has been ten years since the last edition of Traffic Offences and Accidents was published. Understandably, both legislative changes and developments in the case law have demanded the need for this latest edition.
The book is extensive in its coverage of traffic law, examining both civil and criminal aspects. Given its scope, it would be unfair to expect too much by way of detail. However, Brown succeeds in providing a thoughtful and considered analysis of many fundamental aspects of this area of the law.
In particular, Brown provides numerous case references and summaries to illustrate how the courts have interpreted and applied the legislation. He also provides numerous cross-references of equivalent legislative provisions across the various State and Territory jurisdictions. Brown also identifies examples of where the legislation and case law of the different jurisdictions have diverged.
Topics covered in the book include:
â¢Â Police powers and duties;
â¢Â Licences and disqualifications;
â¢Â Unlawful driving;
â¢Â Breath testing and analysis;
â¢Â Accident duties;
â¢Â Civil negligence; and
â¢Â The Australian Road Rules.
Although covered to an extent, the difficult issue of sentencing is perhaps not given the coverage that one might have hoped for. In practice, this is a common issue that arises, particularly for those with limited or only occasional advocacy experience in this area.
Many practitioners are, for example, familiar with the (unofficial) schedule of sentencing that is often used in Magistrates Courts in Queensland in relation to drink driving offences. The book (perhaps understandably) does not go to this level of detail. From this perspective, the book is more academic than practical and that is probably my greatest criticism of the book.
That noted, the book is well presented and a straight forward read. It is well indexed and easy to navigate when looking up specific points. If you are looking for a good primer on traffic law, you won’t be disappointed with Traffic Offences and Accidents.
Shaun Gordon
Carter’s Guide to Australian Contract Law
By JW Carter
Lexis Nexis Butterworths, 2006)
Among those of us who completed our law studies within the last 20 years or so, most would remember the useful text resource constituted by the various editions of Carter’s earlier Outline of Contract Law in Australia. Coming about 13 years after the second edition of that earlier text, this new book, published in 2006 and current to the end of December 2005, whilst perhaps a little less comprehensive than its predecessor, is even more squarely aimed at students of contract law.
The book, neatly and simply, covers each broad area of contract law in easy to read language and using an excellent format. There are special practical features peculiar to a student text book (or guide as it prefers to call itself) including, the Guide Glossary, the “How To” Chapter (including drafting and exam tips), the Sample Contracts Chapter (the samples contain intentional errors), the Problems Chapter and the Solutions Chapter. The last two of those chapters are contained on a CD that comes with the book. In addition to the specific problems and solutions chapters, there appears a Quick Quiz at the end of each chapter (with over 300 questions in total) and the answers to those quizzes can be found in the last chapter of the book. The provision of answers to the problems posed is an excellent feature of the book for students (and a feature often missing in other texts).
The book is best read with a copy of Carter & Harland’s Cases and Materials on Contract Law, 4th edition, alongside, as the book neatly identifies where particular cases have been dealt with at length in the case book. However, the case book is by no means an essential co-purchase, particularly, given the ease with which cases can now be retrieved electronically.
Whilst it is easy to sing the praises of the text for use by its target audience of students, what does it have to offer the practitioner? The blurb at the back of the book says it can be used by “practitioners looking for an easy reminder of essential contract law” and, perhaps, there is no better way to describe its potential use for practitioners. It is not a book that a practitioner would be likely to buy with the intention of reading from cover to cover. It is not an opinion piece; does not often delve into the rights and wrongs of the development of this area of law; and does not often espouse where change is required or desirable. It does not deal in great detail with some of the more interesting aspects of developing contract law such as the scope of the implied term to act in good faith. However, there are whole texts dealing with such topics so it is easy to see why this guide would breeze over the minutiae. It is a book that would struggle to hold the interest of a practitioner from cover to cover. But for the purpose of a quick review of a contract law topic; as a reminder of the major cases; or to find references to interstate legislation (say, for example, sale of goods legislation), this is an excellent starting point.
Melanie Hindman
