Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- ROMAN LAW
- ROMAN LAW AND SCOTS LAW
- SCOTTISH LEGAL HISTORY
- 15 The Right of Women to Graduate in Medicine – Scottish Judicial Attitudes in the Nineteenth Century
- 16 Property and Succession Rights
- 17 George Joseph Bell – Law Commissioner
- 18 Variation and Discharge of Land Obligations
- 19 Stair, Grotius and the Sources of Stair's Institutions
- 20 The Acts of the Scottish Lords of Council in the Late Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries: Records and Reports
- 21 Balfour's Registrum
- ROMAN LAW INFLUENCE
- GENERAL INTEREST
- Table of Cases
- Table of Statutes
- Index
17 - George Joseph Bell – Law Commissioner
from SCOTTISH LEGAL HISTORY
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- ROMAN LAW
- ROMAN LAW AND SCOTS LAW
- SCOTTISH LEGAL HISTORY
- 15 The Right of Women to Graduate in Medicine – Scottish Judicial Attitudes in the Nineteenth Century
- 16 Property and Succession Rights
- 17 George Joseph Bell – Law Commissioner
- 18 Variation and Discharge of Land Obligations
- 19 Stair, Grotius and the Sources of Stair's Institutions
- 20 The Acts of the Scottish Lords of Council in the Late Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries: Records and Reports
- 21 Balfour's Registrum
- ROMAN LAW INFLUENCE
- GENERAL INTEREST
- Table of Cases
- Table of Statutes
- Index
Summary
While Bell's Commentaries made Bell's reputation it may be suspected that his Principles have been more frequently consulted over the years. The Principles were written for the students of the University of Edinburgh, but of the later editions it could be said that they found an adoptive home in Glasgow under the editorship of William Guthrie, Sheriff-Substitute and later Sheriff of Lanarkshire. It therefore seemed not inappropriate in a work to be presented to the author of the Principles of Scottish Private Law, which have their domicile of origin there, to write a note on Bell. At the same time it seemed preferable to eschew direct discussion of either the Commentaries or the Principles and to look instead at another aspect of Bell's work, which has received less attention, namely, his contribution to the law commissions which were set up in the 1820s and 1830s. These, along with their predecessors from the earlier years of the century, produced a considerable number of reports which both contain interesting information on the state of the Scottish legal system at this period and led to important legislative reforms, and it seemed worthwhile to take this opportunity to draw attention to what was achieved as a result of their activity.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Roman Law, Scots Law and Legal HistorySelected Essays, pp. 211 - 230Publisher: Edinburgh University PressPrint publication year: 2007