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ABOUT FB

. . CV

. . Autobiographical

. . Life photos

 

WRITINGS BY FB

. . Chronological

. . Complete list

. . The Bennion Code

. . Other FB books

. . FB articles etc.

. . FB press letters

. . Book reviews

. . Topics

. . Blogs

. . Archive

. . Acts mentioned

. . People mentioned

 

WRITINGS BY OTHERS

. . Chronological

. . Index

. . Press cuttings

. . Reviews-FB books

. .

OTHER MATERIAL

. . Photographs

. . Other images

. . Audio and video

 

Abbreviations

 

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Copyright

Disclaimer

 

Acrobat reader

This personal site is based in England. It was created on 9 November 1999 and mainly comprises downloadable books, articles and other writings by Francis Bennion, of which there are currently 956: see Chronological in left sidebar below. In 2011 this site was added to the Bodleian Library archive as being 'of lasting research value and worthy of permanent preservation for the benefit of historians and researchers'. The site was last updated 3 February 2012

FB's shout:

 

No votes in law reform

Donald Rutherford (letter, 2 February 2012) says MPs could usefully spend their time ‘consolidating previous, and often ill-drafted, Acts into more codes for each area of the law’. He seems unaware that Acts are drawn not by MPs but by expert drafters. He does not specify in what way the Acts which I and my colleagues have spent our professional lives drawing are ‘ill-drafted’. This seems merely the sort of routine abuse that the topic unwarrantably attracts.

 

However, Mr Rutherford does have a point. In the days of the British Empire we provided our colonies with volumes of laws periodically consolidated into the sort of ‘codes for each area of the law’ that Mr Rutherford reasonably wants. This has never been done comprehensively for domestic legislation because politicians have never thought it worth the necessary time and money. It’s an old Westminster truism that there are no votes in law reform.

 

Published in The Times 3 February 2012.

Guide to FB's website

 

Click on this link for a short pdf 'slideshow' on how to use this website.

 

Move from slide to slide using the scroll bar on the right.

FB's Video Blogs on YouTube

No.6: Teachers' Pensions: a Comment on the One-Day Strike

No.5: Unison Threatens the Government

No.4: Teachers' Pensions: A flight from Reason

No.3: House of Lords Reform

No.2: Expert Exposes the Danger of AV

No.1: The Dishonesty of the Alternative Vote System

Latest additions to this site

 

No votes in law reform (3 Feb 2012)

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Disgraceful pollution of St Paul’s Cathedral (25 Jan 2012)

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FB's birthday (2 Jan 2012)

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Letter regarding Baroness Onora O’Neill’s Second Annual Jurisprudence Lecture (20 Dec 2011)

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Legal meaning of Consumer Credit Act 1974 s. 61(1) (20 Dec 2011)

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St Paul’s and the rule of law (17 Nov 2011)

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Strasbourg Judgments Bind the UK (31 Oct 2011)

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Unemployment and the laws of nature (26 Oct 2011)

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Pressure on private schools to help state schools (13 Oct 2011)

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About Francis Bennion . . .

Born 2 January 1923 in Cheshire, England, FB remains active as a writer and academic. At his Devon home, using the internet, he writes or updates his books and articles, does occasional broadcasts, and, with around 150 letters in the Times, as well as many in other newspapers and journals, spreads his opinions on many matters of public concern. Since 1984 he has been a research associate of the Oxford University Centre for Socio-Legal Studies.

During World War II, FB served as a volunteer RAF pilot. He then read law at Balliol and was called to the Bar by the Middle Temple. He became law tutor at St Edmund Hall Oxford, last of the medieval halls. He then practised at the Bar in common law and human rights cases. Later he served 14 years in the Westminster Parliamentary Counsel Office drafting Acts of Parliament for the British Government.

In 1956 FB drafted the constitution by which Pakistan became a republic. Then in 1960 he drafted the constitution by which Ghana became a republic. His first book, explaining the Ghana constitution, followed in 1962.

In the 1960s FB served as chief executive of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and wrote Professional Ethics. He has also written a book, The Sex Code, on sexual ethics.

In 1971-72 FB brought a private prosecution against Peter Hain. After a 10-day Old Bailey trial Hain was convicted of criminal conspiracy to organise illegal direct action protests. His appeal was rejected.

In 1984 FB published his main work, Statutory Interpretation. The fifth edition of this, totalling over 1700 pages, was published in 2008.

FB has founded or co-founded various bodies including the World of Property Housing Trust, Towards One World, the Professional Association of Teachers, the Statute Law Society, the Statute Law Trust, Freedom Under Law, the Dicey Trust, Areopagitica Educational Trust and Towards One World.

FB’s books

 

Law books

by Francis Bennion

FB's Lifetime Achievements

What people say . . .

‘. . . arguably the most distinguished living scholar and writer on statutory interpretation in the UK.’ -

Adrian Turner LL B, editor, Justice of the Peace.

This changes daily.See also my four other daily quotations .

Poetic thought for today

FB's poetic thought for 4 February 2012 is from his book, POEMOTIONS:
Poets aim not to express themselves, but to subsume humanity: otherwise the poetry is no good.

Epistolary thought for today

FB's epistolary thought for 4 February 2012 is from his Times letters:
In the nineteenth century both Britain and America tried hard to move the civil service from the spoils system to the merit system. Britain succeeded, but America did not. (2002)

Review extract for today

The extract for 4 February 2012 from a review of FB's book STATUTORY INTERPRETATION is:
'It is an immensely valuable work of reference which eclipses earlier books on statutory interpretation' - Public Law

See the complete collection of 31 extracts

Moral thought for today

FB's moral thought for 4 February 2012 is :
Do not punish others for being what, after all, you are yourself.