This is the second volume in a series which has been founded by the Faculty of Law in the University of Western Ontario as a forum for presentation of research in law and related social sciences. The primary object of the series is to promote collaboration between lawyers, social scientists, juristic philosophers, and others who are interested in exploring social values, processes, and institutions. In the present volume the Editorial Committee continues its policy of presenting papers public law and public aspects of private law, jurisprudence, and associated philosophy, constitutionalism, and juridicial international questions. The volume opens with a far-reaching comparative study of mental incapacity in criminal law by the First Lady of American criminal law. This is followed by a much needed factual discussion of law and morals. The remaining essays, apart from a short note on narcotic drug addiction, consider various aspects of current problems in international law, the study of impartiality in legal systems being especially timely in view of recent changes in the United Nations Secretariat.

RONALD ST. JOHN MACDONALD, CC was a Canadian legal academic and jurist. He is the founding President of the Canadian Council on International Law and was the Dean of Law at the University of Toronto from 1967 to 1972. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1984. MacDonald died in Halifax in 2006.

Ronald MacDonald's profile page

When lawyers decide to integrate sociological studies with the technicalities of law, we can be assured of a book of merit and often of deep interest.

The Journal of Business Law

"What has been achieved is six articles of quality, with a recurring emphasis on social function, a distinguished-looking volume produced by the University of Toronto Press, and a public declaration of faith in an objective of far-reaching possibilities. The issue is witness to the capacity, energy and gumption of a group of respected colleagues, and to a hope for the future."

The Canadian Bar Review

"iconoclastic, pragmatic approach ... characteristic of an excited and exciting new Canadian venture in published research."

New York University Law Review

"A venture in integration of law and the social sciences … both a promise for the future of fruitful interdisciplinary collaboration, and also it itself a valuable contribution to writings on law and society ... A refreshing contribution in the context of present-day Canadian legal research and publication."

International Journal