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THE GREEN BAG

acts of the general congress and of the sev eral state legislatures unconstitutional just as our courts do, and restrain by appropriate remedies their enforcement." "What to an American lawyer, appears to be the most serious omission from their con stitution (except that of the right of trial by jury), is the omission of any provision for the writ of habeas corpus." ' ' The decrees of the Mexican Supreme Court of Justice are preserved and published. In arguments in their courts they are cited as we cite the opinions of the courts of other jurisdictions than our own — for their per suasive effect. In the same way our brethren of the Mexican bar cite the works of great commentators on the civil law, and on their Constitution, and in discussions of constitu tional questions very frequently, if not most frequently of all, are cited Cooley's ' Constitu tional Limitations,' and ' Story on the Consti tution,' the latter having been well abridged and translated into Spanish." The author briefly compares the Bills of Rights of the two constitutions. "Theirs is a longer though not the more comprehensive of the two." But he concludes that the great fundamental rights of man are well-preserved in theirs as in ours. JURISPRUDENCE (Precedents). The Sep tember American Law Review (V. xxxix, p. 696), publishes an address of Henry D. Ashley on "The Effect of American Jurisprudence of the Doctrine of Judicial Precedent," which contains the familiar criticism of the modern multiplicity of reported decisions and ex presses the hope that some remedy may be discovered through legislation guided by the Bar. JURISPRUDENCE (Torts). In the August Commonwealth Law Review (V. ii, p. 250) A. Inglis Clark continues his "Short Studies in the Common Law," this time discussing torts. "None of the writers of the numerous text books on the English law of torts," he says, "has suggested a definition of a tort which would convey to a person totally unacquanited with the history or contents of the law of England, a clear conception of the specific dif ference between a tort and a crime. The ab sence of any such definition of a tort is doubt less largely due to the fact that the distinction

now made by the law of England between a tort and a crime is entirely a distinction of historic growth. A tort and a crime are both legal wrongs or, in other words, violations of a legal right; and some violations of a legal right are regarded by the law as being simul taneously torts and crimes, such, as assault and libel. The recognition of this dual char acter in such wrongful acts seems to make it impossible to construct a definition of a tort which will concisely, clearly, and specifically distinguish a tort from a crime. But if we are content to accept the practical distinction which the law makes between a tort and a crime, and to relinquish any attempt to find what may be properly described as a logical or philosophical basis for the distinction, a sufficient definition of a tort would be a vio lation of a legal right for which the law pro vides a remedy in an action for compensation against the wrongdoer, at the suit of the per son whose legal right has been violated. The essential ingredient of a crime is malice. But the absence of malice is not in itself a per manent distinction between a crime and a tort. ... It may, however, be broadly stated that malicious torts which the law does not regard as crimes, are acts which, although they are violations of legal rights, are not acts which immediately disturb the peace and se curity of the community, which are the primary objects of the law's care and protection." The author then proceeds to classify torts in three groups, viz. (i) those within the general category of trespass, (2) those of negligence, (3) violations of other rights or omissions of duties recognized by law. He then discusses certain phases of the law of torts. LEGAL ETHICS. "Remarks of John T. Dillon at Banquet on Twenty-fifth Anniver sary of Columbia Law School Class," American Law Review (V. xxxix, p. 707). LEGAL ETHICS. "The American Lawyer," by Alfred Hemenway, American Law Revise (V. xxxix, p. 641) (published in our September number) . LEGISLATION. "Labor Legislation," by W. E. O'Brien, Canada Lain Journal (V. xli, p. 729). LEGISLATION. "Review of Legislation