Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly
BOOK REVIEW - BOWSTEAD AND REYNOLDS ON AGENCY (16TH EDITION)
BOWSTEAD AND REYNOLDS ON AGENCY (16th Edition). F.M.B. Reynolds, Q.C. (hon.), D.C.L., F.B.A., Honorary Bencher of the Inner Temple, Fellow of Worcester College, Professor of Law, University of Oxford. Sweet & Maxwell, London (1996) cliv and 721 pp., plus 13 pp. Appendix and 37 pp. Index. Hardback £125.
In the course of the 1997 Wilberforce Lecture on The Future of the Common Law, Lord Goff of Chieveley described Bowstead (now Bowstead & Reynolds) as one of those books, together with Dicey and Scrutton, which
with their series of lapidary propositions accompanied by a substantial text, combine the benefit of a continuously updated, though informal, code with the rich tapestry of case law which proves such valuable guidance for the busy lawyer or businessman.
This may be a much needed reminder that a text which formulates areas of the law of England and Wales into a series of propositions has such an important role in the continued development of the law. With the proliferation of commercial litigation and the ever-increasing number of reported cases, we are fortunate that these classic texts have maintained that tradition and made our law so easily accessible to those that use it in their commercial transactions throughout the world.
Another essential task that these core texts perform is to synthesize developments across areas of law. With each year that passes there are more specialized law reports and a greater degree of specialization among practitioners. Important developments of a principle of the common law or equity in one specialization, although relating to the general development of the law, may escape the practitioners’ attention in another area or may not be seen in its proper context. As the law of agency is relevant to every aspect of commercial transactions, the synthesis of the developments in the many specialisms that today make up commercial law is an essential task that Bowstead & Reynolds performs. For example, in the new and separate chapter on agency of necessity, there is a gentle reminder, supported by powerful argument, of the need to develop the case law on the master’s agency of necessity “into line so far as possible with present-day thinking on agency authority”. The depth of learning exemplified by this approach is one of the reasons that the specialist practitioner is generally far better served by using Bowstead & Reynolds on principles relating to agency than the particular work that covers the whole of the law of his specialization.
Many textbooks only deal with points that have arisen for decision or have been discussed in judgments. However, it is a mark of the distinction of Bowstead & Reynolds that its editor seeks out and deals with unresolved points that arise in actual disputes where a case may have been settled or decided by the court entirely on its facts. On occasions, a court will leave open an important issue which, though raised in argument, becomes unnecessary to decide for the resolution of that particular dispute. This is often a desirable self-denying judicial ordinance, particularly where a point arises where there has not been full argument or where the court is not appraised of the full ramifications of a decision on the point. Certainly, most parties paying for litigation appreciate a dispute being decided as shortly and simply as possible, though others might lament a judgment stopping when it is about to deal with an interesting point. However, such interesting points are
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