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HER MAJESTY'S JUDGES ARE BY NATURE CONSERVATIVE BECAUSE their function is to apply existing law, to uphold a system not to subvert it. But they are not by nature reactionary, do not have any necessary opposition to new ideas, must indeed seek to fit political novelties expressed in statutory terms into the existing order. But, by their background and more importantly by their training, they are cautious, have seen it before, and in interpreting Acts of Parliament still work on the basis of certain assumptions which are also widely shared by those in the street below their windows, along the embankment at Westminster, and by the man in the passing Clapham omnibus. These assumptions are that Parliament does not intend to enact anydung so radical as to upset the constitution, or to deprive private persons of life, liberty or property by inadvertence but only by express words, and that Parliament generally enacts within what the judges regard as the fundamental political and economic structure of contemporary Anglo-Saxon society.

It is indicated that "Her majesty's judges are by nature conservative" but also human & opinionated. Here the admin'ive powers & discretion exercised by British judges & control over them are examined. These powers operate within "fashions & trends of judicial decision" in the field of law, & some of these fashions & trends are delineated under reference to various statutes & laws, as well as individual court cases. Diff's in the interpretation of law arising out of judges' pol'al att's are noted. It is up to the courts to decide how rigorous or flexible is to be their interpretation of what the statute provides & the factors influencing this interpretation are complex. Each individual regards the state sometimes as a force for greater soc justice & sometimes as a force for oppression. In the center of this ambivalence, also looking both ways, stand Her Majesty's judges, often appearing to embody in their decisions the sorts of contradictions which each individual lives in, in terms of his pol'al & personal situations. Within the pol'al & econ system, the judiciary offers as many diff faces to the dilemma of the individual in the state as anyone in society. M. Maxfield.

First published in 1976, From Policy to Administration is not the conventional Festschrift written by many hands on many unrelated subjects- rather it is a tight collection of essays conceived and written around a unified theme. From one point of view, policy and administration are at two opposite ends of the governmental spectrum; but at the same time both are aspects of almost every single government activity and the essays in this book set out to reflect this apparent paradox. Dr Jones finds symptoms of it at the administrative heart of the policy making machine while Professor Friedrich looks at the nature of that machine and its relation to democratic forms. Four central essays by Professors Bernard Crick, Peter Self, John Mackintosh and Mr Sharpe, link policy making and administration to the controversies about participation, decentralisation, and devolution. Mr Foster considers the public corporation as a dynamic instrument concerned with the problem of efficiency. The book concludes with essays by Professors Mitchell and Griffith on the involvement of legal processes in the structure and functioning of policy and administration. The book does not attempt to cover all of William Robson's interests. It is a mark of the versatility of his genius that no book could do that and remain unified. This book will be of interest to scholars and researchers of public administration and political studies.