This collection brings together a group of scholars to discuss the operation of ' the public' in a range of different legal, illegal and alegal spaces. It asks whether and in what manner ' the public' operates as an interface between law and society. This volume reflects an understanding that there is more to the role of 'the public' in relation to law than the conventional demarcation of the field of 'public law' and that this relationship is open to comment from a wide range of actors.

Contents: Editors' introduction; On the necessarily public character of law, Neil Walker. Part I Constituted Publics: Rediscovering 'the public': the curious case of Benjamin Constant, Christopher McCorkindale; Democracy, political parties and the will of the people, Andrew Maloney; Between contract and constitution: international organizations and the protection of global public interests, Richard Collins. Part II Unconstituted Publics: 'Unconstituted publics'?, Scott Veitch; A dilemma for the civil disobedient: pleading 'guilty' or 'not guilty' in the courtroom?, Piero Moraro; Justifying civil disobedience with reference to EU public consensus, Haris Psarras. Part III Excluded Publics: Excluded publics - included privates: the Janus-headed nature of the liberal public-private divide, Daniel Augenstein; The prisoner's right to vote: the creation of an abnormal and excluded public, Vanessa De Greef; Subjects to citizens: 'native' enfranchisement in reconstituting the imperial public of the British Empire c. 1887-1914, Coel Kirkby. Part IV Public/Private: The public/private dichotomy and the unity of capitalist (re-)production, Gregor Clunie; The public nature of private law, Claudio Michelon; Between the public and the private: banking law in 1830s England, Iain Frame; The public-ness of development in the World Trade Organisation, Stephanie Switzer. Part V Emerging Publics: the Role of the Victim in International Criminal Justice: The impact of the distinction between situations and cases on the participation of victims in the International Criminal Court, Ania Salinas and James Sloan; Addressing the interests of victims: perspectives from the office of the prosecutor, Olivia Swaak-Goldman; Victims' access to the International Criminal Court: much remains to be done, Gilbert Bitti and Leïla Bourguiba; Index.