Are judges morally accountable? Is legal validity value-free? Do animals have rights? These are some of the questions considered in this collection of essays. Moral problems, argues Professor Raymond Wacks, pervade the legal system, and he shows how the judicial function, the sources of legitimacy, and the protection of rights have an inescapable ethical dimension. The second part of the book focuses on the private domain and the legal concept of privacy. The extent to which the law ought to preserve a distinctly private realm is a pressing concern in our surveillance society in which personal information is increasingly collected, transferred, and stored. Professor Wacks, a leading expert in this field, is uniquely qualified to offer important insights into this controversial and difficult subject.

Preface vii
Introduction 1 (22)
Part One: Morality and Rights 23 (188)
What Is the Judicial Function? 25 (22)
Can a Judge Be Just in an Unjust Legal System? 47 (44)
Are Judges Morally Accountable? 91 (22)
Is Legal Validity Morally Neutral? 113(40)
Do Animals Have Moral Rights? 153(26)
Can `Human Rights' Survive? 179(32)
Part Two: The Private Domain 211(128)
What Is `Privacy'? 213(22)
Should the Concept of Privacy Be Abandoned? 235(14)
Can the Law Protect the Private Domain? 249(20)
Are Privacy and Free Speech Possible in 269(22)
Cyberspace?
Can Privacy Co-exist with a Free Press? 291(28)
Is the Private Domain Doomed? 319(20)
Sources 339(4)
Index 343