The 11 papers presented here by the editors (both of the U. of Edinburgh, UK) come out of a December 2007 meeting of legal theorists convened at the U. of Edinburgh for the purpose of critically discussing Neil MacCormick's Institutions of Law: an Essay in Legal Theory (2007), "arguably his magnum opus." Collectively, the papers examine the importance, explanatory limitations, and genealogy of MacCormick's concept of law as institutional normative order; explore the nature of institutions of laws and the overlap in their treatment in legal and political theory; discuss MacCormick's contribution to the methodology of jurisprudence; and relate MacCormick's arguments to criminal law. Also included is a response commentary by MacCormick. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)