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 Peter Birks 

 Peter Birks 

Dear Legis

I have had to revert most of the edits made to the article Peter Birks because they were virtually indistinguishable from Jack Beatson, 'Peter Birks' (Obituary), The Guardian (16 July 2004), accessed 18 August 2009. You appear to be the editor who was responsible for reproducing a large quantity of copyright material in this article. I am surprised to find this kind of editing being done by a lawyer with a first-class degree. Just to show to what an extent you had plagiarised the material, compare:

He became regius professor of civil law at Oxford University and a fellow of All Souls College in 1989, having held chairs at Edinburgh (1981-87) and, briefly, at Southampton. Before that, he was a tutorial fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford (1971-81), a strong law college to which he remained very close, and taught at University College London.

He was elected a fellow of the British Academy in 1989, and an honorary fellow of Trinity College, Oxford, his undergraduate college, in 1994; ... He was made an honorary Queen's counsel in 1995, and served as president of the Society of Legal Scholars in 2002-03. He lectured and taught throughout the Commonwealth and in Europe. (The Guardian)

He became regius professor of civil law at Oxford University and a fellow of All Souls College in 1989, having held chairs at Edinburgh (1981-87) and, briefly, at Southampton. Before that, he was a tutorial fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford (1971-81), a strong law college to which he remained very close, and taught at University College London.

He was elected a fellow of the British Academy in 1989, and an honorary fellow of Trinity College, Oxford, his undergraduate college, in 1994. He was made an honorary Queen's counsel in 1995, and served as president of the Society of Legal Scholars in 2002-03. He lectured and taught throughout the Commonwealth and in Europe. (Your edit)

... [Birks,] with Robert Goff and Gareth Jones, [was] a key figure in the extraordinary development of the law of restitution in the last 45 years. (The Guardian)

Birks, together with Robert Goff and Gareth Jones, was a key figure in the extraordinary development of the law of restitution in the last 45 years. (Your edit)

And so it continues, including the lifting, almost wholesale, of this paragraph:

One example of his influence may be seen in the 1991 decision in Woolwich Building Society v Inland Revenue. This held, for the first time, that citizens are entitled to recover taxes paid in a case where the tax authorities are not entitled to them. The reasoning of the court of appeal closely followed that in a Birks essay but, possibly because the lawyers had adopted his arguments without attribution, the judgments do not refer to the essay. This was put right in the House of Lords, where Lord Goff described the essay as ""powerful"". (The Guardian)

One example of his influence may be seen in the 1991 decision in Woolwich Building Society v Inland Revenue. In that case the courts [synonymous with The Guardian's original, 'This'] held, for the first time in English law [you add 'in English law'], that citizens are entitled to recover taxes paid in a case where the tax authorities had no legal right to levy them [again, synonymous with the original]. The reasoning of the court of appeal closely followed that in a Birks essay but the judgments did not refer to his writing (some critics suggest this was because the lawyers adopted his arguments without attribution) [you move a subordinate clause from the middle of the sentence to the end, varying the wording just slightly]. This was put right in the House of Lords, where Lord Goff described his writings [='the essay'] as ""powerful"". (Your edit)

You copy a bit more copyright material, and at the end of the article even clumsily leave in, '· Peter Brian Herrenden Birks, academic lawyer, born October 3 1941; died July 6 2004'.

Disappointing editing from a highly educated member of the legal profession.

Best wishes

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