1To understand the applicability of statute and case law inboth criminal and civil cases and how the court systemoperates (LO1)➢The nature of law. How the law is made – sources ofEnglish law.➢The court system and difference between criminal andcivil law.➢ Resolving legal disputes – the court system andalternative dispute resolution.2 English law has an evolving … Continue reading “the court system operates | My Assignment Tutor”
1To understand the applicability of statute and case law inboth criminal and civil cases and how the court systemoperates (LO1)➢The nature of law. How the law is made – sources ofEnglish law.➢The court system and difference between criminal andcivil law.➢ Resolving legal disputes – the court system andalternative dispute resolution.2 English law has an evolving history dating fromthe local customs of the Anglo-Saxons, traces ofwhich survived until 1925. By 1250 the royal judges had amalgamated thevarious local customs into the system of commonlaw – that is, law common to the whole country. A second system known as equity developed inthe Court of Chancery, in which the LordChancellor considered petitions.Read more on this.English LawPrimary Sources➢ Refers to the law itself – the original andauthoritative statements of law➢ It comes in the following forms:➢Case law made by the courts➢Legislation enacted by Parliament➢European law Case law (known as judicial precedent) which isthe law made by the judges when they decidecases. Acts of Parliament which are the laws passed byParliament Parliament is the supreme legal authority in theUK and only Parliament has the authority to enactany law Draft legislation (Bills) Proposals for new law orchanges in existing law come in the form of Bills. Types of Legislation◦ Primary Legislation◦ Delegated Legislation Primary Legislation Includes:◦ Acts of Parliament or Statutes (the terms areinterchangeable) and enacted by Parliament◦ Statutes lay out Parliaments general intentionin a particular field Delegated Legislation: Law made by such peopleas govt. ministers and local authorities underpowers given to them by Parliament. European Union law: An increasingly importantsource of law since the UK joined the EU in 1973Secondary sources Law Encyclopaedias – gives key points, cases andlegislation-Halsbury’s Laws of England and Wales Parliamentary and Non-Parliamentarypublications◦ Command Papers◦ Debates of Parliament◦ House of Commons and House of Lords Papers◦ Non-Parliamentary Publications Textbooks Law JournalsEnglish Law Public lawconcerned withdecisions madeby bodies whichare governmentalin nature. Private lawconcerned withthe legalrelationships ofindividualcitizens. Constitutional law is concerned with theworkings of the British Constitution, decidingsuch matters as the powers of GovernmentMinisters. Criminal law makes certain types of behaviourcriminal offences, giving the State the power toprosecute and punish those who commit suchoffences Administrative law deals with disputes betweencitizens and Government agencies, such as theDepartment for Work and Pensions.12 Criminal law, for example, is regarded as publiclaw. Citizens are prosecuted by the State. The law of contract, on the other hand, isprivate law. A person who sues for breach ofcontract acts as one individual suing anotherindividual. Private law is also called civil law andcan be broadly broken down into fivemain areas: contract, tort, property,trusts and family law. The civil courts aredesigned tocompensate peoplewho have been causedloss or injury by thewrongful acts of otherpeople. The criminal courtsare designed to punishpeople who havecommitted a criminaloffence. The State might prosecute the driver forthe crime of dangerous driving and iffound guilty the driver will be punished.(Probably by a driving ban and possibly bya fine or imprisonment.) [Application ofCriminal Law] The injured pedestrian might sue thedriver in the civil courts for the tort ofnegligence. If the driver is found to havecommitted this tort then damages will besought to compensate for thepedestrian’s injuries.[Application of CivilLaw]➢ Civil cases require the claimant to provenot only the facts which give rise to theclaim, but also the principles of law whichprovide a remedy in respect of the factsproved. Only statements of law can become precedents. In many cases an appeal may only be possible ona point of law. In other cases an appeal on the lawwould go to one court, whereas an appeal againsta finding of fact would go to a different court. In a criminal trial conducted in the Crown Courtthe jury’s function is to determine the facts,whereas the correct application of the law is thefunction of the judge.➢Acts of Parliament are called statutes➢The theory of Parliamentary sovereignty holdsthat Parliament has the power to enact, orrevoke, any new law it pleases and that thecourts cannot question the validity of this law.➢ Bill must pass through both Houses ofParliament:➢the House of Commons and the House ofLords,➢ and then gain the Royal AssentFirst Reading Second Reading Third Reading• Bills usually start in theHouse of Commons• The initial stage is theFirst Reading.• This merely gives thetitle of the Bill andannounces the date ofthe Second Reading.• At the Second Readingthe principles of the Billare debated.• If the Bill passes thisstage, on account ofmore MPs having votedin favour of it thanagainst it, it is referredto a standing committeewhich considers thedetails of the Bill andrecommendsamendments• Amendments areconsidered by theHouse of Commons atthe report stage, afterwhich the Bill thenproceeds to the ThirdReading.• Amendments to thecontent of the Bill aremade in this stage The Bill is then sentto the House ofLords, where thewhole process isrepeated. The wording of theBill must be thesame for bothHouses ofParliament. Once the Bill hasreceived the RoyalAssent it becomes astatute (an Act ofParliament) whichthe courts mustenforce.Literal Rule Golden Rule Mischief Rule➢When the literal rule is applied words in astatute which are not ambiguous aregiven their ordinary, literal meaning, evenif this leads to a decision which is unjustor undesirable.➢Examples:➢Fisher vs Bell [1960]➢Inland Revenue Commissioners vsHinchy [1960] Golden rule, also known as the purposiveapproach, is applied when a judge gives thewords in a statute their ordinary, literalmeaning as far as possible, but only to theextent that this would not produce someinjustice, absurdity, anomaly or contradiction. Examples:◦ Alder vs George [1964]◦ R vs Allen [1872]➢ Literal and golden rules are concerned withfinding out what Parliament said – mischief ruleis applied to find out what Parliament meant➢ Judges can apply mischief rule to discoverParliament’s or law’s intention➢ Examples➢Wolman vs Islington LBC [2007]➢Smith vs Hughes [1960]29 Different types of case are dealt with in specificcourts: Criminal cases will start in the magistrates’court, but the more serious criminal matters arecommitted (or sent) to the Crown Court Appeals from the Crown Court will go to theHigh Court, and potentially to the Court ofAppeal or even the Supreme Court30 Civil cases will sometimes be dealt with bymagistrates, but may well go to a county court. Appeals will go to the High Court and then tothe Court of Appeal – although to differentdivisions of those courts The tribunals system has its own structure fordealing with cases and appeals, but decisionsfrom different chambers of the Upper Tribunal,and the Employment Appeals Tribunal, may alsogo to the Court of Appeal.31Court of Appeal – Civil Division➢ Hears appeals from all Divisions of the HighCourt and, in some instances from the CountyCourts and certain tribunals.➢ Applications for permission to appeal arecommonly determined by a single Lord Justice,full appeals by two or three judges.➢ The Civil Division of the Court Appeal also dealswith family cases.32High Court – Chancery Division➢ The areas of work that the Chancery Division deals withare:➢Business and property related disputes➢Competition cases➢Patents claims➢Other Intellectual Property claims, such as Trademarks or Design➢Companies work➢Insolvency claims, both personal and corporate➢Trust claims➢Contentious probate claims➢General Chancery work, including trade and industry disputesand the enforcement of mortgages33Arbitration Independent arbitrator or panel of arbitratorslooking at evidence, making a decision on theclaim and requiring a remedy where the law hasbeen breached Arbitration Act 1996 regulates arbitrationproceedings – update March 202034Mediation A mediator communicates between the parties toresolve their dispute The Court of Appeal and Commercial Court bothhave mediation schemes Purpose of mediation is to avoid the time andexpense of further litigation by settling a lawsuitearly on in the process35Conciliation Alternative out-of-court dispute resolutioninstrument Parties seek to reach an amicable disputesettlement with the assistance of the conciliator,who acts as a neutral third party Most often used as a preventative method ofresolving disputes – whereas the assistance of amediator or arbitrator is often sought once adispute is ongoing and it appears as though itmay end up in court36Tribunal Hear disputes on specialist matters and should berefereed to the appropriate tribunal rather thanordinary courts Tribunal made up of a legally qualified chairmanand 2 lay members37➢ List 3 primary sources of English Law (3 min)➢ Explain essential differences between civil and criminallaw (15min)➢ What 3 procedures must be satisfied before a Billbecomes a statute? (5 min➢ What is the difference between statute law and caselaw? (10min)➢ How statute and case law is applied in criminal cases?(20 min)➢ How statute and case law is applied in civil cases? (20min )➢ Explain how the court system operates in UK Assignment 1: Essay Write an essay to show an understanding of howstatute and case law is applied in both criminaland civil cases and clearly explain how the courtsystem operates in UK. https://www.supremecourt.uk/current-cases/ How does the court system operate in UK40 ➢ Adams, A. (2018), Law for Business Students. Harlow,Pearson➢ MacIntyre, E. (2018), Business Law. Harlow, Pearson
