Concept essays Flashcards
Concept essays- fault- paragraph 1
The Oxford English dictionary defines fault as, “something wrongly done”, “Mistake”, and “Culpability”. Fault is a legal and moral term used to describe a person’s culpability or blameworthiness, or in other words, the person committing the offence.
Concept essays- fault paragraph 2
The Uk has a fault based legal system and in English law a persons liability is generally dependent upon their degree of fault. In criminal law, people are guilty, being to blame beyond all reasonable doubt, whereas in civil law peoples blame is measured on a balance of probabilities.
Concept essays- fault paragraph 3
The law of tort is mainly based on the principle of fault, so usually the claimant may only obtain damages if someone else is shown to be to blame. This is based on the notion of individual responsibility- those who choose to behave in the way they do are responsible for the consequences. The following examples are from the law on…
Concept essays- law and morality paragraph 1
Phil Harris defines morality as “A set of beliefs, values, principles and standards of behavior”. Morality can differ depending on factors such as culture, community, family, and religion. Moral rules develop over time.
Concept essays- law and morality paragraph 2
Sir John Salmond described law as “The body of principles recognised and applied by the state in the administration of justice”. Compliance is compulsory, and breach will result in state sanctions, and laws come into force at a specific time.
Concept essays-law and morality paragraph 3
Legal rules are compulsory, imposed on all and must be followed or will result in punishment/ sanctions when breached, whereas moral rules are not compulsory, and people have different values throughout society and they change gradually over time.
Concept essays- law and morality paragraph 4
Legal liberalism believes that the law should allow freedom of the individual to be expressed as they please unless it causes harm to others. John Stuart Mill developed this through the harm principles. On the other hand, legal moralism believes there is a common moralism that should be enforced by law. For instance Thomas Aquinas and his natural law theory, which is the idea that there is a law derived from god.
Concept essays- law and morality paragraph 5
Lord Devlin argued that law is based on morals, and that religious principles and society is held together by a moral code. He also believed that the law should set down a minimum standard of morality. Whilst Professor Hart argued using law to enforce moral standards is unacceptable as it infringes individual freedom. The following examples are from the law on…
Concept essays- theories of Tort
Public policy is the factors the judge (Courts) consider when making their decision (apply each of these and talk about them in relation the law being assessed):
- Fairness
-Floodgates
-Justice
-Public interest
