Court hierarchy and statutory interpretation Flashcards
what is the court hierarchy?
the league in order of importance
describe the court hierarchy
Supreme court Court of appeal High court Crown court-County court Magistrates-Tribunals
which sections of the court hierarchy are the superior court?
supreme
court of appeal
high court
which sections of the court hierarchy are used for the appellate?
supreme court
court of appeal
high court
what is am appellate?
somewhere where an appeal can be made
which courts can create precedent?
superior courts
what do superior courts have unlimited of?
jurisdiction (the power to make legal decisions)
when a court sits in camera, what does that mean?
sitting in private
Describe the common law system
a system which is based on decisions created in legal cases as one of its law sources. This is our system in the UK. Uses ratio decidenti, obiter dicta and stare decisis. Courts are encouraged to follow their own previous decisions, they are said to be ‘bound by themselves.’
what is ratio decidenti?
the law from a previously decided case in a higher court will be binding on a court lower than itself in the hierarchy.
what is obiter dicta?
doesn’t form part of the precedent but can be influential over judges in later cases
what is statutory interpretation?
where appeal court judges have to interpret the legislation that applies to the case. Sometimes a judge cannot apply legislation because a provision within it is ambiguous. In this case a judge must interpret it before it can be applied.
what are 5 reasons statutory interpretation is necessary?
words may be complex careless drafting uncertainty of the word use of broad terms could have spelling or grammatical errors
what is careless drafting
a word where the meaning is thought to be applied but so often not
what is the example case used for “use of broad terms”
a drunk person crashed a stolen golf club on a main road. He escaped a drink driving ban as it was not a motor vehicle.
what are the 3 rules of statutory interpretation?
the literal approach
the golden approach
the mischief/purposive approach
what are rules of statutory interpretation?
techniques of reading a document and can be used singularly or in combination.
they provide a framework for solving interpretative problems.
what is the literal approach?
the court must apply the literal meaning to the words used in the act, regardless of whether it is sensible or not.
what is the golden approach
the words in the statute must be interpretated according to their natural, ordinary and grammatical meaning, but only to the extent a manifestly absurd result.
Allows the court to look at social, economic and political context in which the act was produced.
what is the mischief/purposive approach?
where the court must ask itself “what is the mischief that parliament sought to remedy in passing this act” I.E what is the purpose for which this act was passed
R V COLLINS Trespasser case
Defendant had climbed a ladder to an open window where a girl was sleeping naked, he climbed back down the ladder, undressed , the climbed back up. The woman work up, saw the man and thought it was her boyfriend so invited him in, the proceeded to have sex. She then realised he was not her boyfriend and screamed at him to get out. He was charged with burglary under the grounds that he entered as a trespasser with the intent to commit rape. BUT was he a trespasser at the time of entry?
R V COLLINS explain the ratio decidenti principle
to be a trespasser, the person entering must do so knowing he is a trespasser
R V COLLINS explain the obiter dicta principle
civil law concepts such as trespass in any event and the status of the occupier are not relevant to criminal law.
what are the 2 types of precedent?
binding
persuasive
what is binding precedent?
one which must be followed
what is persuasive binding?
not binding but may still be applied
when a court hears a case, which the facts are similar to the a previous case, they can do what 3 things
follow the precedent
overrule-by a higher court
reverse- a higher court changes the decision in the same case on appeal from a lower court.
how do courts act when they have a choice in precedent?
they distinguish the cases on facts and find a way to avoid precedents they dislike.
