Court hierarchy and statutory interpretation

Question 1

what is the court hierarchy?

Answer 1

the league in order of importance

Question 2

describe the court hierarchy

Answer 2

Supreme court
Court of appeal
High court
Crown court-County court
Magistrates-Tribunals

Question 3

which sections of the court hierarchy are the superior court?

Answer 3

supreme
court of appeal
high court

Question 4

which sections of the court hierarchy are used for the appellate?

Answer 4

supreme court
court of appeal
high court

Question 5

what is am appellate?

Answer 5

somewhere where an appeal can be made

Question 6

which courts can create precedent?

Answer 6

superior courts

Question 7

what do superior courts have unlimited of?

Answer 7

jurisdiction (the power to make legal decisions)

Question 8

when a court sits in camera, what does that mean?

Answer 8

sitting in private

Question 9

Describe the common law system

Answer 9

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.’

Question 10

what is ratio decidenti?

Answer 10

the law from a previously decided case in a higher court will be binding on a court lower than itself in the hierarchy.

Question 11

what is obiter dicta?

Answer 11

doesn’t form part of the precedent but can be influential over judges in later cases

Question 12

what is statutory interpretation?

Answer 12

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.

Question 13

what are 5 reasons statutory interpretation is necessary?

Answer 13

words may be complex
careless drafting
uncertainty of the word
use of broad terms
could have spelling or grammatical errors

Question 14

what is careless drafting

Answer 14

a word where the meaning is thought to be applied but so often not

Question 15

what is the example case used for “use of broad terms”

Answer 15

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.

Question 16

what are the 3 rules of statutory interpretation?

Answer 16

the literal approach
the golden approach
the mischief/purposive approach

Question 17

what are rules of statutory interpretation?

Answer 17

techniques of reading a document and can be used singularly or in combination.
they provide a framework for solving interpretative problems.

Question 18

what is the literal approach?

Answer 18

the court must apply the literal meaning to the words used in the act, regardless of whether it is sensible or not.

Question 19

what is the golden approach

Answer 19

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.

Question 20

what is the mischief/purposive approach?

Answer 20

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

Question 21

R V COLLINS Trespasser case

Answer 21

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?

Question 22

R V COLLINS explain the ratio decidenti principle

Answer 22

to be a trespasser, the person entering must do so knowing he is a trespasser

Question 23

R V COLLINS explain the obiter dicta principle

Answer 23

civil law concepts such as trespass in any event and the status of the occupier are not relevant to criminal law.

Question 24

what are the 2 types of precedent?

Answer 24

binding

persuasive

Question 25

what is binding precedent?

Answer 25

one which must be followed

Question 26

what is persuasive binding?

Answer 26

not binding but may still be applied

Question 27

when a court hears a case, which the facts are similar to the a previous case, they can do what 3 things

Answer 27

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.

Question 28

how do courts act when they have a choice in precedent?

Answer 28

they distinguish the cases on facts and find a way to avoid precedents they dislike.