exam focus Flashcards
what type of cases does the civil court deal with?
- contract disputes
- personal disputes
- company law
- insolvency
what type of cases does the criminal court deal with?
- corruption
- money laundering
- murder
what is the process of going through a civil court?
- claimant (plaintiff) sues defendant
- judgement based on balance of probabilities (liable / not liable)
- appeal
what is a balance of probabilities?
when a decision is made in a civil court which is based on which side is most likely to be telling the truth
what is the process of going through a criminal court?
- prosecutes defendant
- verdict (guilty / not guilty)
- further verdict (convicted & sentenced / acquitted)
- appeal (change sentence, point of law, point of fact)
what are the two types of offences in a criminal court?
- summary offences (minor, lower level crime eg. speeding)
- offences triable on indictment (more serious criminal offences eg. murder)
what are the two types of trials in a criminal court?
- summary trial
- trial on indictment
what is the process of a summary trial in a criminal court?
magistrates court (1-3 judges) –> divisional court of KBD (3 judges) –> supreme court (5+ judges)
OR
if a case is serious enough (eg. rape, murder) it goes to the crown court (1+ judges) instead of magistrates
what is the process of a trial on indictment in a criminal court?
magistrates court (prelim hearing done here) –> crown court (1 judge + 12 jury) –> court of appeal (3 judges) –> supreme court (5+ judges)
what are the two paths for claims in a civil court?
- smaller claims (eg. faulty product, poor service, owed money)
- larger claims (eg. large claims between multi-national companies, breach of contracts)
what is the process for smaller claims in a civil court?
county court (1 judge) –> high court (1 judge) –> court of appeal (3 judges) –> supreme court (5+ judges)
what is the process for larger claims in a civil court?
high court (family / chancery / KBD division) (1 judge) –> court of appeal (3 judges) –> supreme court (5+ judges)
what are examples of specialist courts?
- property court
- business court
what is a tribunal system?
- specialist court with jurisdiction over certain areas of civil laws eg. employment
- more informal & accessible than trad. courts
what are leapfrog appeals?
where cases can be appealed to be moved to a higher court (eg. due to their severity)
what is the kings council?
made up of top level lawyers who have been recognised for their excellence and they often take on more complex legal cases that require a higher level of expertise
what are the 3 POVs needed for the law?
- compliance
- preparation
- challenge
what does compliance refer to in the POV of the law?
essentially what the law says
when to / not to do things
being compliant prevents people from getting sued
what does preparation refer to in the POV of the law?
have to have active awareness about changing laws and staying ahead of it, in order to remain compliant
what does challenge refer to in the POV of the law?
reform the law and challenge the status quo to get it changed
what are the three UK domestic sources of law?
- statutes
- delegated legislation
- case law
what are statutes?
legislation, acts of parliament. they remain in place until repealed
who makes statutes?
- law commission
- house of commons
- house of lords
- royal assent
what is the process of making a statute?
- green paper created by law commission where public made aware of new changes (public consultation)
- green republished as white paper following consultation
- bill created & sent to parliament
- 1st reading, 2nd reading, committee & report stage, 3rd reading all take place in house of commons
- goes to house of lords with same process as house of commons
- goes to royal assent, monarchy approve new statute
what is the interpretation act 1978?
an act guiding how to interpret a statute using five rules :
1. grammatical rule
2. literal rule
3. golden rule
4. mischief rule
5. contextual / purposive approach
what does the grammatical rule refer to when interpreting statutes?
for example, when dealing with lists “etc” has no meaning, so statutes need to be clearly defined and outlined
what does the literal rule refer to when interpreting statutes?
interpret the statute literally. use dictionary definitions of keywords in the statute
what does the golden rule refer to when interpreting statutes?
use the everyday meaning of the word when interpreting the statute
what does the mischief rule refer to when interpreting statutes?
interpret the word in the statute to solve the mischief. almost twist it to fit the offence and details of the offence
what does the contextual / purposive approach refer to when interpreting statutes?
consider the consequences of the offence when interpreting the statute
what is delegated legislation?
it allows gov to make changes to the law without needing to push a new act
who makes delegated legislation?
anyone who parliament has delegated authority to :
- local authorities (bye-laws)
- privy council (orders in council)
- government ministers (statutory instruments)
how is delegated legislation interpreted?
judges can interpret and “strike down” delegated legislation if it is :
- “mad” (irrational)
- “bad” (illegal)
- “badly done” (procedural impropriety)
what is case law?
precedent law based on precedents, which is judicial decisions from previous cases
who makes case law?
judges of the case make case law. there isn’t any acts but previous cases are used to base their decision off of. the interpretations set precedents.
when is a case precedent binding?
supreme court : can follow its own previous decisions or change its mind
court of appeal : must follow supreme court and its own precedents
high court : must follow supreme court and its own precedents
inferior courts : must follow all of the above
what does the civil process cover in dispute resolution?
- contracts
- professional negligence
- reputation (defamation etc)
- property disputes
- insolvency
what is the purpose of litigation in the common law systems?
- part of negotiating process in a dispute
- 80% of cases are “settled” before they even get to court
- court often used as threat & tends to be last resort in common law systems
what is the process of going to court for dispute resolution?
- letters of claim
- allocation to track
- trial
explain the “letters of claim” step for dispute resolution.
- letter warns other side of what you are about to do (regulation in place to prevent intimidation)
- issues of claim - official claim form completed & processed by court and served on defendant within 4mths. includes a statement of value & truth
- detailed defence - defendant has 28days to respond with detailed form, defence & counterclaim to contest dispute
explain the “allocation to track” step for dispute resolution.
- defendant has sent back reply so court give defendant & claimant a questionnaire
- aims to gauge technicality & money involved to find which court / track is suitable
three types of track :
- small claims track (county court)
- fast track (county court)
- multi-track (high court)
explain the “trial” step in dispute resolution.
- claimant goes first (opens the case, explains details. calls up witnesses to be questioned by claimant, then repeat if necessary)
- defendant opens their case (same process as above, just repeated with their witnesses)
- defendant closes their case (gives summary statement)
- claimant closes (summary of their side & highlights faults in the defendants)
- judgement appeal (judge decides winner, reason & remedy)
- appeal judgement if necessary
what are the 3 categories in the MER?
- employee (have the most amount of rights in employment law)
- worker (dont get all rights that employees do. have right to min. wage, holiday pay, pension contributions & discrimination protection)
- self-employed (very little rights beyond basic safety & discrimination)
how do we determine which category to fall into for the MER?
- personal performance
- element of control
- integration of workplace
- “own business” (own equipment, have clients?)
- “mutuality of obligation” (when employer has legal duty to provide work & employee has to do work)
what are the five employee duties?
- use reasonable care & skill
- exercise reasonable care towards fellow workers / public
- obey all reasonable orders
- observe good faith (confidentiality, conflict of interest, director duties)
- observe trade union laws (notice of strike, secret ballot, work related dispute, peaceful picketing)
what does reasonable adjustments mean?
adjustments employers are expected to provide to consider the protected characteristics, particularly disability. eg. blind lecturer requesting to have all seminars in same room to make job more accessible.