law introduction

Question 1

what is the adams caplan and lockwood definition of english law?

Answer 1

“English law may be defined as a body of rules created by the state, binding within its jurisdiction and enforced with the authority of the state through the use of sanctions.” adams, caplan and lockwood, 2023

Question 2

what is criminal law?

Answer 2

a wrong against society eg murder, theft

Question 3

what is civil law?

Answer 3

it exists to protect one another against the state eg contract law, property law

Question 4

who brings the law suit in a criminal law case?

Answer 4

the state via police and crime prosecution

Question 5

who brings the law suit in a civil law case?

Answer 5

the individual party

Question 6

how likely does it have to be in a civil law case?

Answer 6

more likely than not

Question 7

how likely does it have to be in a criminal law case?

Answer 7

beyond reasonable doubt

Question 8

what is the aim of a criminal law suit?

Answer 8

to determine guilt eg prison

Question 9

what is the aim of a civil law suit?

Answer 9

to gain rewards for damages etc

Question 10

can you go to prison with a civil case?

Answer 10

no

Question 11

what is contract law?

Answer 11

Contract law deals with agreements between two or more parties, each of which is obligated to hold up their portion of the agreement.

Question 12

what is tort law?

Answer 12

Tort law is a branch of civil law that is concerned with personal injury and civil wrongdoing

Question 13

what is a tort?

Answer 13

A tort is a civil wrong, done by one person or entity to another which results in injury or property damage, and frequently involves monetary compensation to the injured party.

Question 14

what are the three categories of torts?

Answer 14

There are three categories of torts: negligence, intentional tort, and strict liability.

Question 15

what is a solicitor?

Answer 15

A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions.

Question 16

what is a barrister?

Answer 16

Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation.

Question 17

what is a magistrate?

Answer 17

non-legal volunteer who hears cases in their community and administers the law, usually in a court that deals with minor offences and holds preliminary hearings for more serious ones.

Magistrates are judges in the Magistrates Court.

Question 18

what is a judge?

Answer 18

A judge presides over court proceedings and hears all witnesses and evidence presented by the parties of the case, assesses the credibility and arguments of the parties, and then issues a ruling on the matter at hand, based on his or her interpretation of the law and his or her own personal judgment.

Question 19

what are the types of judges?

Answer 19

district
circuit
high court
court of appeal
supreme court

Question 20

what does the district judge do?

Answer 20

(not paid magistrates)- full-time judges who deal with the majority of cases in the county courts.

Question 21

what does the circuit judge do?

Answer 21

– also full-time judges who sit in the Crown and County Courts within 7 different regions of the country. They handle criminal or civil cases, and sometimes public and/or private law family cases

Question 22

what does the high court judge do?

Answer 22

– handle complex and serious criminal

Question 23

what are the three divisons of the high court?

Answer 23

• the Queen’s Bench Division
• the Family Division and
• the Chancery Division

Question 24

what does the court of appeal judge do?

Answer 24

Handle appeals from lower courts (Civil and Criminal Matters)

Question 25

what does the supreme court judge do?

Answer 25

Handle appeals from the Court of Appeal as the final arbiter of both Civil and Criminal Matters.

Question 26

does a solicitor makes the argument in court?

Answer 26

no

Question 27

In a civil case the judge decides the outcome not the jury?

Answer 27

yes

Question 28

is a solicitor is the entry point into the British legal system?

Answer 28

yes

Question 29

what is a magistrates court?

Answer 29

In England and Wales, a magistrates’ court is a lower court which holds trials for summary offences and preliminary hearings for more serious ones

most cases start at magistrates and are completed there but more serious offences are passed up to a crown court

Question 30

what is the crown court?

Answer 30

Handles serious criminal cases which include:

Cases sent for trial by magistrates’ courts because the offences are ‘indictable only’

‘Either way’ offences (which can be heard in a magistrates’ court) but can also be sent to the Crown Court if the defendant chooses a jury trial.

Sentencing of Defendants convicted in magistrates’ courts (due to the seriousness of the offence)

Appeals against decisions of magistrates’ courts.

Question 31

what does indictable only mean?

Answer 31

A serious criminal offence that is triable only on indictment (trial by jury) in the Crown Court.

Question 32

what is a county court?

Answer 32

The County Court deals with civil (non-criminal) matters.

Unlike criminal cases – in which the state prosecutes an individual – civil court cases arise where an individual or a business believes their rights have been infringed.

Question 33

give examples of types of civil case dealt with in the County Court

Answer 33

Businesses trying to recover money they are owed;
Individuals seeking compensation for injuries;
Landowners seeking orders that will prevent trespass.

Question 34

what is the high court?

Answer 34

The High Court of Justice in England is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales.

it has three divisions

Question 35

what is the court of appeal?

Answer 35

Divided into a Criminal and Civil Division

The Civil Division hears appeals from the High Court, County Courts and certain tribunals.

The Criminal Division hears appeals from the Crown Court.

Cases are generally heard by three judges

Question 36

what is the supreme court?

Answer 36

Handles appeals from the Court of Appeal as the final arbiter of both Civil and Criminal Matters.

Question 37

As a claimant, when can you take an appeal to the Court of Appeal?

Answer 37

When you lose in the High Court and the evidence changes or the law was incorrectly applied.

Question 38

what is a claimant (plantiff)?

Answer 38

Claimant (Plaintiff) is the term used to describe a party who initiates a court action, whether a lawsuit in civil court, in order to seek a legal remedy.

Question 39

what is a defendant?

Answer 39

Defendant is a person or entity that has been accused of a crime, or from whom civil relief is sought in a civil lawsuit.

Question 40

what is a doctrine of binding precident ?

Answer 40

A precedent, in the English Law System, is a previous court decision which another court is bound to follow, by deciding a subsequent case in the same way.

Question 41

what does Ratio Decidendi mean?

Answer 41

It is a legal phrase which refers to the legal, moral, political and social principles used by a court to compose the rationale of a particular judgment.

It is this part of the judgement that will bind future courts.

Question 42

what does obiter dicta mean?

Answer 42

Comments in a judgement which are related but not strictly relevant to the case before the judge. (Eg if the facts had been this then…..)

Future judges can be influenced by these comments but not bound by them.

Question 43

name some advantages of precedent

Answer 43

flexibility
certainty
detailed practical rules
uniformity in law

Question 44

name some disadvantages of precedents

Answer 44

rigidity
uncertainty and complexity
volumes and timeliness
degradation of lower courts

Question 45

As a judge when do you have to follow the doctrine of binding precedence?

Answer 45

For all decisions made by a higher court