Principles of Law

Question 1

What is law?

Answer 1

The enforceable body of rules that govern any society

Question 2

What are the two main areas of law?

Answer 2

Criminal

Civil

Question 3

What is criminal law?

Answer 3

Law concerned with the control of behaviour which harms or threatens the peace or stability of a community

Question 4

What is civil law?

Answer 4

Law which governs the relationships between individuals. Includes the law of contracts and the law of torts

Question 5

What is a tort?

Answer 5

A civil wrong or nuisance

Question 6

What are the two main sources of law?

Answer 6

Legislation (laid out by government)
Judicial precedents (created by judges ruling on cases)

Question 7

What are the 3 rules judges use when interpreting law?

Answer 7

1. The literal rule - applying the letter of the law word for word
2. The golden rule - applying the “sprit” of the law
3. The mischief rule - Essentially to close loopholes in the law to prevent the mischief the act was intended to

Question 8

What is binding precedent/binding authorities?

Answer 8

When judges make decisions they create a precedent which lower courts are bound to follow

Question 9

What are the 3 “tracks” a case will join depending on it’s complexity and value?

Answer 9

1. Small claims track - injury up to £1,000 / property up to £10,000
2. Fast track - between £10,000 - £25,000
3. Multi track - over £25,000 or complex cases under this amount

Question 10

What are the 5 key elements that must exist for a contract to be legally binding?

Answer 10

1. Offer and acceptance
2. Intention to create legal relations
3. Legal capacity
4. No illegal purposes
5. Consideration

Question 11

Which case creates the legal precedent surrounding offer/acceptance and counter offers?

Answer 11

Hyde v Wrench 1840

Question 12

What is Hyde v Wrench 1840?

Answer 12

Wrench offered to sell Hyde some land for £1,000. Hyde declined and offered £950 which Wrench refused. Hyde later agreed to pay the £1,000 but by this time Wrench refused to sell, so Hyde sued.

It was held that was no contract. When Hyde offered £950 that constituted a rejection of the offer and was a counter-offer. So when Hyde later offered £1,000 this was another offer as he had already rejected the original offer from Wrench, and Wrench was free to refuse this offer

Question 13

What is privity of contract?

Answer 13

The only people bound by the contract are those who signed it, or on whose behalf it was signed.

A contract cannot confer rights or obligations on third parties

Question 14

What are the two types of contract terms?

Answer 14

Express and implied

Question 15

In what four ways can contract terms be implied?

Answer 15

1. Implied by statute
2. Implied by the parties
3. Implied by the courts
4. Implied by custom

Question 16

What is an invitation to treat?

Answer 16

An advert

Question 17

Does an invitation to treat constitute an offer?

Answer 17

Generally no

Occasionally judges may consider them to be - see Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Company

Question 18

What happened in Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Company 1893?

Answer 18

The Carbolic Smoke Company placed an advertisement in a newspaper stating a £100 reward would be paid to any person who contracted flu or cold after using their product for two weeks. They stated they had deposited £1000 in a local bank to show their sincerity.

Carlill used them for 8 weeks and subsequently caught the flu. He sued.

While adverts generally do not constitute an offer in this case the advert a) required performance and b) provided consideration, so was held to be a unilateral offer to the world. Carlill won damages

Question 19

What remedies are available in the event of a breach of contract?

Answer 19

1. Damages (financial compensation)
2. Specific performance (an order to comply with the contract)
3. Rectification (a mistake in the contract is corrected)
4. Rescission (contract is set aside as if it had never existed)

Question 20

What are the four types of tort?

Answer 20

1. Nuisance
2. Trespass
3. Defamation/Slander
4. Negligence

Question 21

What is negligence?

Answer 21

The omission to do something which a reasonable man would do, or doing something which a prudent and reasonable man would not do.

Effectively it is a failure to take reasonable care

Question 22

What is the leading case for the principle of negligence?

Answer 22

Blyth v Birmingham Waterworks Company 1856

Question 23

What was established in Blyth v Birmingham Waterworks Company 1856?

Answer 23

The definition of negligence.

“The omission to do something which a reasonable man, guided upon those considerations which ordinarily regulate the conduct of human affairs, would do, or doing something which a prudent and reasonable man would not do”

Question 24

What was established in the case of Donoghue v Stevenson 1932?

Answer 24

A duty of care is owed, and negligence exists, if it is reasonably foreseeable that your actions may cause damage

Question 25

What is the “egg shell skull rule”?

Answer 25

You take your victim as you find him

The defendant is liable for the full extent of damages where the claimant has a pre-existing condition. As long as some damage was foreseeable, they are liable for the full amount regardless if they could not have foreseen the extent due to the pre-existing condition

Question 26

What are the elements of negligence?

Answer 26

Does a duty of care exist?
Does the defendant owe this duty to the claimant?
Has the defendant breached that duty?
Has the breach caused damage?
Is the damage too remote and could it have been foreseen?

Question 27

What is contributory negligence?

Answer 27

When the person who was injured or suffered damage is partly to blame

Question 28

How can negligence be disputed?

Answer 28

No duty was owed because the loss was not foreseeable

The has been no breach of duty

There has been a break in the chain of causation

The act did not cause the damage

Question 29

What are the two types of damages that can be awarded?

Answer 29

Special and general

Question 30

What are special damages?

Answer 30

Compensate the claimant for losses that are not presumed but can be specifically proved by the claimant.

Usually for things quantifiable in financial terms

Question 31

What are general damages?

Answer 31

Compensate the claimant for losses that are automatically presumed to come from the tort and those that cannot be given a strict financial value (eg pain and suffering)