the english legal system Flashcards
what legal system do we have in the UK
we have a common law system built up from 800 years of high court cases
what is an ‘equitable remedy’
an injunction or compensation that equally values the crime committed against you
what is a ratio decideni?
the reasons for the decision made or in other words the binding bit of the judgement which justifies the courts decision
what does Obiter Dicta mean?
other comments made that are persuasive but not as binding or convincing a the ratio
what does a ‘practice statement’ mean
before 1966 it was convention that once the highest courts in the land had made a decision they were bound to that decision and couldn’t go back.
in 1966 lord garnier issues a practice statement that. he goes against his precedent allowing court rullings to overide previous rullings
what are the three types of statutory interpretation
- literal rule
- golden rule
- mischief rule
the literal rule
this rule means that the court will take the words of an act at face value even if it produces an absurd result
ex. fisher v bell. bell was selling flick knives in his shop which fisher argued went against the offensive weapons act. bell was found not guilty as the words of the act said ‘offering to sell’ and he argued he was only displaying them and not offering them so was found not guilty
the golden rule
- used when the court realises that appliciton of an act will create a completley absurd result so instead the golden rule interprets ‘what was the purpose of the law’
ex. alder v george. George was a cnd protester who broke into an air base. was charge under the official secrets act for ‘being in the vicinity of a public area.
geroge arguedd that eh wasnt in the vicinity he was actually in the air base
however the judges interpreted the world vicinity to mean in or on so he was prosecuted
the mischeif rule
when the wording of an act was too ambiguous in the first place the courts will instead look at what parliament was trying to fix
smith v hughes. street workers in the red light distict began to solicit from their bedroom windows as opposed to the street due to police crackdowns
the street offences act only includes public soliciitng so the prositues agurd they were doing no worng
the act howver was attmepting to get rid of soliciting so the girs were still charges
what is delegated law
when the governemnt produces a skeleton of an act that is then passed down to local councils where they can act independently to bulk the act up tailord to their area
ex.the rules of roundaounts need to be different in manchester as they do in a small countryside village
however they must work ‘intra vires’ if they work outside this framework then are acting ultra virew and can be subject to a judicial review
who can influence primary legislation?
- the government
- individual MPS can propose laws
- media pressure
- think tanks and external advisors
- pressure groups
stephen lawrence example of media pressure affecting primary legislation
- after the trial of stephen lawrence and the awful police investigation into his murder his murdered were acquitted and after that couldn’t be trialled again due to double jeopardy law
media pressure led to them changing the double jeopardy law allowing for people to be tried again if there is new compelling evidence
who has the burden of proof in civil cases?
the claimant
who has the burden of proof in criminal cases
the crown prosecution service
what does the standard of proof have to be in a civil case?
balence of probabilities. the claimants evidence has to be better and more probably for them to win
