Week 2 - Introduction to legal systems, sources of law and legal research Flashcards
Civilian Legal Systems
It is based on Roman Law. It makes use of codes containing general principles of law which are applied to cases. Most European countries belong to the civil law tradition. It is deductive (from the general to the particular).
Deductive: all cats are animals; this is a cat; therefore, it is an animal.
Common Law Systems
Common Law is judge-made law originated in England, from where it has been exported to England’s colonies including the US, Canada and Australia. Scotland is often described as being a mixed system. It is inductive (from the particular to the general).
Inductive: Every crow ever seen was black; all crows are black.
Public Law (State-citizen)
Constitutional law
Administrative law
Criminal law
Private Law (citizen-citizen)
Contract
Delict
Family law
Commercial law
Company law
Insolvency law
*Parts of employment law
Law of property
Civil law
Cases where one party is in dispute with another and seeks a remedy (mostly related to private law), which is obtained from a civil court.
Criminal law
Cases where a person has been charged with commission of a crime, a prosecutor will bring the case before a criminal court. Seeking a sentence (punishment). E.g. unauthorised access and data protection offences.
Formal Sources of Scots Law
Legislation (Statutes, Acts of Parliament)
Judicial precedent (Case Reports)
The institutional writers
Custom
Equity
Legislation
Enacted by the UK Parliament or by a body to whom the UK Parliament has delegated the power to legislate.
Devolution
A system of government that allows decisions to be made at a more local level.
Judicial Precedent
It refers to prior decisions. These decisions may be binding on later courts.
Like cases should be treated alike.
It enables the law to develop incrementally as society and the economy develop.
Sources of EU Law
Treaties – between member States to create the ground rules of the union.
Regulations – are binding on Member Stets and their citizens; they do not need to be enacted into national law: direct effect.
Directives – instructions to Member States to amend their laws. For example, Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), 2010.
Decisions of the Commission or the Council are only binding upon the Member States to whom they are addressed.
Council of Europe (still in)
An international organization in Strasbourg which comprises 47 countries of Europe. It was set up to promote democracy and protect human rights and the rule of law in Europe.
European Council
Institution of the European Union, consisting of the heads of state or government from the member states together with the President of the European Commission, for the purpose of planning Union policy.
The EU currently has 28 members that have delegated some of their sovereignty so that decisions on specific matters of joint interest can be made democratically at European level. No country has ever joined the EU without first belonging to the Council of Europe.*
DG-CONNECT*
The Directorate‑General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology is the Commission department responsible to develop a digital single market to generate smart, sustainable and inclusive growth in Europe.
EUR-Lex Information Society
Under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (Articles 179-180), the EU aims to promote the development and dissemination of these new technologies, introducing a battery of rules to ensure customers and businesses have fair and affordable access to networks and services, and to remove barriers to competition.
