English Legal System Flashcards

1
Q

What is Law?

A
  1. A body or system of rules, aiming to regulate individual behaviour.
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2
Q

What is the primary source of the England and Wales law?

A

1.Parliament and the courts. These two institutions form two separate organs of the state.

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3
Q

Who develops “Common Law”?

A

Both Parliament-made and judge-made law have authoritative legal status, but Parliament reigns supreme and it is the elected Parliament’s will, as expressed in Acts of Parliament, which carries the greater authority of the two.

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4
Q

What is the jurisdiction of the laws made by judges in England and Wales?

A

The judgements decided in England and Wales are only aplicable in England and Wales, unless the UK Supreme Court hears a final appeal in the case of Northern Ireland or a final civil applies with respect to Scotland.

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5
Q

What is the diference between civil law and criminal law?

A

The true distinction resides not in the nature of the wrongful act but in the legal consequences that may follow it.

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6
Q

What is the purpose of the criminal law?

A
  1. Provides a system for the punishment of the wrongdoers by the state and on behalf of the state and on behalf of society and/or the wider community.
  2. Crimes are alleged to have been commited not only against the complainant but against society at large.
  3. Criminal Law serve a ‘public interest’ purpose to maintain social order by deterring criminal behaviour.
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7
Q

What is the purpose of civil law?

A
  1. Aims at regulating interactions between ordinary members of society
  2. Helps in the resolution of such private dispute between two or more parties and can provide for the recovery of one party’s losses
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8
Q

What is common law?

A
  1. The law created by the common law courts, in contrast to the law created by the Court of Chancery.
  2. All the law created by the courts over time, including the law of equity, as opposed to the law created by Parliament.
  3. Refers to a legal tradition which defines the English legal system in contrast to other legal systems that are followed in mainland Europe.
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9
Q

What is the source of the most of the english law? (common law as case law)

A
  1. Legislation
  2. Case law
  3. The decision of judges
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10
Q

What are the two elements of the doctrine of precedent?

A
  1. The doctrine of stare decisi
  2. A principle of law that crucially helped to decide a previous case which is binding and must be applied to a current case based on similar facts.
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11
Q

What power does the Government exercise?

A

Executive

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12
Q

What does executive means in terms of the Government’s powers?

A

The term is used to describe the government led by the prime minister and his Cabinet ministers, as the ultimate authority - responsible for the law enforcement and the execution of the law.

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13
Q

Is there any higher law-making body than Parliament in the UK

A

NO

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14
Q

Which will prevail if an Act of Parliament will conflict with Common law?

A

The Act of Parliament

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15
Q

Explain the system of the Eglish legal system in relation to the international law.

A
  1. Our system requires treaties to be incorporated into domestic law.
  2. International treaties that remain unincorporated into English law have no effect.
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16
Q

Can Parliament delegate its powers?

A

YES, to government ministers, departments, and local authorities.

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17
Q

What is the advantage of the delation powers?

A
  1. Fills in the gaps in an Act of Parliament
  2. The validity of delegated or secondary legislation may be challanged in the courts if the maker has acted ultra vires, which means beyond the powers permitted by the parent Act.
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18
Q

What is the advantage of the delation powers?

A
  1. Fills in the gaps in an Act of Parliament
  2. The validity of delegated or secondary legislation may be challanged in the courts if the maker has acted ultra vires, which means beyond the powers permitted by the parent Act.
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19
Q

Give a couple of characteristics for the Civil law cases

A
  1. Involves the alleged unlawful conduct of someone in the course of an interaction or relationship between individuals/organisation.
  2. Resolves the dispute between individuals.
  3. The case is brought by the party alleging wrongdoing v the defendant.
  4. The burden o proof is on the claimant and the standard of proof is on the balance of probabilities.
  5. Regulates relationships by declaring rights, duties, principles, and other requirements that, if not observed, leave persons at risk of legal liability.
  6. The court makes an order for a remedy to the successful party, usually in the form of damages.
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20
Q

Give a couple of characteristics for the Criminal Law Cases

A
  1. Involves conduct which society and the state disapproves of and thus criminalises.
  2. Enforces particular type of behaviour.
  3. The case is brought in the name of the Crown.
  4. The burden of proof is on the prosecution and is beyond all reasonable doubts.
  5. Regulates society by the threat of punishment and sanction.
  6. The court imposes a sentence that is required to reflect the seriousness of the crime and often imposes some form of punishment.
21
Q

RECAP (The Nature of Law)
What is the hierarchy of the Civil Courts?

A

Magistrate’s Court–>County Court–>High Court-> Divisional Courts–>Court of Appeal–>Supreme Court

22
Q

RECAP (The Nature of Law)
What is the hierarchy of the Criminal Courts?

A

Magistrate’s Court–>Crown Court–>Queen’s Bench Divisional Court–>Court of Appeal–>Supreme Court

23
Q

What are the classification of the criminal offences?

A
  1. Summary Offences
  2. Triable either way
  3. Triable only on Indictment
24
Q

Give the characteristics of a Summary Offence

A
  1. Less serious offences
  2. Generally disposed of in Magistrate’s Court
  3. 6 months of imprisonment
25
Q

Give the characteristics of the Triable either way offences

A
  1. Dealt either in the Magistrate’s Court or in the Crown Court
  2. Medium Serious offences
26
Q

Give the characteristics of the Triable only on indictment offences

A
  1. Most serious offences
  2. Must be heard in the Crown Court
27
Q

Recap ( The Nature of Law)

Give a few characteristics for The Crown Court

A
  1. The main jurisdiction of the Crown Court is that of trial on indictment before a judge and jury.
  2. Appeals from the Magistrate’s Court.
28
Q

Give a few characteristics for the County Court

A
  1. Deals exclusively with the entire range of cases in civil matters.
  2. The judges usually sit alone, and in most cases there will be o jury.
29
Q

What is the most important aspect of the civil judges?

A

To actively manage the proceedings in line with the overriding objective of the civil justice system.

30
Q

Commencing proceedings in the civil cases High Court

A
  1. Small claim track - for disputes under £10,000, except for personal injury cases which are for £1000 or less.
  2. Fats track - for straightforward dispute of £10,000 to £25,000
  3. The multi track - for cases over £25,000 or for complex cases under this amount.
31
Q

What are the divisions of the High Court?

A
  1. Queen’s Bench Division
  2. Chancery Division
  3. Family Division
32
Q

What is the jurisdiction of the Queen’s Bench Division?

A
  1. Jurisdiction includes cases concerning contract and tort
  2. Administrative Court - Public and administrative law cases
  3. Admiralty Court - Cases concerning maritime issues
  4. Commercial court - complex cases concerning business
  5. Technology and Construction Court
33
Q

What is the jurisdiction of the Chancery Division?

A
  1. Cases concerning property
  2. The execution of trust
  3. The administration of estate
  4. Bankruptcy
  5. Partnership
  6. Patents Courts
34
Q

What is the jurisdiction of the Family division?

A
  1. Cases concerning matrimonial causes and matters
  2. Legitimacy
  3. Proceedings under the children act 1989
  4. Adoption
35
Q

What are the Appellate jurisdiction of the High Court?

A

NOTE: The grounds for an appeal are that the decision is wrong in law or is in excess of jurisdiction.

Criminal: Appeals are heard following summary trial before a magistrates’ court by way of case stated where it is alleged that the decision is wrong in law or was given in excess of jurisdiction.

Civil: Appeals from the County Court mu h depends on the judge who hears the case originally, although permission is required either by original court or the appellate court, such as the High Court, that will hear the appeal.

36
Q

What are the Supervisory Jurisdiction of the High Court?

A

The King’s Bench Division of the High Court exercise supervisory jurisdiction by means of judicial review.

37
Q

In How many divisions is the CA divided?

A

2 –>

Criminal Division - Hears appeals from proceedings in the Crown Court, including those against convictions and sentences, as well as handling applications for permission to appeal.

Civil Division - Can hear appeals against most decisions of the Heigh Court, The County Court and the Family Court, as well as a range of tribunals.

38
Q

Give a couple of characteristics for the Committee of the Privy Council

A
  1. Is not part of the UK’s court hierarchy
  2. Decisions of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, while not binding on the English Courts, are persuasive and can have an important impact upon the development of English Law
39
Q

Give a characteristic for the CJEU

A
  1. Its role is to ensure that EU law is interpreted and applied consistently in every EU country and thus seeks to ensure that countries and EU institutions abide by EU law by settling disputes between national governments and EU institutions.
40
Q

Give a couple of characteristics for the ECtHR

A
  1. The European Court of Human Rights has jurisdiction over all cases involving the interpretation or application of the convention.
  2. The court is currently forty-seven judges.
  3. The Parliament assembly of the Council of Europe elects judges where is raises ‘a serious question affecting the interpretation or application of the Convention or the protocols thereto, or a serious issue of general importance’.
41
Q

What is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice

A

1)It exercises responsibility for the courts, tribunals, prisons, the probation service, and attendance centres.
2)Responsible for developing policy in relation to all criminal and civil matters as well as the administration of the justice system at large.

42
Q

What is the fundamental responsibility of the Lord Chancellor?

A

Defend and maintain the independence of the courts.

43
Q

What are the characteristics of the Lord Chief Justice?

A

1) Serves as the president of the Court of Appeal.
2)Sits on the most important criminal, civil, and family cases.
3)Under the Constitutional Act 2005, the Lord Chief Justice has approximatively 400 statutory duties, including being responsible for representing the views of the judiciary to Parliament and Government, deploying judges, and allocating work to courts in England and Wales.

44
Q

What are the characteristics of the Attorney General?

A

1)Legal adviser to the government
2)Oversees the Law Officer’s departments —> the office-holder’s role is varied and includes advising the government on questions of international law, bringing proceedings for contempt of court, and responding to questions of law that arise from government bills.
3)Review ‘lenient’ sentences handed down by the Crown Court.

45
Q

What does CPS mean and what does it stand for?

A

1)Crown Prosecution Service is an independent organisation that prosecutes criminal cases that have been investigated by the police and other investigative organisations in England and Wales.
2)The CPS decides which cases should be prosecuted according to a prosecution code, determines the appropriate charges to bring against individuals, prepares and presents cases at court with the use of its own or independent barristers, and provides information and support to victims and prosecution witness.

46
Q

What is the characteristic of the Director of Public Prosecution?

A

1)Manages and oversees the operations of the CPS

47
Q

What is the Legal Aid Agency for?

A

Provides civil and criminal aids for individuals

48
Q

What are the characteristics of the Law Commission?

A

1)Ensure that the law is as fair, modern, simple and cost-effective as possible; to make recommendations for consideration by Parliament; and to codify the law, eliminate anomalies, repeal obsolete and unnecessary enactments, and reduce the number of separate statutes.
2)Regularly consult a wide range of persons, including the general public and government departments, to determine which areas of law requires a fresh examination.

49
Q

What are the characteristics of the lawyers?

A

1)Dispensing advice
2)conducting routine legal work such as drafting a claim, defence, or a witness, statement
3) representation of clients before the court