Potential questions for eoy exam Flashcards
Describe the training process of barristers
Barristers are legal personals whose jobs include advocacy rising councils opinion for solicitors and drafting legal documents these bastards appear in court and I’ll collectively known as the bar to become a barrister there’s a three ways training process that must be followed
The process of becoming a barrister is normally very degree based however there is a nondegree route for mature students barristers trainees must have a degree in law however if the degree is in a different subject the training must complete the graduate diploma in law
Then there is the vocational stage where the trainee learns the skills required for a barrister for their roles both in and out of the court these skills are learnt during the bar professional training course this includes legal research advocacy drafting documents and negotiation client interviewing case preparation and opinion writing however in order to do the BPST trainees must join one of the inn courts
The final stage is the people of stage with a trainee my shadow a qualified barrister for one year this year is split into two parts the first six months the trainees will perform on a task and observe qualified passes as they perform their roles during the second six months the trainee is able to appear in court and conduct their own cases this stage is paid through wages
Name three evaluations of the training process for barristers
Finance
Education
Over supply
Explain the problem of finances
The main problem is a financial one. Students will
normally have to pay the fees of the Bar Professional
Training Course (about £15,000). The result is that
students from less well-off families cannot afford to
take the course and are therefore prevented from
becoming barristers. If they have a degree in a subject
other than law and have had to do the GDL, they will
also have had to pay for that course.
The financial problem has increased since universities
have increased their fees to £9,000 a year, so that
students are already in abt from their degree course.
Describe the problem of education
Another criticism is that non-law graduates
do only one year of formal law for the GDL. The
*Ormrod Committee which reported on legal
education in 1971 thought that the main entry route should be via a law degree, but in practice not all
barristers will have taken a law degree. One critic
posed the question of whether the public would
be satisfied with doctors who have only studied
medicine for one year, concentrating on only six
subjects. Yet this is precisely what is occurring in ther
legal profession
Over supply
Yet another problem is that of over-supply. There
are not enough pupillage places for the number of
students who pass the Bar Professional Training Course.
in 2014-15 there were over 1,500 students taking
the BPTC but only 422 pupillages available. So some
students will have run up massive debts and yet be
unable to complete their training as a barrister.
Intro for advantage and disadvantage for precedent
As can be seen from the previous sections, there
are both advantages and disadvantages to the way
in which judicial precedent operates in England and
Wales. In fact it could be said that every advantage
has a corresponding disadvantage.
Name 5 advantage of judicial precedent
Certainty
Consistency and fairness in the law
Precision
Flexibility
Time saving
Certainty
Certainty
Because the courts follow past decisions people know
what the law is and how it is likely to be applied
in their case. It allows lawyers to advise clients on
the likely outcome of cases; it also allows people to
operate their businesses knowing that financial and
other arrangements they make are recognised by law.
The House of Lords Practice Statement points out how
important certainty is.
Consistency and fairness
Consistency and fairness in the law
It is seen as just and fair that similar cases should be
decided in a similar way, just as in any sport it is seen
as fair that the rules of the game apply equally to each
side. The law must be consistent if it is to be credible.
Precision
As the principles of law are set out in actual cases
the law becomes very precise; it is well illustrated and
gradually builds up through the different variations of
facts in the cases that come before the courts.
Flexibility
There is room for the law to change as the
Supreme ourt can use the Practice Statement to
overrule cases. The use of distinguishing also gives
all courts some freedom to avoid decisions and
develop the law.
Precision
As the principles of law are set out in actual cases
the law becomes very precise; it is well illustrated and
gradually builds up through the different variations of
facts in the cases that come before the courts.
Flexibility
There is room for the law to change as the
Supreme Court can use the Practice Statement to
overrule cases. The use of distinguishing also gives
all courts some freedom to avoid decisions and
develop the law.
Time saving
Precedent can be considered a useful time-saving
device. Where a principle has been established, cases
with similar facts are unlikely to go through the
lengthy process of litigation. with no clear distinction between comments and the
reasons for the decision. This makes it difficult in some
cases to extract the ratio decidendi; indeed in Central
Asbestos Co. Ltd v Dodd (1973) the judges in the Court
of Appeal said they were unable to find the ratio in a decision of the House of Lords.
What are the 4 disadvantages of precedent ?
Rigidity
Complexity
Illogical distinction
Slowness of growth
