Chapter 3 Flashcards
What is case law
Law made up of judgements written by judges giving their reasoning on their decision on the outcome of a case. It is then referred back to in future cases with similar facts
Describe the case of Airedale NHS Trust v Bland [1993] in relation to case law
The judgements in this case created new law as there was no previous case with similar facts to refer back to. Tony Bland was involved in Hillsborough disaster and as a result was in a persistent vegetative state and being kept alive by artificial feeding and life support. The House of Lords had to decide whether or not to stop the feeding and chose to do so, which ultimately led to his death.
How would a civil case be written if it occurred in 2017 between a Claimant named John Smith and Defendant named Anne Jones
Smith v Jones [2017]
In an appeal, which name comes first in the written citation
The Appellant, even if they were originally a Defendant. The original Claimant becomes the Respondent
How would a case regarding the estate of the deceased John Smith taking place in 2013 be written?
Re Smith [2013] or In the matter of Smith [2013] where ‘re’ and ‘in the matter of’ are interchangeable
How is a child’s name protected in citation
By using their initial, e.g. Re J (Transfer of Residence) [1999]
What is a conjoined case
When two cases with similar or same facts are heard simultaneously by the Court to save Court time. They are separated in citation by a semi-colon ;
How are criminal cases written when cited and why?
R v surname of Defendant [year], where the ‘R’ refers to the Crown, being Regina (Queen) or Rex (King)
How are judicial review cases usually written and how has this changed more recently?
R v name of public body or gov. minister being challenged ex parte name of party commencing the case - so e.g. ‘R v Secretary of State for Education and Employment ex parte National Union of Teachers’. More recently the challenging party is after the name of the party they challenged in brackets, e.g.Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Bradley) [2004]
How is the series of law reports containing a case cited
An abbreviation of the title of the report with the page number which the case starts on. sometimes a volume number is included if there is more than one. e.g. 3 All ER 234 would mean volume 3 of the All England Law Reports on page 234.
What is the neutral citation system and how are cases cited using it?
A more modern way of citing cases due to the growing use of internet databases, where the case is cited by the parties’ names, the year in square brackets, an abbreviation of the court and then the case number, e.g. Smith v Jones [1986] UKSC 56
Why might some cases have different citation years
If the outcome was decided towards the end of a year, some publishers may have been able to fit it in their report of that year while others would have had to include it in the following year
What is the doctrine of stare decisis
When a Court holds that a certain set of facts leads to a certain outcome and this sets a precedent for future cases under the principle of fairness
Where does the Supreme Court hear appeals from
Court of Appeal (both divisions), and some cases from High Court or Divisional Court of the High Court if they have followed the ‘leapfrog’ procedure and bypassed the Court of Appeal
Where does the civil division of the Court of Appeal hear appeals from
Family Court, County Court, High Court, Divisional Court of the High Court
Where does the criminal division of the Court of Appeal hear appeals from
Crown Court and Divisional Court of the High Court
Where does the Divisional Court of the High Court hear appeals from
Family Court, County Court, Crown Court and Magistrates’ Court
Where does the Crown Court hear appeals from
Magistrates’ Court
