Chapter 1 Flashcards
(64 cards)
Two important features of common law
Based on principles identified and expanded by the judiciary
In criminal law, the defendant has a right to be tried in front a jury who will dictate guilty or not guilty based on facts presented
Parliamentary sovereignty
Parliament is the supreme law maker. They can make laws which cannot be challenged in the courts and they are not bund by precedent
Explain House of Commons
Members of parliament elected for each constituency and following a general election the leader of the winning party is invited by the monarch to become a government and becomes prime minister
Explain House of Lords
Made up of archbishops, life peers and hereditary peers to hold the government to account,make and shape laws and debate big issues
Local councils
Locally elected councils that have power to make local rules on building policy, roads etc
Regional or National Assembly
Powers of central government have been devolved eg min of health and education
Define law
Set of rules applied by members of state and enforced through the courts
Elements of public law
Criminal law
Constitutional and admin law: rules of government and administration of justice
Private law
Concerned with relationships between people. It includes the law of obligations:
Contract law - law governing individuals who have entered into contracts
Company law - rules regulating the rights and obligations of corporations
Insolvency law - rules governing the management and distribution of assets of debtors who can’t meet their liabilities
Tort law - rules providing individuals with remedies against one another in circumstances where they have not voluntarily entered into an agreement
Examples of private law
Tort law
Insolvency law
Company law
Contract law
Three distinct functions of government
Legislative (parliament)
Executive (public servants who put the law into action)
Judiciary (decides on the law)
Main ranks of judges
District judge
Circuit judge
High court judge
Appeal judge
Supreme Court judge
Case law
Judicial decisions which serve as precedent in later cases
Statute
Laws enacted by parliament or indirectly under parliaments authority
Doctrine of precedent
When a judge follows principles expressed by predecessors of equal or higher rank in earlier cases
Common law
Governs basic principles of business law
Equity
A branch of case law that works on principles of fairness and good conscience rather than strict adherence to law. Equity recognizes fiduciary duties and responsibilities which arise out of positions of good faith
Trust
Relationship where a person manages the assets for the benefit of another person
Trustee
The person who manages the assets and owns them
Beneficiary
The person on whose behalf the trustee manages the assets
Examples of equitable remedies
Injunction - court order to stop doing something
Rescission - a declaration that a contract is void
Specific performance - an order to fulfill your duties in the contract
Estoppel - court order to stop a person from going back on something said or promised
When would equitable remedies be adequate
Only when monetary compensation would not be enough to solve the situation
How does parliament use statutes
To introduce new laws
Modify existing laws
Consolidate laws
Remove old laws that have become obsolete
Can statutes override case law
Yea
