Court Systems - Sources Of Law

Question 1

Case law

Answer 1

• sometimes referred to as common law
• law produced by decisions made my judges in the high courts
• usually concerned with development and application of existing principles of law being applied to cases

Question 2

Judicial precedent

Answer 2

• when a judge determines a case, they exime how judges have previously dealt with similar cases
• if the same legal principles are relevant, the judge will apply these principles in their decision

Question 3

Advantages of judicial precedent

Answer 3

• consistency and certainty (e.g if same case would be unfair for different punishment)
• efficiency and time-saving (can just look up a similar case)
• precision
• flexibility

Question 4

Disadvantaged of judicial precedent

Answer 4

• rigidity
• uncertainty (due to overruling by higher courts e.g. rape between husband and wife is not a thing now)
• complexity and number of cases
• slow development of law

Question 5

Custom law

Answer 5

• minor source of law, not particularly important for our studies
• cannot be contrary to an Act of Parliament
• local trade customs must be exercised openly and peacefully without need for further review permission

Question 6

The English court system

Answer 6

Hierarchy:
1. Supreme Court
2. Court of Appeal
3. High court (civil), Crown court (criminal)
4. County court (civil), magistrates court (criminal)

Question 7

Magistrates court

Answer 7

• all criminal cases start at the magistrates court
• 95% of criminal cases are completed in this court
• will hear criminal case of a less serious nature

Question 8

Crown Court

Answer 8

• serious crimes heard by high court judges (approx 105 in the UK) or circuit judges (approx 600)
• may hear appeals from the magistrates court
• criminal cases heard for the first time will usually be heard by a judge and jury of 12 ordinary people

Question 9

County court

Answer 9

• deal with the majority of civil cases
• cases heard by district judges (max 10k claim) and circuit judges (max 100k claim)

Question 10

High court

Answer 10

• deals with mostly civil cases that are larger/more complex
• cases heard by high court judges
• there are 3 divisions to the court:
  1. chancery division (financial - mortgages etc.), 2. king’s bench division (contract…)
  3. family division (divorce…)

Question 11

Court of appeal

Answer 11

• has separated criminal and civil divisions
• will hear appeals from the county courts high court
  and the crown court (approx. 40 justices of appeal)
• in civil cases appeals to a high court can only take place with permission of the court the case was heard in or the court to which the appeal is being made

Question 12

Supreme Court

Answer 12

• highest appeal court in England and Wales
• made up of 12 justices, at least 3 hearing each case
• cases heard by the supreme court involve points of law of significant importance (either from a public or constitutional perspective)
• some cases may leapfrog from the high court straight to the supreme court

Question 13

Statute

Answer 13

Written laws created by a legislativee authority e.g. Acts of Parliament

Question 14

How judges interpret statutes

Answer 14

statutes have to be written in a manner that ensures they are flexible enough to cover different situations

Question 15

Rules of statutory interpretation

Answer 15

1. The literal rule: words in a statue are examined using their literal meaning. Rule cannot be used if words are ambiguous
2. The golden rule: if literal result causes problems, the courts can modify the meaning of the word
3. The mischief rule: judge examines the common law that existed before statute was passed, to see what remedy the statute was truing to offer
4. Contextual rule: The meaning of a words is taken form its surrounding text in a statue.