Potential Long Questions Flashcards
(28 cards)
Discuss the different types of UK law
- Public law: criminal law, constitutional law, administrative law
- Private law: Civil law, contract law, law of torts, property law
The UK Parliament is developing a new act for using artificial intelligence in education.
State and discuss the various stages for this Act to pass.
- First reading in HoC
- Second reading - principals of bill debated in the house MPs take a vote on whether bill should pass onto next stage
- Committee stage - bill examined and discussed in more detail by an HoC committe
- Report stage - committe reports back to the House, any amendment debated and voted upon
- Third reading - Bill re-presented to the House. Final vote taken on whether to pass the Bill
- Transfer to the HoL - the bill will then undergo a similar process in the HoL
- Royal assent
Discuss the different sources of English Law
- Legislation: Primary legislation - Act of Parliaments, Secondary legislation
- Case law, custom law, EU Law
Discuss the delegated legislation and its advantages and disadvantages
Power delegated (via acts) to create detailed law to government department, local authorities. These include by-laws and orders in council
Advantages:
saves parliament time
more efficient than going through Parliament process
easier to ament
experts can be used where very technical detail required
Disadvantages:
parliament no longer in direct control of all legislation
insufficient time given to consider issues
excessive legislation may be passed
might not be adequately publicised without Parliamentary involvement
Discuss the rules of statutory interpretation. Use case law to support your answer
-
The literal rule: the words in a statute are examined using their ordinary literal meaning
rule can not be used if words are ambiguous or have one than one meaning if misused can lead to illogical results:
- Whitely v Chappel (1869): a statute made it an offence to impersonate any person entitled to vote the defendant impersonated a dead person
verdict: because dead people were not entitled to vote, the defendant was acquitted -
Golden rule approach: if the literal result cases problematic results, the courts can use the golden rule the literal meaning of words can be modified in order to avoid the absurdity
- Alder v George (1964): ‘in the vicinity of a prohibited area’ - The mischief rule: judge examines the common law that existed before statute was passed to see what was the problem (or mischief) that existed in which the common law did not adequately deal with and what remedy
Corkery v Carpenter: drunk on a bike - Contextual rule
the meaning of a word is taken from its surrounding text una statute e.g footballs, football boots.. and other equipment would only include other football related equipment
How does the English Court system operate in different court levels?
- Supreme Court: 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) - Court of appeal: has separated criminal and civil divisions will hear appeals from the county courts high court
- High court: deals with mostly civil cases
that are larger/more complex,
- Crown court: serious crimes heard by high court judges (approx 105 in the UK) or circuit judges (approx 600)
- County court deal with the majority of civil cases, Magistrates court (criminal)
Explain the difference betweenen an invitation to treat, an offer, and a ‘mere puff’, using relevant case law
Discuss the various ways to terminated the offer
- Termination by revocation: the offer is withdrawn by the person making the offer
an offer can be revoked at any time up until the offer is accepted, even if the offeror informs the offeree they will keep the offer open for a period of time - Termination by rejection and counter offer
- Withdrawal of offer in unilateral contracts
- Termination by lapse of time
- Termination by death
Discuss the contractual capacity as a major element off any legally binding contract
- Minors: a contract with a minor for necessaries will be binding on the minor, as long as it does not contain harsh terms that are detrimental to the minor. a contract for training, education or employment is binding on a minor as long as it for their benefit
- Intoxication: it is presumed that people under the influence of alcohol over drugs still have the capacity to know what they are doing, therefore will be bound by the contract. however, a contract will be enforceable if the intoxicated party does not comprehend the nature of the transaction and the other party was aware of this but carried on with the transaction regardless
Discuss the importance of intention to create legal contractual relations
In situations where it is not obvious whether there was intention to create legal relations, the court will consider the individual circumstances of the agreement
Capacity to contract: some people may be minuted in their powers to make contracts i.e they lack contractual capacity
Minors: discuss how a contract with a minor may not necessarily be bound
Intoxication: Presumed that people under the influence will have the capacity to know what they are doing. However if the other party was aware that they could not comprehend then the contract would be unenforceable
Discuss the importance of the privity of any contract
Privity of contract - persons not party to the agreement cannot be bound by the terms or take action if the terms are broken
Exemptions: as the rule could cause injustice, the courts developed a number of exceptions
e.g. if the contracts were made for the benefit of a group of people such as a family
Jackson v Horizon Ltd (1975) - Mr J made a complaint against Horizon for misinterpretation regarding the lack of families during a family holiday
What is the difference between conditions, warranties and innominate terms? (support your answer with relevant cases)
condition - fundamental term of the contract (e.g. you have a gluten allergy, need to buy a gluten free cake. If that person did. Not adhere to your terms you can seek compensation, for example)
- Poussard v Spiers (1876)
An opera singer (poussard) fell in for the first week of performances. They hired a substitute, refused the services of Poussard for the remaining performances
Verdict: performing on the opening night was a condition of the contract, therefore failure to do so can be regarded as a breach of the contract
warranty - minor term (e.g. if it is breached, the injured party can claim damages but cannot terminate the contract)
- Betting v Gye (1876)
Opera singer was contracted to perform for three months & attend rehearsals for six days beforehand. He was 3 days late for rehearsals, and the producer refused to accept services
Verdict: the non-attendance of rehearsals was a breach of warranty. Producer can sue for damages but cannot terminate the contract
innominate term - terms that cannot be assigned to either category.
- Hong Kong Fir Shipping Co Ltd v Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd (1962)
This case introduced the concept of innominate terms. The contract required a ship to be “seaworthy,” but when the ship was delayed due to mechanical issues, the court ruled that the breach was not serious enough to justify termination—only damages were awarded
Discuss the pre-contractual statements and distinguish between them
Pre-contractual statements: when the parties are in the process of negotiating a contract, many statements may be made
- Term:
- Representation
- Traders hype
Objective test:
1. The importance of the statement (the higher importance could mean its a term, lower may indicate representation)
2. The interval of time between the statement and the contract
3. Whether the statement is oral or written
4. Knowledge and skill of the party making the statement
What are the four components that make up actionable misinterpretation
- Statement is made
a. silence will not usually amount to false information
b. usually no duty to disclose information - Statement must be false
a. The party making the statement may know it to be untrue, but could still be misinterpretation if they do not know it is untrue - Statement must be presented as a fact
- Statement must have induced the other party to enter into the contract
a. The innocent party must show that they relied upon the statement for a significant reason
What are the types of contract mistakes? Use case law to support your answer
- Common mistake:
Where both parties make the same mistake
will only be void is the mistake is fundamental to the contract itself
Scott v Coulson (1903) - two parties negotiated a contract for a life insurance policy on a person. Both parties mistakenly believed that this person was alive when the contract was made. Verdict: the contract was void a the common mistake was made - Mutual mistake:
Where the two parties are at cross purposes, therefore have never truly reached an agreement
will be voided if it is not possible to reconcile the intention of the two parties
Raffles v Wichelhaus (1864) - Two ships with the same name left Bombay at the same time
the seller thought that the cotton was on one ship whilst the buyer thought the cotton was on the other ship. Verdict: no possibility of finding a common ground, therefore contract was void for a mistake - Unilateral mistake
Where only one of the parties is mistaken, but the other party is aware of the mistake
in order for the mistake to be operative it must be essential to the contract
Discuss the damages as the main remedy for breach of contract in commercial context
Damages:
- Monetary compensation: aims to put the parties into the position they would have been if the breach had not occurred
- Remoteness of damage: claims for damages are restricted to the recovery of losses that are not too remote
- Measure of damages: In contract law, the purpose of damages is to put the claimant in the financial position they would have been if the contract had been performed satisfactorily
- Damages in building contracts: Cost of correcting the defect = amount of damages that can be claimed
- The duty to mitigate: the claimant must take appropriate steps in order to minimise their losses
- Liquidated and penalties: sometimes, a contract may state the amount of damages to be paid in the event of a breach of contract
A contract to construct a new factory for B to be ready by 1st November. The contract provides that A shall pay B £20,000 for each day the building is late. The building is not complete until 8th November. Advise B whether he can claim £140,000 and, if not, how his loss is to be assessed for the purposes of a damages award.
What are the rights and duties of an agent
Duties:
1. Not to take a bribe
2. Not to make a secret profit
3. To maintain confidentiality
4. To perform agreed tasks and follow instructions
5. To exercise care and skill
Rights:
1. Rights of an agent
2. To a lien over the principals property
3. To remuneration
4. To claim indemnity
What are the methods to create an agency relationship
- Express agreement - principal appoints the agents and gives them actual authority to act on their behalf. Usually will be written by contract
- Implied agreement - where it is assumed that the principal has given the agent authority to act on their behalf
- Necessity - where an emergency arises which requires a person to protect the interests of another
- Agency by Estoppel - where the principals words or actions give the impression that they consent to a person acting as an agent
- Ratification - where an agency relationship is made retrospectively
X purchases a job lot of old records for £50 in a car boot sale. Among the records is a copy of the Beatles’ first album. X shows the record to M, a collector of Beatles records. X tells M that he
believes that it is a genuine, first pressing, stereo copy of the album (worth around £3,000), but he makes it clear that he is not an expert and that M should examine the record for himself. After
an examination, M is convinced the record is genuine and purchases it from X. M subsequently finds out that it is a counterfeit copy and the record has no value
Under the Sales of Goods Act of 1979, does M have a remedy for the purchase
Discuss all potentially fair reasons for employees’ dismissal according to the employment law
- Capability: a person can be dismissed if they are not capable of doing the job. Can relate to the three issues
1. Qualifications
2. Incompetence
3. Health - Conduct: there are types of misconduct
- Ordinary misconduct: warnings should be given to the employee
- Gross misconduct: the employee can be dismissed without notice for gross misconduct e.g. theft, assault, bullying, aggressiveness (the employer will often lay out what is gross misconduct in the contract)
- Redundancy: (if correct procedure is followed)
- Statutory bar: e.g. work permit expired, bus driver disqualified from driving
- Other substantial reasons
X Ltd owns a bookshop in Soton. X Ltd intends to dismiss the following staff, all of whom have worked for the company for over
two years:
- Mr B, because despite several training days, he still struggles to use the stock control system correctly;
- Ms A, for attending official trade union meetings;
- Mr E, the delivery driver, because he has recently been convicted of a driving offence and lost his driving license
- Ms F for turning up to work drunk and behaving very aggressively towards the customers
Discuss whether there are fair grounds for dismissal for each employee
What is meant by:
(I) Associative discrimination
(ii) Perceptive discrimination
(iii) General harassment
(iv) Sexual harassment
(v) Vicarious liability
(vi) Duty of care owed to trespassers
(vii) Public nuisance
(Viii) Vicarious liability
(I) Associative discrimination: Where somebody has been discriminated against because of someone they are associated with
(ii) Perceptive discrimination: Where a person is discriminated against because people perceive they have a protected characteristic
(iii) General harassment: Unwanted conduct that has the intention or makes the person feel intimidated, offended or degraded
(iv) Sexual harassment: Conducts of a sexual nature that has the same effect as the first type of harassment
(v) Vicarious liability: this means being liable for the tort of others
(vi) Duty of care owed to trespassers: There is no automatic duty of care owed to a trespasser
But is a trespasser is injured, a duty of care may still exist
(vii) Public nuisance: A crime designed to protect certain public rights e.g. safe and unobstructed use of the highway
Discuss the mediation and conciliation to resolve a dispute compared to going to court
Mediator: Parties appoint a mediator, legally qualified but will be trained as mediator
Their role is to help the parties arrive at a mutual agreement
If parties agree, the agreement can be written down and legally binding
