Question 1
a. Common Law
Definition of common law:
The common law, sometimes known as case law, is the body of law that is based on the judges through the decisions made in court. In the system of common law, when a court decides and reports its decision regarding a specific case, the case then becomes a part of the body of law and can be used in cases that involve related matters in the future. Common law has been dispensed in the courts in England since the Middle Ages. It can also be found in the United States and in most of the British Commonwealth.
Development of common law:
Different regions of England were ruled by different systems of law before the Norman Conquest. In 1066, when William I gained the throne he started a strong central
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Seeing that these decisions are based on previous judgments, people will know what to expect since there is already a degree of predictability. It is more convenient and practical to follow this procedure through.
• Common law can alter to new issues as they appear. Namely, the court can dictate on a new matter there and then, it doesn’t have to wait for a new law to be conceded.
• There is definite efficiency as compared to a procedure that does not follow a precedent based system. Since there is already a basis on which the judgment will be passed, the judicial process becomes so much faster.
Disadvantages of common law:
• Common law can old and is frequently based on archaic concepts.
• Furthermore, common law is not all officially laid down and plainly in unambiguous or structured language like statutes.
• If a bad court decision has been made, it will be perpetuated as common law systems are all about following precedents. Changes will take a long time to happen, so in the mean time, a bad decision will continue to be upheld.
Relation between common law and equity:
Theoretically, the law of equity is a set of rules formed by the Court of Chancery so as to alleviate the severity that the common law system provided to the country. There is a particular relationship between the common law and
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Before passing of the first Judicature Act in year 1873, there were two different court systems – the common law courts and the court of chancery. The common law courts dealt with the common law and the court of chancery dealt with the law of equity. Therefore, until 1873 the claimant had to choose whether to bring the claim in equity or at common law. This was depended on what remedy the claimant wanted to pursue. If the claim were made in the wrong court, it would fail automatically and ought to be bought again in the suitable court. This system clearly wasted a lot of time and money. The Judicature Act of 1873, subsequently the Judicature Act of 1875, eliminated the necessity to sue in common law for a common law remedy. The Judicature Acts then established a single High Court of Justice with
Our appellate courts will be the ones making the policy, while our trail courts will enforce the policy, it appear that many of the lower courts have more discretion when enforcing the appellate court decisions. Why is this possible many are nonlawyers who do not possess the skills needed to read many of complex judicial decisions, and due in part the decisions of the higher courts as well. Many of the policy are available and the judges are anticipated to read them. When the lower court infers the higher courts decision is based upon different factors, such as the judges on personal policy, their background, alternatively the lower court judge will embrace the higher courts decision while others may not.
Role of the Courts Firstly, the coroner’s court investigated the deaths of the accused’s family. The case was then heard in the local court. Due to the fact that the case was an indictable offence, the local court could not finalise the verdict. Therefore, the local court conducted a committal hearing, where the magistrate was to determine whether the prosecution evidence is capable of satisfying a jury, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the accused committed the offence.
However the high court have all the rights and power to reconsider common law which was exactly the case in this situation. The role of
Alex Frost Values: Law & Society 9/23/2014 The Hollow Hope Introduction and Chapter 1 Gerald Rosenberg begins his book by posing the questions he will attempt to answer for the reader throughout the rest of the text: Under what conditions do courts produce political and social change? And how effective have the courts been in producing social change under such past decisions as Roe v. Wade and Brown v. Board of Education? He then works to define some of the principles and view points 'currently' held about the US Supreme court system.
The Court’s effectiveness relies on the institutional capacities as well as the ruling’s popularity. When lower-court judges comply with Supreme Court decisions, rulings can have a substantial effect on social policies, as in the case
Specialized Courts Specialized courts are commonly known as the problem-solving courts that promote positive reinforcement, support behavior modification, decrease victimization, and reduce recidivism. Examples of specialized courts include drug court and mental health courts. A community might benefit from establishing a specialized court such as a drug court because it follows a comprehensive model that concentrates on reducing criminal actions through treatment and rehabilitation services with the focus being on substance abuse addiction and identifying the cause without jeopardizing public safety and due process (Specialized Courts, 2013).
Eventually, a special court known as the Court of Chancery was set up by the King. The holdings of this court depended upon the conscience and morality of the Lord Chancellor unlike the rulings of the Common Law Courts. The law that was established and enforced in the Court of Chancery resulted in the emergence of what is now known as ‘Equity’. Over time, Equity became more popular as it had greater flexibility and was more approachable than Common Law.
The four major legal families of law are Civil Law, Common Law, Socialist Law, and Sacred Law. Today, most nations follow either Civil Law or Common Law. Sometimes, countries mix civil and common law and use a little of both. Some countries that follow Civil Law are China, Japan, Germany, France, and Spain. The countries that follow Common Law are North America, the United Kingdom, and other Commonwealth countries around the world.
The beginning of the Middle English period and the end of Old English begins in 1066 with the Norman Conquest of England. The Normans were descendants of the Vikings who established themselves in Northern France in the 8th Century, they were known has the
The law is meant to provide justice to people. So the main advantages of the common law system is that it is consistent, adaptive, equal and independent. Consistency is achieved through the precedent as the base for the decisions, not the personal attitudes of the judges. The parties, involved in the process, are expecting that their case would be decided as the similar one, it creates certainty in getting equal justice and stability. Precedents are usually developed in the higher courts by the senior
Among the most popular reforms were, Pre-Action Protocols, Part36, Judicial Case management and Alternative Dispute Resolution. The overriding objective of the reforms as introduced by Lord Woolf was enabling courts to deal with the cases justly and proportionately. Pre-Action protocols can be considered as one of the most significant innovations of Woolf Reforms. The purpose of these is to encourage exchange of early information about the claim so that litigation is avoided.
Law personal statement main As a child, looking up to law-enforcers such as police officer’s has made me believe that Law is the backbone of our society. Without it, everyday life would not be tolerable. My passion for law developed when I stepped into the Supreme Court and watched a court case in the Old Bailey.
Different judges will have different interpretation of cases; hence, they may bind a single case with various precedents making it more difficult to pass a judgment. In this type of situation even competent judges may find it complicated to decide on the ‘ratio decidendi’. Nevertheless, there are a lot of case laws and deciding which case law best appropriates to a case is not always an easy task, as it is time consuming and very stressful to find the most suitable precedent. Therefore, not only the doctrine of judicial precedent has the disadvantage of being complex, while the judges are discussing which case law to apply to a specific case, justice is at the same time being delayed.
Introduction Civil Justice System The civil justice system exists in order to enable individuals, businesses, and local and central government to vindicate, and where necessary, enforce their civil legal rights and obligations, whether those rights are private or public. It ensures that the rights and protection of citizens are called for. The rule of law dictates that government should not abuse their powers as per AV Dicey’s concept of the rule of law. In addition, the civil courts endorse economic activity, allowing contracts to be made between strangers because rights are taken care of in the courts if they are breached.
In the article entitled ‘Determining the Ratio Decidendi of the Case’ by Arthur L. Goodhart, I underwent a roller coaster-like journey on exploring the science behind the nature of a precedent in English law. Goodhart started with the attempt to explain the full meaning of ratio decidendi in the simplest terms. He referred to Sir John Salmond’s definition in which I have interpreted ratio decidendi as the principle of law that is found in a court decision and possesses the authority to be binding. Ratio decidendi should be distinguished from a judicial decision, as the latter is a wider concept and contains the ratio decidendi, whereas the former is a principle that carries the force of law. In another reference, Professor John Chipman Gray