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Yr 1 - EC1012 Introduction to Law
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Lecture notes study book Law for Business Students of Alix Adams, Stephanie Caplan, Graeme Lockwood - ISBN: 9781292272245 (City University -)
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Introduction to Law, Week 1
Sources of Law
Law provides rules in society. Law used in personal lives is known as criminal law whilst law used in business is known as
contract law. Law is a means of creating and maintaining social order and it does this by helping to deal with arguments and
conflicts. Different countries have different forms of law and social order. This module will focus on English law.
Categories of law Sources of English law
① Common law and civil law - Domestic legislation UK Parliament)
② Common law and statue law - Case law (judge made decisions)
③ Private law and public law - Customary law
- Historical law
④ Civil law and criminal law
- International law
① Common Law and Civil law ② Common Law and Statue Law
Legal system- The way the law is structured and operated in a Common law- Law and procedures created by courts i.e
country. E.g England and China have different legal systems. judges)
Common Law and Civil law are terms used to describe different
legal systems. Statue law-legislation created by the government at the
Parliament of Westminister (in England duh). E.g Sale of
Common law -used to describe Civil law- used to describe legal Goods Act 1979 or Employment Relations Act 1999.
legal systems based on the systems based on old Roman
English legal system. These are law (from the Roman Empire Common law VS Statute Law
countries which were once part of in what is now Italy). E.g
Since the early 20th century, most English law has been
the British empire. E.g America, France and Germany. China is
enacted by statute by the Acts of Parliament. However, if
Australia, New Zealand usually classified as a civil
there is ever a conflict between the two - Statute (an act of
law system, although it is not
Parliament) - will always prevail.
based on Roman law.
Common law
Case law and the courts
VS Civil law
Consists of a legal code of
④ Civil Law and Criminal Law
are the most important general principles which is
Civil Law in this category has a different meaning from the
source of law the source of law
Common Law and Civil law (①)
Civil Law- In this category, civil law deals with the
③ Private law and Public law relationship between individual citizens. It's purpose is to
settle arguments between individuals, it doesn't really
Private Law and Public Law are both concerned with relationships punish people. Civil Law includes all Private law and some
(unlike me) Public Law. Civil law covers areas such as contracts,
negligence, family matters, employment , land law etc.
Private law- deals with the relationships between ordinary people in Criminal law- deals with rules created by the state which forbid
everyday transactions; this incudes regular people as well as certain behaviour. These are "crimes" (like not liking Taylor
businesses and companies. Private law includes the law of contract Swift in 2022). Criminal Law punishes people and is part of
and the law of tort. Public law.
Public law- deals with the relationship between government Civil Law VS Criminal law
organisations and ordinary citizens (also between different In a civil case, the party In a criminal case the
government organisations). Public law also includes constitutional suing (the claimant) bears persecutors (i.e the state)
law, administrative law and criminal law. the burden of proof and are bears the burden of proof
required to prove their case and must prove their case
on the balance of probability beyond reasonable doubt
,Essential differences between civil & criminal law:
Distinction between Law and Fact
In general, civil cases require the claimant to prove not only the facts which give rise to the claim, but also the principles of law which
provide a remedy in respect of the facts proved e.g a pedestrian run over by a car will first need to prove that the defendant did run him over
and will also have to prove the law of negligence provides him with a remedy in respect of this. Generally, the criminal law also requires the
prosecution to prove both fact and law. The prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant did act for which he is being
prosecuted and must also prove that such an act amounts to a criminal offence.
An appellate court will be very reluctant to interfere with a finding of fact by a trial judge. E.g in Magmatic Ltd v PMS International
group Ltd [2016] UKSC 16, the Supreme Court held that an appellate court should not reverse a finding of fact by a trial judge unless he
had erred in principle.
Sometimes it must be decided whether certain facts fir within a definition made by a statute, or fit within a rule made by the common law.
These questions can be regarded as a question of mixed law and fact, or law and degree as it is sometimes known. E.g Cozens v Brutus
[1975] AC 854.
, Minor rules of statuary interpretation
ejusdem generis (of the same kind rule) - general words which follow specific words must be given the same type of meaning as the specific words.
expressio unius est exclusio alterius (to express one thing is to exclude another) - means that if the statue lists specific words and these are not
following by any general words, then the statute only applies to the specific words listed. E.g R v Inhabitants of Sedgeley (1831) 2 B & Ad 65
Codifying Act - thus act attempts to put all the existing law on a particukar subject, whether common law or statutory, into one
comprehensive statute. In doing this the law may be changed and if the Act is inconsistent with the law which it codified, the Act prevails.
In general, English law is not codified however, certain areas of law have been the subject of a codifying Act. E.g The major codifications in
English law have been the Bills of Exchange Act 1882, the Partnership Act 1890, the Sale of Goods Act 1893, and the Theft Act 1968.
A consolidating Act re-enacts all the law on a given area, so that the law contained in several existing statutes is re-enacted as one new
statute. Minor changes to the law may be made, but the purpose of a consolidating Act is not to change the law, but to make it more easily
accessible. The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, for example, consolidated existing legislation relating to
collective labour relations.
Amending Act - changes one or more sections of an existing Act
Statutes
Acts of parliament are called statutes. The theory of Parliamentary sovereignty holds that Parliament has the power to enact or revoke, any
new law it pleases and that the court cannot question the validity if this law. Even Parliament cannot limit tge power if a successive
Parliament e.g British Railways Board v Pickin [1974] AC 765
How is a statue passed:
The government of the day is formed by the political party which wins a majority if the seats in the House of Commons. The government
takes the political decisions as to what legislation should be enacted in each sitting of Parliament. Then government departments, such as
the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), propose legislation for approval. Parliamentary draftsmen (lawyers
who specialise in drafting legislation) then draw a Bill up and the Bill starts ins Parliamentary journey.
① Bills usually start in the House of Commons. The initial stage is the First Reading. This merely gives the title of the Bill and
announces the date of the Second Reading
② At the Second Reading the principles of the Bill are debated. If the Bill passes the stage, on account of more MOs having voted in favour
of it than against it, it is referred to a standing committee which considers the details of the Bill and recommends amendments
③ Any such amendments are considered by the House of Commons at the report stage, after which the Bill then proceeds to the Third
Reading. Like the First Reading, this is a short stage where only minor amendments to the content of the Bill, rather than amendments to
the general principle of the Bill, can be made.
④ The Bill is then sent to the House of Lords, where the whole process is repeated. The wording of the Bill must be the same for both Houses of
Parliament. If the House if Lords disagrees with the wording it refuses to pass the Bill, the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 van be invoked.
The effects of these Acts will be that the Bill can go ahead without House if Lords approval, after a delay if one year. (This happens very
rarely)
⑤ After passing through both Houses of Parliament, the Bill will then receive the Royal Assent. It is a convention that the Queen does not
withhold consent and no monarch has done so since 1707. (The Queen does not give assent personally but through the Lord.
Commissioners or by notification to both Houses of Parliament.)
⑥ Once the Bill has received the Royal Assent it becomes a startup (An Act of Parliament) which the courts must enforce, either from a date
agreed by Parliament or when an order is passed by the relevant Secretary of State.
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