Assess the impact of the introduction of the Human Rights Act 1998 on the rights of an individual in the UK.
Human Rights Act 1998 European Convention of Human Rights(ECHR) is drawn up by the Council of Europe after World War 2. The European Court of Human Rights is located at Strasbourg. The Convention sets out the rights and basic freedoms that people are entitled to expect. The Human Rights Act 1998(HRA) incorporates the rights enshrined by the European Convention of Human Rights into domestic law. Prior to the Human Rights Act 1998, a person can bring a case to court when the state has ratified the Convention. If a breach of rights is recognised by courts, UK will then amend their laws (that are in contrast with the ECHR), this may be expensive and slow. As the ratification of the Convention is not incorporation into domestic law, there is supremacy of the Parliament, hence judges have no jurisdictional basis on which they could employ the Convention. In the R v Inland Revenue Commissioner’s case it was held that will of parliament is upheld where the statute is clear and unambiguous. This position changed radically with the passing of Human Rights Act incorporating the Convention into domestic law. The Human Rights Act protects the rights such as the right to life (Article 2).There is no violation where a loss of life is due to reasonable self-defence and necessary for lawful arrest. However, the scope of Article 2 is broad and vague and it is unclear as to the duty that
Sources of the English Legal System and the Relationship between Legislation and Judicial precedent.
FC012 T2258212Khanum, F. Introduction. The present legal system of England and Wales has expanded over many centuries and has also changed regularly during this period. Modern difficulties and needs have led to widespread changes in the court system they include the coordination of the legal profession and the process followed by the courts (Ward and Akhtar, 2008). The English law consists of eight sources that include the Interpretation of Statues, Act of Parliament, Judicial precedent, Treaties, Equity, Custom, European law, and Delegated legislation. However, this essay will be discussing three sources of law, they include: Judicial precedent, Statutory Interpretation and Legislation . This essay will also discuss the relationship between the legislation and judicial precedent and the rules of the statutory interpretation. Sources of English Legal System. Firstly, the judicial precedent is also known as case law, common law or judge-made law. The judicial precedent also known as case law originates from the decisions made by judges in the cases before them (Elliott and Quinn, 2011). In making a decision concerning a case, there are two basic steps. The first step is verifying the facts (what happened) and secondly, how the applies to those facts. There are three requirements needed for judicial precedent. They include; the court hierarchy, law reporting, and
Property Offences, Corporate Manslaughter and Police Powers of Search and Entry.
Task 3: Identify the elements of property offences. . Theft Theft Act 1968 states that a person will be responsible of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property which is belonging to another with the purpose of permanently depriving the other of it. For Actus Reus related to theft it can be that if a person in a business steals company files without having permission to do so, this means that the person would be committing theft and for this reason they can be found guilty. For the Mens Rea of theft, the person must have been intended to steal something from the company such as the company files, this can be done due to get a member of staff in the company in trouble or to get them sacked. There was a case where a person was convicted of theft. D was a solicitor who transferred money from his clients' account to a higher account in an attempt to cover his personal debts. D was guilty since it was an illegal action to take. Fernandes, R v [1996]. 2: Obtaining property by deception Fraud Act 2006 states that you cannot gain property by giving incorrect information. For example a person who is working to care for an elderly or disabled person, but the person who is caring for them has access to the elderly or disabled person's bank account and misuses his position by transferring money to invest in a high-risk business of his own. The Mens Rea of obtaining property by
Nina runs a burger bar. She puts up a sign in the window saying Our burgers are the best in town. Chips cooked in vegetable oil. Omar, a strict vegetarian, asks for a portion of chips and a veggie burger. He later discovers that animal oil a
Nina runs a burger bar. She puts up a sign in the window saying "Our burgers are the best in town. Chips cooked in vegetable oil." Omar, a strict vegetarian, asks for a portion of chips and a veggie burger. He later discovers that animal oil as well as vegetable oil was used to cook the chips. Anyway, the burger tastes awful. Prafal asks for a can of lemonade. Quince, who has been employed by Nina as a cashier, rather than giving him one of Nina's cans of lemonade, gives Prafal a can which she bought earlier from a supermarket. She pockets the money Prafal pays for the can and does not report the purchase to Nina. When later interviewed by the police she says that although most people would regard what she had done dishonest, she thinks that a lot of people would not. On the way out, Prafal picks up a newspaper belonging to Nina. He returns it the next day. What crimes, if any, have been committed? I will argue that Nina is committing fraud by false representation under section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006. I believe Quince is potentially committing fraud by failing to disclose information under section 3, but does not quite fulfil all the requirements but there is also a potential that she is committing fraud by failing to abuse of position under section 4 and even fraud by false representation. There is no need to prove which means was used to commit fraud as long as the jury
Prison Inmate Rehabilitation Through Education
Kayli Sears Prison Inmate Rehabilitation Through Education The United States incarcerates more people than any other country in the world and for the first time in the nation's history, more than one in every 100 American adults is confined in a prison or jail (Vicini). The current growth is not necessarily driven by a parallel increase in crime or population growth. The increase more stems from the wave of policy changes that are sending more lawbreakers to prison and through the tougher three-strike laws and other sentencing structures that are keeping convicted criminals in jail or prison longer. An even more alarming statistic is that more than half of inmates released from jail or prison are habitual repeat offenders who end up incarcerated over and over again. The necessity to keep violent criminals and those who threaten communities behind bars or to make sure those that break laws are punished and face consequences for their actions is of unquestionable importance, but the high prison populations and the high cost of American tax dollars to house these inmates proves that there is a flaw in the system. No one seems to be benefiting in the long run. The high probability of an offender becoming a repeat offender once they are released is not an issue that can be ignored. Since the judicial programs can not seem to deter convicted criminals from returning there
List and explain the six most important cases for the law on insanity, explaining why they are the most important cases when it comes to the development of the law.
List and explain the six most important cases for the law on insanity, explaining why they are the most important cases when it comes to the development of the law. The six cases I consider most important in the development of the law on insanity is M’Naghten (1956), Kemp (1956), Clarke (1972), Burgess (1991), Quick (1973) and Windle (1952). Each of these cases has been vital in the development of the law on insanity, for different reasons, which will be discussed in this essay. M’Naghten 1843 Daniel M’Naghten was charged with the murder of the then Prime Minister’s secretary. M’Naghten was described as ‘an extreme paranoiac entangled in an elaborate system of delusions’, which led him to believe he was being persecuted by the ‘Tories’, who were to blame for various personal and financial misfortunes. He had intended to kill the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel. Medical witnesses testified that he was insane, and the jury found him not guilty on the grounds of insanity. He was committed to Broadmoor where he remained until his death 20 years later. Despite this, there was public outrage at the fact he had been acquitted of all wrong-doing, and so the House of Lords created the rules as an attempt to clarify the defence. It must be noted that these rules were not made in the case of M’Naghten; they were created after the case in a joint effort of 14
The History and Main Features of Criminal Law in the USA.
Karen Mazo CJ 203-B4 05/17/2012 Criminal Law The study of criminal law is actually a study of human behavior. It is more than a study of specific crimes; it is also an examination of the rules of human behavior and criminal responsibility.[1]Criminal law is based on moral values, and many of our crimes are also violations of our moral standards.People in all societies have the inherit right to protect their society and those living in that society from acts that threaten either the society or the people.[2] And for this reason we have written or unwritten laws forbidding and punishing acts considered harmful to the group or the individual. The Colonial period in America saw changes to the English Common Law which reflected the cultural and social differences that were developing in the new nation. In many ways the law in America became more complex, reflecting the influence of “enlightenment” philosophy and, at the same time, reacting to the concentration of power in the hands of the leaders.[3]Conflicting ideologies and shifting demographics resulted in a natural state of checks and balances in the criminal justice system. The power of the jury to decide both “the facts and the law” acted as an informal reform of the system.[4] As criminal law developed in the 20th century, American Jurisprudence moved further and further away from common law principle that a
Critically discuss the Labour Governments record of crime control since coming to power in 1997
Labour Government Crime Critically discuss the Labour Government’s record of crime control since coming to power in 1997 When Labour came to power in 1997, they used Tony Blair’s famous statement of four years earlier, “tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime”, to demonstrate their tough policies on crime. This was in contrast to the more soft approach seen to be adopted by the Conservative party at that time. However, it also meant that Labour intended to act more vigorously on preventing the causes of crime, such as poor education, lack of role models, and the break down of the familial structure. Various policies came out of this attitude, such as the zero-tolerance campaign on drug related crimes and gun crime. The government also introduced the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and dramatically increased CCTV footage across the country to help prevent crime and help solve crimes, thus addressing both crime itself and the causes of crime. Whether these initiatives made any difference to the amount of crime recorded is discussed below. Police Recorded Crime has increased steadily since the Labour Government came to power in 1997. There was one exception which was that the figures for 2004/2005 showed a 6% fall in crime compared to 2003/4. However, one should be aware that in 1998/1999 there was a change in the Home Office Counting Rules for crime. This coincides
Critical evaluation of murder for A2 law unit 4
Murder answer plan At the beginning of its report on the Partial Defences to Murder (Law Com 290, 2004), the Law Commission says expressly that it "has long considered that the law of murder is in need of review". This shows that it has been brought to the attention of parliament by their advisors that the law on murder is in an great need of being changed, however as parliament doesn't have to follow all that the law commission suggests to them - all the law commission is designed to do is to suggest to parliament things they think need to be changed, not things parliament will in fact change. This shows that there are indeed some points of the law on murder which need to be addressed, but that parliament isnt responding to that need as they don't feel they have the time to carry out the drafting of a statue to change it. So it shows a lack of commitment to addressing the law on behalf of parliament, whose job it is really to make the country a safer place to live in for the citizens of the UK, but it is debatable as to how safe our country really is when parliament don't commit the time to changing important statutes on murder as murder is a serious issue as to the life and wellbeings of british citizens - many people want justice to be served by those who are a danger to society. The law on murder is considered to be quite old, as the definition used for it was by Lord
LAW AND THE LEGAL SYSTEM
Law and the Legal System There are two main criminal courts in the England and Wales. The Magistrate's Court and the Crown Court. The magistrate's court is for minor offences and any case that will result in a punishment of no more than a five thousand pound fine or six month imprisonment will be tried here. However if the case is likely to exceed the maximum punishment it will be passed on to the crown court. Serious cases like rape or murder will be tried at the Crown Court. If somebody believes that they have been wrongly accused they have the opportunity to appeal to the courts. However if they were sentenced by a magistrates court they would have to appeal to a crown court, if they were sentenced by a crown court they would have to appeal to a high court, if they had been convicted at a high court then they will have to go to a court of appeal. However there must be reasonable grounds for the appeal. The sentenced must have new evidence or reason of a clear mistake. Crown Court The crown court is found in most cities. It is used for trying serious crimes. There are 15 types of people involved; * Judge - a highly qualified lawyer with successful experience in criminal law as a barrister. The judge has to listen to both sides of the story (the prosecution and defence). If the defendant pleads not guilty then a jury will be called in who will along with the assistance
