english law

Law Q. Is there an independent judiciary in the United Kingdom? What obstacles, if any, hinder this independence? Although judges in the English Legal System are not part of the law making process, and full time judges are not allowed to be members of the House of Commons, they are still thought to be independent in a number of ways, as an independent judiciary plays an important role in protecting the liberty of an individual from abuse of power by the executive. There is flexibility in the law for part time judges and they are allowed to be members of the Parliament. Judges can be members of the House of Lords in its legislative function, and can take part in debates on new laws. These Law Lords can now participate in controversial political debates which they were previously not allowed to do. An area where Law Lords participated was in government policies on sentencing, where Lord Taylor criticized minimum sentences. Judges play a role in law making through the doctrine of judicial precedent. There have been cases in which judges have refused to change past precedent saying that it is the job of the Parliament to make amendments to law and not of the judges. An example of such a case is C v DPP (1994) regarding the criminal responsibility of children. As superior judges cannot be dismissed by the Government, they are truly independent of it and can make decisions

  • Word count: 723
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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LAW REPORT on Macgregor(TM)s case

Title: LAW REPORT on Macgregor's case The Problem Peter booked a room for a week at MacGregor's Hotel. At the reception desk, where he made the booking, was a notice in the form laid down by the hotel Proprietors Act 1956 limiting the hotel's liability for loss of, or damage to guest's property. Peter asked the receptionist to look after his expensive Olympus camera but she refused saying that there was no room in the hotel safe. On the second night of his stay he invited his friend Beatrice to dinner in the hotel's restaurant. At dinner, without consulting Beatrice, Peter ordered Helford oysters for both of them. The oysters that were served to them in fact came from Whitstable and several of them were bad. Later in the meal Beatrice, already beginning to feel the effects of the oysters, left table in search of a lavatory. On her way there, suddenly overcome by dizziness, she tripped on a piece of torn stair carpet and fell heavily, breaking her arm. The meal was abandoned and Peter returned to his room hungry and bad tempered only to discover that his Olympus camera had been stolen. Being the defence advice MacGregor about his legal liabilities. Introduction This brief advises MacGregor as to the legal liabilities he faces as a consequence of the incidents as detailed above. It is advised that if this matter proceeds to court, which is likely, then Beatrice's

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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Judges & The Judiciary

Judges & The Judiciary There are several levels of judges. All judges are required to be independent from government or political pressures. The Lord Chancellor who is responsible for the judiciary whilst being a member of parliament conflicts with the idea of separation of powers. Appointment and selection The Lord Chancellor appoints judges for the lower level courts and nominates people for the higher levels. The judges of the court of appeal and the house of lord the prime minister makes the nomination however this would be on the recommendation of the Lord Chancellor. Adverts are placed in the judiciary office for high court judges and lower. High court judges are still selected by invitation. The Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 sets out the relevant qualifications required to become a judge at any level. A candidate must have qualified as a barrister or solicitor. To become a judge in the high court and above the candidate must hold full advocacy rights. Training judges is the responsibility of the Judicial Studies Board. Training is normally just one day or a short course. This is to keep judges up to date with developing and changing laws, precedents, human rights, racial awareness, etc training is however very limited due to available time. One of the judiciaries main criticism is that is it made up nearly completely of white, middle aged, middle

  • Word count: 510
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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Outline the main purpose and roles of two contrasting Uniformed Public Services.

Josh Birchall Roles and Responsibilities of different Uniformed Public Services Task 1: Outline the main purpose and roles of two contrasting Uniformed Public Services. Royal Air Force Mission Statement: “The Royal Air Force exists to generate air power to meet the Defence mission” Legislations: . Armed Forces Act 2006 – This act harmonises the arrangements for discipline across all three services so that all personnel are subject to same system wherever in the world they are serving. This increases fairness and efficiency, particular in joint units, and thus support operational effectiveness. Roles: . Defend the UK and its interests 2. Strengthen international peace and stability 3. Be a force for good in the world Responsibilities: . Air defence – A quick reaction alert force of Tornado F3 and Typhoon aircraft is ready at all times to intercept any airborne threat to the United Kingdom, aided by radar and command and control sites and VC10 air to air refuelling tankers. . Search and rescue – Also on standby 24/7 are S&R helicopters and mountain rescue teams, ready to rescue those in distress, or to provide aid during domestic emergencies. 2. Ground attack – The Royal air force regiment is the ground fighting force of the Royal air force. The RAF regiment fights on the ground to insure control of the air. . Aerial Reconnaissance- On the

  • Word count: 1119
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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Are judges independent

Are judges independent? A power passed by a French political theorist called Montesquieu states "that there are three primary functions of the state and that the only way to safeguard the liberty of the citizens is by keeping these here functions separate." The three main powers that ach group has is; . The legislature. This is the law-making area of the state or In England the Parliament. 2. The executive or the body administering the law. Under the British political system this is the government of the day which forms the Cabinet. 3. The judiciary who apply the law. The judges Independent and separate bodies can check on each others powers and this will limit the amount of power each group will have. The ministers forming government also sit in Parliament and are active in law making decisions process these members are also part of the Legislative and executive area of the governing body of the country. Excluding them from government corruption. Judges are not allowed to get involved in making the laws that take place within parliament. Full time judges are not allowed to sit in the House of Commons but are allowed to become involved in joining the House of Lords in its legislative function as the Law Lords are life peers and can take part in debates on new laws being passed. Superior judges are presumed to be independent because they cannot be dismissed by the

  • Word count: 821
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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Barristor and Solicitor

Describe the ways in which solicitors and barrister are trained (18 marks) In England, since the 15th century lawyers have been split up into two professions, barristers & solicitors. Solicitors have traditionally been the people who research cases and barristers have traditionally had rights of audiences in court. There are 60,000 solicitors in the U.K. and 6,000 barristers of which 4,000 are currently working in London. There are two ways to become a barrister. One would be taking a law degree and the other would be a non-law degree. If you want to become a barrister it is best to think about it from an earlier stage, especially if that person wants to qualify by doing a law degree. When taking law degrees most law courses last 3 years at university and it is important to ensure that a student is studying for an LL.B. course as for the others, such as BA courses, may not have all the key subjects in the course. Before taking the next stage of training, students must demonstrate that they have covered the same key subjects at University as solicitors. To become a barrister you need a good class degree, as competition is high; at least 2II is required. The law students need to decide whether they want to be barristers while at university, as all applications go to the Bar Vocational Course, this must be made in the first term of the last year at university. However, with

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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Literal rule

a) literal rule; the literal rule says that the intention of parliament is best found in the ordinary natural meaning of the words this he literal meaning rule, the literal meaning must be followed, even if the result is silly. Lord Esher stated in R v judge of city of London court; if the words of an act are clear, you must follow them, even though they lead to a manifest absurdities e.g. Whitely v chapel (1808). A statute aimed at preventing electoral malpractice made it an offence to impersonate "any person entitled to vote" at an election. The accused was acquitted because he impersonated a dead person and a dead person is not entitled to vote. Golden rule: the golden rule says that if the literal rule produces an absurdity. The court should look for another meaning of the word that avoids the absurd result. In river wear commission v Adamson(1877) lord Blackburn said the golden rule is that to take the whole world of the statute together giving the word their ordinary signification, unless when so applied they produce an inconsistency or absurdity so great as to convince the court that the intention could not have been to use them in their convenience so great as to convince the court that the intention could not have been to use them in their ordinary signification and to justify the court putting on them some other signification which though less proper is one which

  • Word count: 1457
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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Discuss whether or not the most appropriate people are chosen as judges

Discuss whether or not the most appropriate people are chosen as judges Judges can be split into two categories; superior and inferior. Although each judge has a different role in their own court all appointment of judges goes through the Lord Chancellor, currently Lord Falconer. But whether the appointment of judges is a fair process or not is a topic of interest and certain biases have been shown to exist. For superior judges (Law Lords, Lord Justices of Appeal and Puisne Judges) it is the Lord Chancellor that actually selects them and does the appointing. However this has been shown to be an unfair process. There is an 'Old Boys Network' which basically means that if you are a friend of, or are known to the Lord Chancellor you have a higher chance of being selected as a judge. Obviously this is extremely unfair, as it has nothing to do with people's ability and is all to do with who the Lord Chancellor knows and likes. This could mean that someone could become a judge who is not as worthy or will be as good at the job as another person who the Lord Chancellor doesn't know. Another problem with the Lord Chancellor selecting who becomes a judge could be due to him having a political bias. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Prime Minister, so is likely to favour people who are supporters of the Prime Ministers party, so in the case of today this would be people

  • Word count: 686
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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Are judges independent or neutral?

Are judges independent or neutral? (30marks) Alex McNichol 12Dii Judges are supposed to be totally independent from the government. They are there to protect the rights of citizens in Britain. The government says that the Lord Chancellor despite the fact they are appointed by the Government are still 100% independent and neutral. This I personally find difficult to agree with as the government pays the bills of the Judges, the government is able to sack judges and the more the judges agree with the government the more the government likes them. A judge liked by the government is more likely to be given a higher position or more power than a judge who is disliked by the government. I am sure that my cynical view on the judicial neutrality is most of the time incorrect, but I cannot help feeling that in some cases judges have benefited greatly from siding with the government in certain cases. The government at the moment is able to overrule any decision made by the judicial system; this concludes that the government really has very little power. Despite the fact the government claims they have nothing to do with the system if it came down to a really important decision they would have the power to alter the outcome. Judges are paid a huge amount to prevent them from being tempted by bribery. With the large pay check that they receive each year they are expected to make

  • Word count: 450
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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Explain how judges are appointed and how the courts and legal service act 1990 along with other acts have affected the selection and training, also discuss the argument that judges are old white and mainly male who are out of touch with society.

Explain how judges are appointed and how the courts and legal service act 1990 along with other acts have affected the selection and training, also discuss the argument that judges are old white and mainly male who are out of touch with society. By Jab Rakeem Plan Explain criteria of System of Solicitors, Barristers to judges. Secret Soundings? What is the Legal service act? Who and how do they set them up? What is contained in the 1990 legal service act? What other acts are there which has affected training and selection? Why are judges' old white males? 87% are male. What are the trends in the past/future? Why are they out of touch with society? What has made them become out of touch? What reforms should be taken to keep them in touch with society? In the English Legal system, there are two classifications of judge. The superior judge and an inferior judge. Inferior judges consist of District judges, Circuit judges and Stipendiary judges. These types of judges, are all the starting point in becoming a superior judge. An inferior judge applies for their position though newspaper advertisements. The minimum period that you must have been a solicitor or barrister is ten years. You must also fit the right qualities given out by the Lord Chancellors office. Before an inferior judge sits on a case, they must have permission to do so by the Lord Chancellor.

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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