Explain and Comment on the role of the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
Explain and Comment on the role of the Criminal Cases Review Commission [20] June 2001 On 14 March 1991 the then Home Secretary announced the establishment of a Royal Commission on Criminal Justice to be chaired by Viscount Runciman of Doxford. The Royal Commission was charged with examining the effectiveness of the criminal justice system in securing the conviction of the guilty and the acquittal of the innocent. In making the announcement, the Home Secretary referred to such cases as the Birmingham Six and Judith Ward which had raised serious issues of concern to all, and the undermining of public confidence when the arrangements for criminal justice failed. It was felt that the Home Secretary was not sufficiently independent from the Government in order to review cases fairly. The Royal Commission's report was presented to Parliament in July 1993. It recommended the establishment of an independent body: * to consider suspected miscarriages of justice; * to arrange for their investigation where appropriate; and * to refer cases to the Court of Appeal where the investigation revealed matters that ought to be considered further by the courts. The Criminal Appeal Act 1995 was subsequently passed, enabling the establishment of the Criminal Cases Review Commission. The Criminal Cases Review Commission is an independent body (as opposed to what it was before
"The requirement of consideration is an unnecessary complication in the formation of contracts."
Elements of the law of contract Zone A examination paper Question 1 "The requirement of consideration is an unnecessary complication in the formation of contracts." Consideration is probably regarded as one of the most controversial issues in the law of contract. The traditional and/or orthodox doctrine is based on the principle of "reciprocity", which seems to suggest that a promise given should be exchanged for something in return. The requirement of Consideration was established since the sixteenth century in Common Law. The first mention of which had been in the form of quid pro quo, inter alia, a promise for a promise, and later, it was acceptable that even a detriment or forbearance like fulfilling the promise to marry such as in the case of Shadwell v Shadwell[1860] would be sufficient consideration. Consideration was first associated with debt such as in the Pinnel's case and had subsequently spread to other simple contracts. This has been criticized by Lord Mansfield in 1756, and was in view that it could only be treated as evidence of the parties' intention and held that a moral obligation should be sufficient consideration. It was only in the case of Eastwood v Kenyon[1840] that Lord Denman confirmed that the law required some factor additional to a defendant's promise, which is, consideration, whereby the promise becomes legally binding. So, if a
Contract Law - Offer And Acceptance
Contract Law Offer And Acceptance Contract Unilateral - Bilateral Contract Subjective-Objective Approach To An Agreement Offer Invitation To Treat Counter-offer Revocation Of Offer, Recall of Acceptance Acceptance Postal Rule-Limitation Contract Definition * Is an agreement between two or more parties that is intended to be legally binding (enforceable agreement) * Legally binding agreement needs of offer, acceptance, intention to create legal relations and consideration(difference between social agreement and legal agreement) * Is any promise or set of promises made by one party to another for the breach of which the law provides remedies * The remedies for the breach of contract is an award of monetary compensation, injunction, & specific performance(quantum meruit) Essential Element * The promise or promises may be express (either writing or oral) or may be implied from circumstances * Needs of writing is not essential for contract the Courts of US approved that as long as there is meeting of minds as though there is written, formal, signed contract then contract exists * However, for certain type of contract signed writing contract is needed (Statute of Fraud) * Mass production and nationalisation have led to the standard form contract * Freedom of contract is modified by some acts such as Consumer Credit Act 1974 & Unfair Contract Act
Is the current law on the non-fatal offences against the person satisfactory?
Reform of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person It has been recommended by many leading academic lawyers, including Professor Spencer, that the current legislation on non-fatal offences against the person be reformed to modernise and clarify the law. The Offences Against the Person Act 1861, under which the more serious offences of ABH, GBH and GBH with intent are charged, is one of the "workhorses" of the criminal law, and is responsible for approximately 80,000 cases a year; this strengthens the justification for improving the existing legislation through reform in order to make it more comprehensible. One of the main criticisms of the Act is that it is "outmoded" (Jack Straw), and much of the language is arcane and ambiguous. For example, before the case of Wilson v Pringle, it was unclear whether there was a requirement for hostility in the commission of a battery. Terms such as "occasioning" and "maliciously" are outdated and are in need of modernisation in order to make the law more accessible, particularly to laypeople. An additional complexity arises from the fact that the law is contained in a mixture of statute and case law. The Act itself was a consolidating statute that has been described as a "ragbag of offences" due to the lack of logical structure (for example, ABH is defined under section 47, whereas GBH and GBH with intent are defined under sections
European law
In order to explain and evaluate the role and jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice1 I shall discuss the provisions of the European Community2 Treaty, which clearly provide for individuals to enforce rights derived from European Community law that are limited in their scope. This will be followed by the role of ECJ and how it has developed a number of principles that widen this scope. These are the doctrines of supremacy and direct effect, which are established to give individuals rights to enforce the European Union3 law. On the other hand, criticising the fact that that it restricts individuals rights in respect of challenging their decision. The European Union is a unique partnership in which many countries work closely together for the benefit of their citizens. Currently there are 27 member states of the EU, who have agreed to work collectively on issues such as common interest. The central purpose for the EC is to achieve a deeper economic and political integration, ('The ever closer union'). The EU desires for individuals to rely on the EU law in order to enclose uniformity hence enabling everyone to integrate in a common market. The common market, aims to increase a balanced growth on an economic and social level in respect of each member state. ECJ is one of the official institutions of the Community Treaty and plays a major part in the development
Judicial Precedent
Judicial precedent The doctrine of judicial precedent is based on the principle of stare decisis, meaning 'to stand by what has been decided'. Under this doctrine, legal decisions made by judges in higher courts set a precedent for judges in equal or lower courts to follow. For the system to operate successfully, three things are required: . a ratio decidendi 2. an accurate record of legal proceedings, otherwise known as law reports 3. a hierarchy of courts Ratio decidendi Ratio decidendi, meaning 'the reason for deciding', is the legal principle laid down in each case. It is given by the judge at the end of a case as the explanation of his/her decision. It is the ratio decidendi which must be followed in future cases of similar fact, this is what is meant by a binding precedent. For example, in R v Howe (1987) the defendant was found to be guilty of murder as his defence of duress which he had pleaded had been found unsubstantial by the House of Lords in a previous case of similar fact. However, judges do not always make it clear what the ratio decidendi of their decision is, judgements are not set out with clear headings. Therefore it is up to the person reading the judgement to determine what exactly the ratio decidendi is. Also in the appeal courts, the decision is made by more than one judge. Even if all the judges reach the same decision they may have arrived at
Critically discuss different possible meanings of justice and explore the relationship between law and justice
Critically discuss different possible meanings of justice and explore the relationship between law and justice? (30+5 marks) As Lord Wright commented there is not satisfactory definition of justice. What is considered just in a particular case is what appears just by a just man. Similarly, the thing that appears reasonable to a reasonable man would be considered as reasonable. However, some people may see justice as applying the same rules in the same manner to all people. In other words, treating like cases alike. But then again, this could also lead injustice. Because people have varied definitions of justice, the issues of fairness and equality help support the concept. This shows the link between law and justice. However, it helps identify miscarriages of justice where people are wrongly convicted of criminal offences. Aristotle who was an ancient Greek philosopher, was one of the first to put forward his view. His theory was that a just law is one that would enable people to fulfil themselves in society. Meaning the law should promote justice. This made him differentiate the concept into two types; distributive and corrective justice. Distributive justice is the allocation of assets with the ideal of achieving proportion according to each individuals claim. In other words, all benefits and burdens should be distributed fairly. On
police powers
Police Powers Questions Q1. Describe the powers of the police to stop and search on the street. And to conduct further searches at the police station. If you are stopped you'll first be asked where you're going and what you've been doing. The police may then decide to search you but only if they have a good reason, for example, that you fit the profile of a criminal seen in the area, or they think you're acting suspiciously. But it is not reasonable to stop and search on the basis of race, dress, or previous convictions. If subsequently you are searched it will take place on the street. If you are asked to remove more than your coat and gloves, or anything you wear for religious reasons, they must take you somewhere out of public view. The police can also search your vehicle. If you're carrying something illegal, such as a weapon, or the police believe you've committed a crime, you may be arrested. You don't have to give your name, address or date of birth to the police if you're stopped and searched unless you're being arrested. They can arrest anyone who is about to commit and offence, who is in the act of committing an offence, or whom he has reasonable ground of suspecting to be committing an offence. If you have been arrested, because you were caught committing an offence; or there is a warrant for your arrest, you will then be taken to a police station. Here you will
Reform of the law on murder.The law commission say it is rickety structure set on shaky foundations and is in dire need of reform. The whole offence as an overview is complex, unclear, uncertain and unfair.
Reform of Murder Murder is a common law offence which is interpreted by the courts. The current common law offence was defined by coke in the 17th century and still exists today. It also doesn't allow for any differentiation between different kinds of killing. Which now, there are many different types of killings such as serial killings, euthanasia, mercy killings etc and therefore the law should adapt to support this. The law commission say it is "rickety structure set on shaky foundations" and is "in dire need of reform". The whole offence as an overview is complex, unclear, uncertain and unfair. In regards to the actus reus, there are some problems with many aspects including cokes definition of "unlawful killing of a human being". First, for the term "human being", it is a bit confusing into what counts as life, and what counts as death in regards to murder. The term "life" is defined in AG ref (NO3 1994) as being from when you are born and breathing independently from the mother. However, for death there is no legal definition, only a medical one of "brain stem" death Malcherek and steel. It doesn't seem to make sense that there is a legal definition for life but not for death, there should be a legal definition for both. In regards to "unlawful killing", this is an issue of causation. There are different opinions on the way self neglect such as in the case Dear
Describe the training for both Barristers and Solicitors.
Describe the training for both Barristers and Solicitors. To become a solicitor or barrister the first stage is the academic stage. You can specialise and get a law degree which covers the 7 core topics over 3 years. The 7 topics are contract law, tort, public law which includes (constitutional, administrative and human rights law), criminal law, property law, equity and trusts and European Union law. This will lead to the vocational stage. If you have a non law degree then a 1 year Common Professionals examination (CPE) course in law which covers the 7 core topics must be taken. The fees for this are about 7000 pounds and this will lead to the vocational stage. If you are a non graduate and want to become a solicitor you must take the Institute of Legal Executive route and take exams part 1 and 2 as well as work in a solicitors firm for 5 years. To become a barrister you must take a 2 year CPE course in law. This will then lead you to the vocational stage. At the vocational stage if you are training to be a solicitor you must take a Legal Practice Course (LPC) which is a 1 year course full time and 2 years part time. The fees are around 10,000 pounds and you will learn skills such as advocacy, negotiation, interviewing and legal and procedural knowledge. If you are training to become a barrister you must take a Bar Professionals Training Course (BPTC). This course can be
