Development of case law

Assignment 1.1 When William 1 arrived in England in 1066 he began to lay the basis for the development of common law. He did this gradually using subtle tactics. First of all he introduced the feudal system, this was where all the land belonged to the King and bits of this was granted to people who supported him and were willing to do something in return for the land. Land could have been of great benefit to some at this time for example it may have been used to make a living for many, so therefore more people would have been willing to offer the King services. The people who did gain land passed it on to their follows and so eventually the King gained control of the whole country. This contributed to the development of common law as having control over the whole country brings a lot of power with it and therefore he was able to take the next step. William was available to anyone who had a problem and could not get redress from his lord. Kings justice was available to everyone regardless of where they lived and in the beginning the king's justice was administrated by the Curia Regis. They made up a set of rules which applied to the whole country and this became known as common law. Also from the 13th century written records were kept and this put a definite stamp on any judgement since no one could argue with the authority of the court. By about 1250 a common law had

  • Word count: 886
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Law
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Judicial precedents has many different advantages and disadvantages. The main advantage is the certainty. It

Law Assignment 2.2 When a judge is deciding the outcome for a case, she must follow any decisions that a past judge in a higher court than itself had made, in a case with similar facts. The decisions of who binds each court are known as judicial precedence, otherwise known as stare decisis. Not only are courts bound by ones higher than themselves, but sometimes by their own previous decisions. The term Ratio decidendi means the reason for the decision. This is the legal principle on which a principle is based and it must be done. This means that it is a binding precedent and other judges must follow it. Obiter dicta are different though. It just means 'by the way', although they are spoken by the judge they were not the basis on which the decision was made. They are not binding but just persuasive precedent for future judges to consider in future cases. An example of where they can be used is in the case High Trees. In this case a company renting out flats let the rent half in price as it was during the war so most of the flats were empty. When the war was over and the flats were full the rent was declared to be put back up to the original price but it was argued that the cheaper price had been permanently agreed till the end of their lease. The judge ruled that the price was to go back to the original value as the flats were full. That was the Ratio decidendi

  • Word count: 902
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Law
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Nations Bank of North Carolina, N.A. V. Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company

Case Review #1 Nations Bank of North Carolina, N.A. V. Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company San Caraballo LAW 529 / Legal Environment of Business Galen Bland, J.D. July 25, 2005 Case Name, Citation and Court Nations Bank of North Carolina, N.A. V. Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company, 115 Supreme Court 810 (1995) Summary of Key Facts Nations Bank sought permission from the Comptroller of the Currency to sell annuities. When this permission was granted as "incidental to the business of banking," Variable Annuity Life Insurance Co. (VALIC) filed a law suit challenging the Comptroller's decision. The District Court upheld the Comptroller's ruling, but the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed it. Nations bank petitioned the Supreme Court for review and certiorari was granted. Legal Issues 1 - Should a bank, an institution commonly known for deposit savings and check cashing, be allowed to sell annuities to the public? 2 - Should annuities be considered a form of investment as presented by Nations Bank in this case? Holding Yes, much like a typical savings account, Roth IRA, CD or any other form of long and/or short term investment service, banks are authorized to carry on the business of banking. As long as a transaction between the bank and the customer has occurred in which the customer willingly buys, sells, exchange, borrow money or personal security

  • Word count: 674
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Law
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Do we need the Bill of Rights? I think so. If we didn't have them, we could get a cruel and unusual punishment for doing a minor thing.

Nick Jensen Sunday, October 01, 2000 Per 1 Mr. Shockey Do we need the Bill of Rights? I think so. If we didn't have them, we could get a cruel and unusual punishment for doing a minor thing. For instance shoplifting, if we shoplifted we could have our hand chopped off. This may keep people from stealing but I think it's a bit much. A 30-year-old man was indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with the robbery of an Omaha credit union in the summer 1999. Alonxo Wright of 122 Park Ave. is charged with a count of bank robbery. Alonzo was accused of robbing the Midwest Industrial Credit Union on July 8 1999. This article relates to the fifth amendment. It states no person shall be held to answer for a capital or other infamous crime unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service, in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property be taken for public use with out just compensation. Starting on Sunday, October 01, 2000 every new handgun sold in Maryland, the manufacturer will have to give state police a spent shell casing carrying the weapon's ballistic

  • Word count: 596
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Law
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as You Like It..One of these is the relationship between the court fool Touchstone and a simple country girl named Audrey,

As You Like It is a play written by William Shakespeare. It is a pastoral comedy, involving a traditional literary style, which allows it to separate from naturalism in its bid to portray the main plot of the story i.e. through conversations rather than a carefully outlined plot. The conversations are derived from the many important relationships of love and hate throughout the play. One of these is the relationship between the court fool Touchstone and a simple country girl named Audrey, which among other things highlights the characteristics of these characters and the difference between country and court life. This essay will attempt to describe this relationship and explain how it helps the reader understand these characters. Initially, before Touchstone journeyed out into the forest of Ardenne, his position in the court was looked on by many as a favoured position because as the court fool you were able to speak your mind and still be looked upon as a fool. In court Touchstone used this to his advantage as he pushed many boundaries and revealed valuable secrets from within the depths of the harsh and malicious court system. Despite this advantage, his position on the Chain of Being, which rules the structured court, is still very low and his words are mainly considered as foolish as his title suggests. "The more pity that fools may not speak wisely what wise men

  • Word count: 845
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Law
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Law : Juries & Judges

Law Coursework Jury Trial within the English Legal System. The Jury system throughout England is one, which manages to give the public the chance to play a vital part in the legal system. This gives you the chance to see what is going on throughout the law and informs you what happens in court. You, as a juror will usually be involved in the more serious criminal cases such as burgluary, theft and drug offences. It would be less likely that you would be sitting in a case about murder or rape. The trial which you would attend would be seen in the Crown Court. However, sometimes a juror would be needed in a civil case, which would be heard at either the High Court or County Court. Although a jury would be less likely to be in a civil case than a criminal case. The usual amount of people on a dury is 12, usually there will be a cross-section of the society in order to get a fair and unbiased trial. Your aim as a jury would be to consider the evidence and then reach a verdict of 'guilty' or 'not guilty.' In order to be able to become a juror you have to have some certain qualities, such as: * Between 18 and 70 years of age. * On the electoral register to vote. * Lived in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man for at least 5 years since the age of 13. All of these qualifications are set out by the Juries Act 1974. However, some people still, even with these qualities, appear

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Law
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Lay magistrates rarely have any experience of the law before they are appointed

Magistrates The office of Justices of the Peace was first established over 600 years ago with the Justices of the Peace Act 1361 and Justices of the Peace or Lay Magistrates are essential to our legal system and try (or least deal with in some respect) 93% of all criminal cases and also perform an important function with regard to some civil areas. The role of the magistrates can be listed as follows:- > Trying summary offences > Trying offences triable either way where the accused elects for summary trial > Holding committal proceedings where the offence is TEW and the accused elects for jury trial. > Issuing summons, issuing search warrants and warrants for arrest. > Dealing with applications for bail > Dealing with applications for legal aid in criminal cases > Dealing with applications for licences such as firearms and liquor > Dealing with certain domestic matters such as maintenance orders etc. > Trying offences committed by youths in the Youth Court. Appointment Lay magistrates are appointed by the Minister of Constitutional Affairs on behalf of the Crown on the advice of a local advisory committee. These committees may either approach people or you can apply to become a magistrate. You must be under the age of 65 and must live within 15 miles of the bench on which you will serve. The Ministry of Constitutional Affairs has now issued a job description

  • Word count: 1611
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Law
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Does a conspiracy end when the government becomes involved?

NO. 01-1184 U.S., Brett Siegal and Eric Walk V. Francisco Jimenez Recio and Adrain Lopez-Meza Question Presented: Does a conspiracy end when the government becomes involved? Statement: Conspiracy is only over when the goal abandoned and not, necessarily when the government intervenes. Being that the government did intervene and the conspirators never gave up the conspiracy did not end. In this case the respondents were charged with "conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana and with possession of cocaine and marijuana with intent to distribute [it]". Both Francisco Jimenez Recio and Adrain Lopez-Meza were convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana. Recio was sentenced to 126 months prison time with 5 years of supervision afterwards. Lopez-Meza was sentenced to 132 months prison time with 5 years of supervision afterwards. On November 18, 1997 at 1 a.m. the Nevada police stopped a pickup truck. In the truck were 369 pounds of marijuana and 14.8 pound of cocaine. The drivers claimed that they were told to drive the truck to a mall in Idaho. The government set up a sting operation and got the truck to the designated location. The arrested drivers of the truck called the pager number to notify the people picking up the drugs at the mall where the truck was. 3 hours later Francisco Jimenez Recio and Adrain Lopez-Meza

  • Word count: 654
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Law
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The Comption Three

Liam Knightley10z THE COMPTON THREE We go back through the streets of Los Angeles and we see a scruffy basketball court, packed with "ballers," some of these players could have been professionals and gone to college if they hadn't been caught up in the gangster, drug-dealing lifestyle. As we walk through the barbwire gate, we look over and see money being placed into a hat, all of the players put twenty dollars in each; the money is shared between the winning team. As we scan across the court we see teams of three warming up, to be ready for the big tournament, every team believes it can win, but the favourites to win are a group of three who have been together since the little leagues. The team call themselves the Compton Three because that's what their teacher in junior high called them. The team captain is arguably the best player on court today, his name is CJ Styles, he's a six foot seven, Afro-American and a bit of a show-off on court but when he is not playing ball he's very shy and quiet. The playmaker of the team is white with brown hair and brown eyes, his name is Steve Ross and he was brought up just round the corner from the court. The defensive player of the team is Samuel Rodrigues. He's a tall dark Hispanic Californian, who's had a very tough life his dad left before he was born to go back to Mexico, and his mum died when he was twelve, Steve and CJ

  • Word count: 962
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Law
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Law - Resulting trusts

Peter Gibson L.J. began his judgment in Drake v Whipp: "Yet again this court is asked to rule on a dispute between a man and a woman, who cohabited but were not married to each other, as to their respective beneficial interests in a property which they purchased to be their home but which was put into the man's name only. The usual lengthy litany of authorities as well as more recent additions have been recited to us and, as is notorious, it is not easy to reconcile every judicial utterance in this well-travelled area of the law." The above indicates just how frustrated the courts have become with the area of resulting trusts. The years when men did the work and women stayed home and cooked have gone but yet the law still has not changed, women now considered equal as seen in Article 5 Protocol 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights which requiring the law to treat husband and wife equally. This paper will consider the judgments made and reform offered and whether the current general law is adequate. In Re Vandervells Trust No 21 Megarry J. described what a presumed resulting trust was: "The first class of case is where the transfer to B is not made on any trust ... there is a rebuttable presumption that B holds on resulting trust for A. The question is not one of the automatic consequences of a dispositive failure by A, but one of presumption: the property has been

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  • Word count: 8003
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Law
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