The European Court of Human Rights was set up in 1959 as part of the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1951). Its aims were to enforce across Europe many aspects of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights...

The European Court of Human Rights was set up in 1959 as part of the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1951). Its aims were to enforce across Europe many aspects of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (1948). The Court was set up as a mechanism used for enforcement of the obligations, which the states had entered into. Its role is as one of the most important Courts in Europe. Its decisions are now directly applicable in the United Kingdom since the Human Rights Act (1998) and its jurisprudence along with the articles and protocols of the ECHR laid the foundation for human rights law in most European countries. Its most significant role is as protector of fundamental human rights within the States of the Council of Europe. Since the United Kingdom became a signatory to the ECHR, it has had far more effect than any other human rights treaty. The British courts have given much weight to the jurisprudence of the European Court. Judges in England have given heavy weight to judgements from Strasbourg so as to achieve a balanced judgement and to try and prevent UK citizens from travelling to Strasbourg to appeal. The European Court of Justice allows for a teleological interpretation, which has resulted in the development of the Convention, making it more adaptable to the needs of modern society. According to Article 38 of the

  • Word count: 2159
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Law
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Describe how the system of the judicial precedent operates - Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this system.

Describe how the system of the judicial precedent operates. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this system. Judge made law has been around for hundreds of years. It offers certainty, flexibility and precision, but case law is not always fair in each circumstance. It is based on three main Latin phrases; stare decisis, which means 'stand by the decision', obiter dicta, which means 'other things said' and ratio decidendi, which means 'the reason for deciding'. Judicial precedent comes from decisions made by judges which create laws for later judges to follow. Depending in which court a judge is operating in, they can be bound by that decision and must follow it, this is also known as case law. Precedent means once a decision has been made in one case on point of law, that decision must be kept in future cases. Although precedent has been around for hundreds of years it was only established in the late nineteenth century. At the end of a case a judge will make a speech explaining his decision, known as a judgement. In the judgement, the judge will give a summary of the facts of the particular case and he would explain the principle of law he used to come to his decision. The judge may also sometimes discuss what the law would have been if the facts of the case had been different, these are known as hypothetical situations. The most important part of each judgement is

  • Word count: 2002
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Law
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Critically discuss by reference to the administration of the criminal law in respect of Australian Aboriginal Peoples.

Question: Critically discuss by reference to the administration of the criminal law in respect of Australian Aboriginal Peoples. The administration of the criminal law in respect of Australian Aboriginal peoples can be explored through two aspects, the judicial recognition of Aboriginal customary law as well as the mandatory sentencing policy. In this essay, these two distinct areas will be examined respectively. Discussions on these two topics will include both the its beneficiaries and criticisms. Cases and judgments as well as statistics will be provided and used to enrich discussion and illustration. First of all, should Australian legal system hold judicial recognition for Aboriginal customary law? Mason CJ holds strong rejection to this question. He clearly pointed out in Mabo (No2)1, although there was not inconsistency between native title being held by people of Aboriginal descent and the underlying radical title being vested in the Crown. There is no analogy with the criminal law. English criminal law did not, and Australian criminal law does not, accommodate an alternative body of law operating outside it. In Walker v New South Wales 2 he again denied the possibility of judicial recognition of Aboriginal customary law in his decision. On the other hand, Zdenkowski argues that the recognition of Aboriginal customary punishment by the general legal system is

  • Word count: 2354
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Law
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The Access to Justice Act

The Access to Justice Act The Access to Justice Act 1999 allowed a salaried criminal defence service to be set up in England and Wales. The government's intentions being to set up a nationwide system of publicly funded and managed defenders offices to, for now, supplement current provision by independent lawyers and private practice. At the moment the idea has been put into practice through pilot schemes, similar to the one in Scotland, which started in 1998. From what I have read about the Scottish pilot scheme, it has cost more than double its budget, so why should the government start up the system? The main reason is that they believe it will drive down the cost of legal aid, and put an end to the abuse of legal aid. The Criminal Defence Service (CDS) would mirror the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which was introduced with haste, few resources, and led to people being overloaded with cases whilst being pressured to keep the cost down. This was discussed in The Times on 24th July 2001. The easiest way for the CPS to keep the costs down would be to disregard cases that could take time and ones that are unlikely to win, this in itself is injustice even before the case goes to court. The government is quite unlikely to increase the funding for the CPS; this is because if they do, then more money would have to be spent on prisons and parole officers etc. This cannot

  • Word count: 757
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Law
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Given the many constraints on journalists, how can we talk of free media? Discuss with reference to relevant legislation and guidelines.

Given the many constraints on journalists, how can we talk of free media? Discuss with reference to relevant legislation and guidelines. Journalists work within a range of constraints and influences which inevitably affect how much information can be delivered to the public. Limitations such as legal constraints and regulatory codes of practice play a deciding factor in whether something is printed or not. Not only do journalists have to work with legal constraints there are also advertisers, cultural bias and sources also. Harcup, (2004) defines constraints as "legislation that restricts how journalists in England and Wales may gather information, what information they may have access to, and what may be published". This is where the question of a free media comes into play, having a free media would ideally suggest that journalism is merely a form of communication to make public what is private. However with the constraints put on journalists what can be made public in reality is therefore very limited. In total there are 50 to 60 laws restricting journalists' activities (Harcup, 2004) in the UK; The Libel Act, Access to justice Act, Official Secrets Act, Obscene Publications Act, Local Government Act, Treason Felony Act, Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, Press Complaints Commision (PCC) code of conduct, Police Act and the Freedom of information Act are to name

  • Word count: 2323
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Law
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What is the relevance of equity today?

What is the relevance of equity today? '''Equity''' is the name given to the whole area of the English legal system that resolves disputes between persons by resorting to principles of fairness and justness. Equity comes into play typically when none of the parties to the dispute has done anything against the law, but their rights or claims are in conflict. Before equity came into existence, common law prevailed with Norman's conquest of England in 1066 A.D. He devised a legal system that was 'common to all' and established itinerant judges who traveled the country and set up court in various places. Whatever conclusion the judges came to was set down in a book of writs, and it was to this book litigants had to refer to. This writ system was inflexible and if the problem of a plaintiff was not in the book, he could not lodge a complaint. Common law used juries and corruption started seeping in, moreover it had only one remedy, compensation for damages, which were often not what the plaintiff wanted. As a result of the inadequacies of common law people petitioned the King through his right-hand man, the Lord Chancellor, who was both a lawyer and priest. As the number of litigants increased a special court, the Court of Chancery was set up to accommodate people who were not satisfied with the procedure of common law. The Chancellor dealt with the petitions in accordance to

  • Word count: 1147
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Law
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Land Law Assessed Essay.

Land Law Assessed Essay: Question 2 Although Grant is the registered proprietor, I intend to look at who else may have a proprietary right or interest in the house, what they would have to do to satisfy such and most critically the impact of this interest or right on the sale of the house to Ian. The interests which we are mainly concerned with are 'overriding interests' that by definition never appear on the register of title. Instead they are interests which have been singled out as having such distinct social importance or as involving such technical conveyancing difficulty as to merit a protection which derives not from the register but from the force of statute.1 Peggy having lived in the flat for some three years, being lead to consider it as her own and making improvements to the property, has an obvious personal interest in the property. Peggy's possible path for establishing an overriding interest would be to rely upon the equitable doctrine of proprietary estoppel, which is concerned with the notion of conscientious dealings in relation to land2 and in this particular case the fitting of the Jacuzzi. There are three fundamental criteria which Peggy must satisfy to create herself a property right under the doctrine. Though these have never been defined in one clear formula, various judges have expounded definition in slightly divergent terms, all concluding to

  • Word count: 2199
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Law
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The Irish Government is run by men for men. The victim of Domestic violence is hidden from public view, with little or no remedies available to her.

Domestic Violence and its Legal Remedies Fiona O'Donoghue Subject: Law Lecturer: Neil van Dokkum Year: 3 Class: X Student No: 00416908 The Irish Government is run by men for men. The victim of Domestic violence is hidden from public view, with little or no remedies available to her. INTRODUCTION Firstly, this statement completely neglects the male victims of domestic violence. It should be acknowledged that women are not the only sufferers of violence in the home. Five hundred and forty-nine victims of domestic violence made contact with the OSS Cork: Domestic Violence Information Resource Centre during the first three years of operation. Of these, fifteen percent were male (www.osscork.ie, 2000). Domestic Violence is a crime. It is an abhorrent abuse of power and an impingement of a person's human rights (www.justice.ie, 1999). Violence in the home is a recognised socio-legal problem, which can affect people from all cultures and economic status. The traditionally predominant idea that women are inferior to men, and are thus, the property of their husbands or male partners, has been identified as being partly to blame (UN General Assembly, 1993). A study undertaken by Dobash and Dobash and cited with approval by the Task Force demonstrates that 90-95% of victims availing of protective civil remedies are women. In reality, therefore, remedies available are centred

  • Word count: 2420
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Law
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This paper proposes to explain and justify the decision by usinglegal tools such as Law and Morality, the Meta Rule, and The Doctrine ofNecessity. The advice provided on how to carry out the unfortunate death of aninnocent person

Law and Morality It is not an everyday occurrence that someone must decide the fate of another's life. The dilemma of making a decision that someone must die in order for the others to survive, can obviously be troubling. The process in which the termination of one's life may be easy to make, but to justify that decision is the most difficult one. This paper is given a situation in which a decision of taking one's life is essential. The situation is that a nuclear war has occurred, which has destroyed most of the centres of civilization. There are five people that are that have escaped death by finding their way to a nuclear bunker. These five people consist of a pregnant woman; an old man, who is a retired judge; two teenagers - a fourteen-year-old boy and a sixteen-year-old girl; and a young and healthy woman who is a doctor. They all have been there for fifteen days and they must remain there for an additional fifteen days before they can be rescued. The problem is that although there are five of them in the bunker, there is only enough food for four people to survive for the remaining fifteen days. Rationing the food will not be of any use, because all will die with such a plan. The only way for most of the survivors to live for the next fifteen days is for one to die. Somehow they have contacted an outside source to advise them on the questions of "Who

  • Word count: 2149
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Law
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Critically analyse Police powers on Stop and Search, Arrest and Detention.

Critically analyse Police powers on Stop and Search, Arrest and Detention The report carried out by Lord Scarman included several recommendations about reforming the law, community relations and policing practices to help tackle the central problems which caused civil disorders. As part of these recommendations, Lord Scarman advocated a system for members of the public from local communities to inspect the way the police detained people in their custody. Originally referred to as lay visiting, independent custody visiting is the system that has been developed to meet this recommendation At the time, the majority of the Scarman Reports' recommendations, found favour with the opinion makers and were included in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act which was made law in the mid-1980. This act of parliament set out the way in which the police officers must carry out their roles and stated specific codes of practices for police procedures. It also established the rights of people who are detained by the police for a suspected crime or offence. Police powers to stop and search are contained in s.1-7 of PACE, though there are other statutes such as the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 which gives the police powers to stop and search people in connection with particular offences. S.1 of PACE 1984 gives police officers the right to stop and search a person or a vehicle in a public or a

  • Word count: 3485
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Law
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