"Justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done." - Lord Hewart

"Justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done."1 - Lord Hewart "This is not about your client's harsh upbringing, nor their life-story, this proceeding regards the law."2 - District Court Judge Introduction The popularised image of courtroom dramas in no way prepared me for the everyday realities of our court system. Interestingly, glimpses of this over-dramatised form of the law appeared on occasions, through the conduct of enthusiastic prosecutors or dry magistrates. The marked separation in formality, conduct and atmosphere of each court was of more surprise than the variations in procedure. The local courts were characteristic of what might be called 'assembly-line law', where large numbers of cases were dealt with summarily, the magistrate often taking only minutes to move the accused on. The cases were simple and repetitive, it became difficult to see the participants as individuals, instead of yet another number to be dealt with. The complexity of the Supreme Court was very different, and the situation far more reflective of the discourse of justice and rationality that the law promotes. Whilst there is clear merit in the argument that different tiers of justice exist3, it is generalist to argue it is the result of an insidious state ideology. Communication difficulties, unrepresented defendants, and uncompromising

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Critically consider all arguments concerning spousal compellability and conclude whether or not it is justifiable.

In 1940, Wigmore described the rule that spouses should not be compellable as: �the merest anachronism, in legal theory, and an indefensible obstruction to truth, in practice.� 1 Whereas Lord Wilberforce stated: �to allow her to give evidence would give rise to discord and perjury and would be, to ordinary people, repugnant.�2 These are two very differing opinions, highlighting the fact that spousal compellability is a highly debatable area of law. Under section 80 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 19843 (PACE), spouses are non-compellable unless the offence is one which is specified.4 This spousal privilege has sparked intense criticism and renders the justification questionable. Utilising academic opinion, case authority and relevant sources, I will critically consider all arguments concerning spousal compellability and conclude whether or not I think it is justifiable. Hoskyn v Metropolitan Police Commissioner5was the first significant step towards the PACE. This case concerned a marriage two days before the trial date, the defendant was convicted and he appealed on the grounds that his wife should not have been a compellable witness. The House of Lords ruled that when her husband is charged with violence against her, she is competent but not compellable. There were dissenting judges and vast criticism because of this decision and this

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Criminal Law Omissions. In the English legal system there is generally no liability for an omission to act, the English legal system does not have a good Samaritan rule neither is there no duty of easy rescue.

In the English legal system there is generally no liability for an omission to act, the English legal system does not have a 'good Samaritan rule' neither is there 'no duty of easy rescue'. Fitzjames Stephen gave a classical example of 'A seeing B drowning and is able to save him by holding out his hand. A abstains from doing so in order that B may be drowned, A will have committed no offence.'1 This example clearly shows that there is no positive duty for B to act, even though B holding his hand out may have saved A's life. This is a controversial issue as the law allows one to watch a person drown without them being prosecuted for any offence. However in some European countries this is different such as in France and Germany where there is a duty of easy rescue and failure to do so will amount to a criminal offence2. As I have earlier said generally there is no liability for failing to act, however there are six exceptions and if a person fails to act then they will be committing a criminal law offence, there is a vast amount of case law in this field which will be used to illustrate the exceptions to an omission. The first exception I will discuss is a special relationship, this is where the law will require an individual to act where there is a special relationship, it is generally recognised the more closer the relationship the more likely the law will impose a duty.

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Consider the Arguments For and Against Having a Written Constitution.

Jade Fallen Consider the Arguments For and Against Having a Written Constitution A constitution is a set of rules and principles which determines the relationship between those who govern and those who are governed. It dictates who is in authority and governs the relationships between those who are in authority. It determines the ways that these people exercise their powers and instructs how they must operate. As a source of principles and values in each individual society it maintains how free and open the society is. In the United Kingdom the constitution aims to perpetuate a representative democratic society, yet the sources and evidence for this can not be found in one, singular written document entitled "The Constitution". Instead it can be found in many sources and documents such as the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Bill of Rights, designed to protect citizens from an abuse of power, by those in authority. A written constitution would serve invaluable as a clear index for courts to ascertain where a constitutional breach has occurred. In the United States of America a case Marbury v. Madison [1858] highlighted a situation where the government at the time passed a legislation which was contrary to the constitution. In this case the legislation was over-ruled by the courts as this was a right addressed to them by the legislation. This case highlights a fundamental

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Discuss the relevance of the concept of the rule of law to current constitutional arrangements in the UK

"In the mouth of British Constitutional Lawyer, the term "rule of law" seems to mean primary a corpus of basic principles and values, which together lend some stability and coherence to the legal order". (TRS Allan). In the light of the quote above, I am going to discuss the relevance of the concept of the rule of law to current constitutional arrangements in the UK. I will be looking at the current constitution in the UK, the doctrine of the rule of law and the relevance of the doctrine in the operation of state power. The UK is said to have an "unwritten constitution", because it has no single codified documentary constitution. However most of the constitution does exist in the written form of treaties, statutes and court judgements. Due to the absence of a formal written constitution in the UK, there is no positive statement of the basic principles governing state actions and no guidelines that could be used to assess the legitimacy of government action. Lawyers and politicians have used the concept of the rule of law in order to provide such a measure.1 The rule of law is capable of being interpreted differently by different people. It is a recognised principle of the English constitution, which is frequently used to signify a notion of "law and order". At it's broadest it is a framework that constrains arbitrary use of power. The concept of the rule of law dates

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Offender Profiling...............USA or UK?

Aneeq Mushtaq Offender Profiling...............USA or UK? Offender profiling aims to present a composite description of a perpetrator, based on biographical and behavioural cues that can lead to the apprehension of that perpetrator. Profiling techniques have been used to narrow the focus of an investigation (by specifying the perpetrators location, sex or age) or to provide suggestions for interviewing suspects (McCann, 1992). As a result of collecting data and analysing evidence, the use of such techniques have led to arrests of serious criminals such as John Duffy (UK), who murdered his victims near railways (Canter 1989). This assignment will aim to compare and contrast the FBI's 'Crime Scene Analysis' of offender profiling with that of David Canter's 'Five Factor Model. The strengths and weaknesses of each approach will be highlighted including the main differences between profiling in the USA and UK. Due to the rapid increase of serial murders and rapes in the USA within the 1970's, the FBI invented the first systematic approach of offender profiling. Counteracting the rising numbers of serial murders lead to the development to the Behavioural Sciences Unit (BSU). BSU interviewed 36 convicted sexually orientated murderers and classified them into organised (average / above average intelligence, crime planned) or disorganised (low intelligence, messy crime scene,

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The search of Arnold - Police stop and search powers.

The search of Arnold Introduction A police officer is given the power to stop and search a person under section 1(2) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, where it states that a constable may search "any person or vehicle, anything which is in or on a vehicle, for stolen or prohibited articles or any articles to which subsection (8A) below applies". A police officer can also be given the power to randomly search people under s.60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, without the need for reasonable suspicion. To consider whether the stop and search was lawful, I will begin by determining whether the statutory requirements were fulfilled for a s.1 PACE search, then the alternative means of searching Arnold, and finally questions over the legality of the search in other aspects of the law. S.1 Pace Search The first issue which we must deal with is where the section 11 search takes place. Under section 1 of PACE2, it specifies that a search may take place where the "public has access" or "any other place to which people have ready access at the time", but is not the suspect's garden. In this case it is in The Shires shopping centre in Leicester; this suggests that it complied with s.1(1) and 1(4) of PACE, unless the police officer took him to a part of the shopping centre which was not open to the public. However, this isn't specified in the information

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Essay on the function of Judicial Review

PUBLIC LAW ASSIGNMENT 2 MICHAEL ROBERTS TUTOR GROUP L ANNELIESE BLACKWOOD 'The primary purpose of judicial review ... is to keep the powers of government within their legal bounds, so as to protect the citizen against their abuse.' Discuss with reference to the common law grounds of review. Judicial review is a process which is widely recognised to incorporate three functions or purposes. Firstly there is the function whereby citizens of the state who have been wronged and caused grievance by a public authority may be redressed. Secondly there is the 'normative and expository' role which encourages good governance through the promotion of fundamental principles. Finally, as the title statement propounds, there is the control of government element which helps to ensure that the power exerted by parliament and public authorities does not go unchecked, although judicial review is only concerned with the procedural correctness and legitimacy of such power and usually administrative or political checks are present to assess the merits of decisions made1. The most effective way to explore these purposes would be to go through the three common law grounds of judicial review as set out by Diplock LJ in Council of Civil Service Unions v. Minister for the Civil Service [1985] AC 374 (illegality, irrationality and procedural impropriety) plus the effects of the Human Rights Act

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"There is no statutory definition of intention in English law. Indeed, over the past few decades there has been much controversy over the actual meaning of the concept 'intention'". Explain and evaluate this statement.

This essay will deliberate the extent to which the meaning of the concept of 'intention' in criminal law has proven controversial through analysis of pertinent case law and academic critiques. In particular this essay will explore how the concept of 'intention' has changed in various cases in chronological order and the effect this has had. The essay will then focus on the current criticisms of the concept and proposals for reform will be discussed. A conclusion will be made reasoning the extent of controversy that surrounds the concept of intention in both the past few decades and in the present day. In many conduct crimes whereby the defendant's conduct is required to produce a particular consequence, liability can either be based on his intention or his recklessness as to that consequence. The offences that are based on the proof of, and rely on the definition of 'intention' to find liability are most notably the more serious crimes1, with much of the debate on the meaning of 'intention' being centred around the offence of murder2. Nonetheless, intention is not defined in any statute therefore its meaning must be derived from judicial decisions3, thus one would think that such an elementary term would have been definitively defined a long time ago; however this is not the case as we will see. Lord Steyn suggested obiter, in the House of Lords (HoL) judgement of R v

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Law of Tort Assignment.

Law of Tort Assignment (i) Since the enactment of the Human Rights Act 1998, it seems that some areas of tort law have been affected by the Act to a great extent. One specific element of tort law that has been affected is 'duty of care in negligence.' The tort of negligence may signify 'whereby persons who by carelessness have caused damage to others and may be held liable to pay compensation.' 1 However, it is not always the case when 'careless conduct which causes damage will give rise to an action.' 2 As this essay will focus on the impact of the Human Rights Act on duty of care in negligence, it is necessary to determine 'whether the type of loss suffered by the claimant in the particular way in which it occurred can ever be actionable,' 3 as this may play a great role in the development of the tort of negligence. Before a duty of care is held to exist, the requirement established in Caparo Industries Plc v Dickman [1990] 1 All ER 568 must be satisfied: (a) 'Foreseeability of the damage; (b) A sufficiently 'proximate' relationship between the parties; and (c) Even where (a) and (b) are satisfied it must be 'just and reasonable' to impose such a duty.' 4 The Human Rights Act 1998 gives 'further effect to rights and freedoms guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights.' 5 The aim of the Human Rights Act is as stated in section 6 (1), 'courts should

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