The Legal Reasoning And Interpretation Of The English Legal System Essay

Merit –compare and contrast the role of judges ,lawyers and lay people within the English courts.

Common law developed in the judicial system of England and its colonies before 1776. Statutory law refers to the body of law that is enacted by state and federal legislatures. Common law is not in any particular form; it consists of quotable statements taken from relevant opinions by prior judges, as well as ancient statutes, and is often summarized in legal treatises. Statutory law is found in the current published laws of each jurisdiction and is relatively concise. Although most states have adopted common law by legislative decree, state legislatures do not feel obligated to pass statutes consistent with common law, and inconsistent statutes supersede common law. Only in areas in which the legislature has not acted does common law serve as the primary authority. For example, the adoption of the Uniform Commercial Code in each state changed some rules of common law previously in effect.

Common law is the system of laws, which originated and were developed in England, that are “based on court decisions, on the doctrines implicit in those decisions, and on customs and usages rather than on codified written laws” (Melvin, 2011). In other words, common law is law that is made by judges not by the legislature. It is law that is based on court precedent and it evolves over time. Statutory law, which is also referred to as statute law “is written law established by enactments

In this task I shall compare and contrast the roles and functions of judges, lawyers and lay people in the English legal courts.

3) Lawyers in the 17th and 18th centuries (called 'institutional writers ') wrote books setting out the principles on which Scots law is based. Many of these principles were based on Roman law. Lawyers in Scotland today still look at what the institutional writers said about the law and apply these principles to modern day situations. Their authority is always less than that of legislation and case-law, and so the court must always apply the legislation or the binding precedent in the event of a conflict.

presence of a jury, if the defendant wishes so. Even if a case is too

The unitary system of government in England and the Netherlands, the courts are not given the power of judicial review. The law of the land is what the elected parliament declares it to be. The reason for England choosing this position is because with a unitary government the

The dispute over the letter of the law versus the spirit of the law is one that has likely generated exegetic debate for centuries. Although it would be tempting to reduce the conflict of literalist interpretation and radicalization as a split between Jewish and Christian tradition, a deeper reading into the foundation of this dispute yields a more comprehensive analysis of the argument. In the three synoptic gospels, and in the book of John, Christ teaches that laws were not put in place solely to instill fear of punishment, but for the benefit of its practitioners. It is in the Sabbath’s reinterpretation, through Christ’s liberal compassion, that the Old Testament transition of letter to spirit is fully evolved, and that the son of man operates to fulfill the spirits of his disciples, not condemn them.

The courts of the United Kingdom are institutions there are aim justice to all and deliver fair and equal trails. Although ‘fair and equal’ are not always true to some cases along with ‘justice to all’. Never the less either convicting someone for unlawful activity or resolving a civil dispute, the British legal system employs a variety of courts in its application of the law. It much reminds me of my home country the United States the different level of courts I mean. Magistrates courts have the jurisdiction to try minor offences then for more serious offences are referred to the Crown courts. There are also appellate courts, which include the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court; formally known as the House of Lords. To

Throughout the United States there are many different laws among the fifty states that make up this union. The laws are different throughout the states because of the need of the laws. Living in one state and not having the advantages or disadvantages of a law in another state would not be that unfair or unequal. This is true because if you don’t like a law in your state you could always fight it and try to change it or you could always move out of that state and go to one that has the laws that you like.

Explain and critically consider the use of lay magistrates in the legal system of England and Wales.

The rule of law is a difficult concept to grasp and proves elusive to substantive definition. However, the following work considers the attempts of various social and legal theorists to define the concept and pertinent authorities are considered. Attitudes and emphasis as to the exact shape, form and content of the rule of law differ quite widely depending on the socio-political perspective and views of respective commentators (Slapper and Kelly, 2009, p16), although there are common themes that are almost universally adopted. The conclusions to this work endeavour to consolidate thinking on the rule of law in order to address the question posed in the title, which is at first sight a deceptively simple one.

The doctrine of judicial precedent is based on the principle of stare decisis which means ‘to stand by what has been decided’. It is a common law principle whereby judges are bound to follow previous decisions in cases where the material facts are sufficiently similar and the earlier decision was made in a court above the current one in the court hierarchy. This doctrine of precedent is extremely strong in English law as it ensures fairness and consistency and it highlights the importance of case law in our legal system. Black's Law Dictionary defines "precedent" as a "rule of law established for the first time by a court for a particular type of case and thereafter referred to in deciding similar cases."

of user in Land Law are still good law. Custom law can still be used

Critically assess the different sources and characteristics of the English Legal System. To what extents have external influences affected its development.