Chapter 1 Structure of the legal system
1. ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF THE LEGAL SYSTEM
Law
∙Law is a formal control mechanism.
∙It provides a structure for dealing with and resolving disputes.
∙It also provides some deterrent to tho wishing to disrupt social order.
Common lawboobs是什么意思
∙Common law developed in England during the period following the Norman Conquest.
∙It was made by judges who travelled around the country to keep the King’s peace and made law by merging local customary laws into one ‘law of the land’.
∙Today, the concept of PRECEDENT continues to be the key feature of commom law, and d
istinguishes it from other legal systems.
∙Remedies under common law are monetary, and are known as damages.
Equity
∙Common law does not provide justice to the wronged person if monetary compensation is not suitable.
∙Equity developed two or three hundred years after common law as a system to resolve disputes where damages are not a suitable remedy and therefore introduced fairness into the legal system.
∙For example, where a person needs to stop another person’s behaviour or to force them to act as they agreed to, equity provides remedies to achieve this.
Civil law
∙Civil law exists to resolve disputes overwork the rights and obligations of persons dealing wit
h each other and eks to compensate wronged parties.jy是什么意思
∙It is a form of private law (between individuals) and covers areas such as tort, contract and employment law.
∙In civil proceedings, the ca must be proved on the balance of probability, the object is to convince the court that it is probable that a person’s asrtions are ture.
∙There is no concept of punishment in the civil law and compensation is paid to the wronged person.
∙If they wish, both parties may choo to ttle the dispute out of court.
Criminal law
∙A crime is conduct that is prohibited by the law. cost
∙Criminal law is a form of public law (betweent the State and individuals).
∙title是什么意思In criminal proceedings, the State is the procecutor becau it is the community as a whole which suffers as a result of the law being broken.
∙The burden of proof to convict the accud(认定被告有罪) rests with the procecution, which must prove its ca beyond reasonble doubt.
中考英语试题>www koolearn com∙In the UK, the police take the initial decision to procute, this is then reviewed by the Crown Procution Service. However, some procutions are started by the Director of Public Procutions, who is the head of the Crown Procution Service.
∙Persons guilty of crime may be punished by fines payable to the State, imprisonment, or a community-bad punishment.
The distinction between civil law and criminal law
This is not an act or event which creates the distinction between civil and criminal law, but the legal conquences. A single event might give ri to both civil and criminal proceedings.
2. JURISDICTION OF CIVIL COURTS
∙The nature of the ca and the size of the claim will determine which court hears a civil ca.
∙The County courts hear small cas ( claims under £5,000) or tho which are deemed to be ‘FAST TRACK’ cas. The ca is heard by a Circuit Judge assisted by District Judges.
∙Complicated cas or tho which are deemed to be ‘MULTI TRACK’ cas are heard at the High Court.
∙The Queen’s Bench Division hears cas concerning contract and tort issues.
∙The Family Division hears cas concerning children and matrimonial issues.
∙The Chancery Division hears cas concerning trusts, bankruptcy and corporate issures.
∙Appeals are to the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal and are heard by three judges wh
o will decide the outcome by a majority.
∙alevel选课指南A 初三英语上册further appeal to the Supreme Court for the United Kingdom may be permitted if it involves an issue of public interests.
3. JURISDICTION OF CRIMINAL COURTS
∙All criminal cas begin in magistrates’ courts where the ca is introduced into the system.
∙Certain types of offences are known as indictable offences, the are rious offences and can only be heard in Crown Court. Other less rious summary offences are heard summarily in the magistrates’court.
∙june是什么意思Where an offence falls in between the two, it can be ‘triable either way’, the defendant will have the choice to be tried at the magistrates’ court or at the Crown Court.
∙Where the decision in a criminal ca is appealled against, a court further up the hierarchy will hear it.
∙Appeals from magistrates’ courts are either to the Crown Court or the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court.
∙Ca stated appeals from the Crown Court are made to QBD. ‘Ca stated’ is a legal function to review a magistrates’ court decision on a point of law , it means the law was misinterpreted by the magistrate.
