Areas of law
Assignment 7.3
a. Criminal Law
b. Administrative Law
c. Labour Law
d. Family Law
e. Contract Law
Assignment 7.4
1. Litigation – a lawsuit in the civil court
Adjective law – procedural law
Tried – brought before the court
Govern – control
Substantive law – a person’s rights and duties under the law
2. If a court announces that it will take two weeks to reach a decision, is that
a matter of substantive law or procedural law?
This is a matter of procedural law, as procedural law governs the course of
an action. The issue of when a decision is to be reached, then, is one of
procedural law.
Substantive law: The rules of substantive law are legal rules which guide the
courts in making decisions.
Procedural law (or adjective law) are the rules which determine the course of an
action; they govern such matters as how the case is to be presented, in what
court it shall lie, or when it is to be tried. It are the rules which govern the
machinery as opposed to the subject-matter of litigation.
International and national law
The various different areas of law can be classified as belonging to public or
private law and as being either substantive or procedural. Another distinction is
that between international and national law.
International law: public international law, which rules are very important
because they often take precedence over national law.
Assignment 7.6
1. The best translation of the Dutch term advocaat is attorney-at-law. It is the
most culturally neutral term for the occupation.
2. What is the difference between a verdict, a ruling and a sentence?
A verdict is rendered by a jury.
A ruling is an interlocutory decision, such as, for instance, the decision by a
judge to overrule or sustain an objection, or whether to allow something
into evidence.
A sentence is the decision on the punishment of a defendant who has been
found guilty in a criminal trial.
3. The best translation for the Dutch word uitspraak in the context of a civil
court is ‘judgment’.
4. It is not correct to say to lift taxes for Dutch belasting heffen, because
taxes are levied.
, 5. The opposite of to honor a treaty is ‘to break a treaty’.
6. A number of translations for een wet/wetgeving aannemen: to pass law, to
pass legislation, to adopt legislation.
Assignment 7.7
Acts of
Parliament
or
Statutes
Other laws
constitutio
• By-laws
Sourc
n
• case-law
es of
conventio
ns
Law Custom
Treaties
Assignment 7.8
English and American lawyers work with the same sources as their Dutch
colleagues. However, there is one important difference. In Common Law
countries the decisions of the courts are a much more important source of law
than in the Netherlands. Lower courts have much less freedom to decide for
themselves. They are obliged to follow the earlier decisions of higher courts.
Are there areas of Dutch law that are left to the courts to decide on? No, but the
courts do fulfil an important role in filling in the gaps in legislation and in
interpreting the law.
The legal profession and the courts
Paralegals
A paralegal literally is someone who works beside a lawyer.
Assignment 8.2
A list of all the kinds of jobs that paralegals find themselves in:
- Preparatory work: helping lawyers prepare for closings, hearings, trials and
corporate meetings – investigate the facts of cases and ensure that all
relevant information is considered; identify appropiate laws, judicial
decisions, legal articles, and other materials that are relevant to assigned
cases; analyse and organise the information and prepare written reports
for attorneys to use in determining how cases should be handled. ETC.
, - Help draft contracts, mortgages, separation agreements, instruments of
trust
- Assist in preparing taks returns, planning estates
- Coordinate the activities of other law office employees and maintain
financial office records
- Various additional tasks
Areas of law they find themselves in:
- Litigation
- Personal injury
- Corporate law
- Criminal law
- Employee benefits
- Intellectual law
- Labour law
- Bankruptcy
- Immigration
- Family law
- Real estate
Lawyers and attorneys-at-law
A lawyer is someone who has studied Law.
Assignment 8.4
The Netherlands England and The U.S.A
Wales
Advocacy Two branches: legal Two branches: Attorneys-at-law
adviser and barrister and appointed in one
procureur sollicitor state and allowed
to appear in any
court of that state
Education University master’s Barristers: Professional
degree in La wand University doctorate in Law,
3 years bachelor’s followed by Bar
apprenticeship degree, followed Examination
by one-year Bar
Vocational
Training and one-
year pupillage.
Sollicitors:
University
bachelor’s
degree, followed
by one-year Legal
Practice Course
and 2 years
apprenticeship.
Other legal Legal advice, Legal advice, Legal advice,
work teaching. Drafting teaching, drafting teaching, drafting
of testaments and of testaments, of testaments,
tranfer of real transfer of real transfer of real
Barrister: trial lawyer in the higher courts.
Sollicitor: trial lawyer in the lower courts.
Court and judges
Assignment 8.5
Courts in the Netherlands Suitable names about the role
that these courts play within the
Hoge Raad legal system
Gerechtshoven Supreme Court
Rechtbanken Courts of appeal
- Sector civiel District courts
- Sector strafrecht - Civil section
- Sector bestuursrecht - Criminal section
- Sector kanton - Administrative section
- Cantonal section
Civil procedure
Certain procedures in the Netherlands do not start with a claim form, but with a
petition. Some examples of petition procedures are family cases in which
provisional attachment.
Assignment 9.4
Words or phrases that mean the same:
a. Amicable: mad or done in a friendly or peaceful way
b. Institution: an organization, especially a long-established or respected
one
c. Litigants: parties in a civil proceedings
d. Instigating: start civil proceedings
e. Landlord: a person from whom someone rens a room, building or land
f. Caseload: the number of cases a court has to deal with
g. Leeway: the opportunity to act freely rather than being forced to act in
a particular way
h. Case-by-case: from one case to another
Legal aid
People who need to consult a lawyer or paralegal can be given financial aid if
they are indigent. The Netherlands and the U.K. have eleborate legal adi schemes
for crimina land civil cases.
Suspension of payments, bankruptcy and debt relief
Insolvent: if natural persons or corporation scan no longer pay their debts. The
creditors may petition the court for bankruptcy. The courts may issue an order for
compulsory winding up, which means that the corporation’s assets may be
liquidated. The liquidator takes control of the corporation’s property, sells the
corporation’s assets and pays the creditors. Mortgagees and pledgees are
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