Essay
BTEC Business Level 3 Unit 23: The English Legal System P1/P2/M1/D1
- Institution
- PEARSON (PEARSON)
Learning Aim A: P1/P2/M1/D1 ACHIEVED
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THE ENGLISH LEGAL SYSTEMINTRODUCTION
The report contains cases examples which has been applied and explained the jurisdiction of
civil courts and criminal courts. Also, it will be comparing and contrasting the criminal and
civil court hierarchies and appealing routes, demonstrating accurate using of legal
terminology, case law citation and application, to both civil and criminal law situation.
Finally, the report is evaluating how dispute solving in the courts compares with methods of
ADR.
A.P1/Using case examples, accurately apply and explain the jurisdiction of civil courts.
CIVIL LAW
Civil law is concerned with the rights and property of an individual or organisations, these
may not always be protected by criminal laws. Civil law cases usually involve compensation,
agreement or judgement relating to finances. For example, civil law deals with family
disputes, personal injury, breach of contract and employment law. The cases in civil law are
filed by private parties, while criminal cases are usually filed by the government.
Purpose and punishment
Civil law aims to deal with disputes between individuals and organisations. Also, to achieve a
remedy or compensation for the injured party. The punishments for this law are
compensations being rewarded. In a civil case no one goes to prison, but they will have to
pay a lot of money if they are found liable for compensation. For example, a personal injury
claim would be a civil law case.
Case to court
The public may attend civil cases due they involve hearings in open court. When it comes to
taking the case to the court, the individual who is making the complaint will be responsible
for taking the case to the court and receive a decision.
Parties for an action
When a case is taking to the court there are two parties. The prosecution state, which is
accused, and which one is guilty and then the defence argue that the accused is innocent.
The two parties in a civil case are called claimants who will take the case and accuse the
other party, and defendants which is the accused party and will try to defend itself.
However, some civil law parties may include plaintiff, cross complaint, petitioner, cross
defendant or respondent.
Standard of proof
The standard of proof in civil cases is that of the balance of probabilities. This means that
the party bearing the burden of proof. For instance, the judge must make sure that more
than 50% of the defendant is guilty.
, Hierarchy of courts
Supreme Court
Court of Appeal
High Court
County Court
The two main courts dealing with civil cases in England and Wales are the County court
which deals with minor civil matters and the High Court which deals with complex civil
disputes. The other courts are tribunals which handles a variety of day-to-day issues such as
asylum, immigration or employment. The Civil Division of the Court of Appeal hears appeals
against decisions of the County Court and High Court and the Supreme Court is the most
senior court in the UK which is the final court of appeal for all UK civil cases.
Case Example
Mary has contracted Bill, a builder to build an extension on her house. The quote for the work is
£35,000 and Mary has accepted this, and Bill has commenced to work. During the time the
extension being built, Bill left the chainsaw out in a corridor, and Mary tripped over it, badly cutting
her leg, which caused her health problems and meant she was off work for several months. Once
the work was finished, Mary discovered that Bill had not connected the new en-suite bathroom to
the main drainage system, and the resulting damage required a lot of remedial work which will
cost £800.
Mary and Bill will be the parties for this case, Mary is going to be the plaintiff as she suffered
a personal injury and Bill will be the defendant as he left his equipment out causing an injury
to Mary and did not finish the extension asked at the beginning of the agreement. This case
will be taken to the county court as this is a civil case and based on the balance of
probabilities Bill will be found guilty. This is because he was responsible for his equipment
and by leaving it in a corridor where people will be walking most of the time, it was likely
that they may trip in some time. In addition, the agreement was £35,000 to build an
extension on her house where both of them agreed. However, Bill had not connected the
new en-suite bathroom to the main drainage system. The punishment for Bill will be a small
claim track where he will have to pay to Mary less than £10,000, as she was seriously injured
and had to stop working for several months and by not finishing his work, which left extra
work costing £800.
A.P2/Using case examples, accurately apply and explain the jurisdiction of criminal courts.
CRIMINAL LAW
Criminal law establishes the definitions of criminal offences, the rules and procedures apply
when the police investigate a crime that a person has committed, when the judicial
authorities accuse to a person or when the person must appear in a criminal court. Criminal
law aims to identify, acknowledge, punish and educate the greater community.
Purpose and punishment
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