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Introduction and Sources of Law

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Introduction and Sources of Law

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  • October 19, 2020
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Introduction and Sources of Law

The ‘English’ Legal System?
 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland became relevant in 1920s.
 Within UK there are separate legal systems: English (England and Wales); Northern
Irish; and Scottish.
 Supreme Court is the highest court in UK for civil law.
 The laws of England and Wales, except devolution.

 Superior Courts of England and Wales.
 Law Society of England and Wales.
 Bar Council (England and Wales).

International Context
 Recognise the UK rather than English Legal System.

The English ‘Legal’ System?
 Rules or regulations.
 An instrument of oppression, racism, sexism, power?
 Should law be about morality?

Different Approaches to Study of Law
 Black-letter law.
 Socio-legal approach.
 Critical legal studies.
 Critical race theory.

Categorisations of Law/Different Types of Law
 Private law.

 Affects individuals- families, small groups, businesses.

 Public law.

 Disputes between the state and individuals.

 Substantive law.

 Defines how facts in the case will be handled.

 Procedural law.

 Processes that a case goes through (comes after substantive).



 Civil law.

,  Claimant v defendant.
 Outcomes are damages or compensation.
 Standard of proof: on the balance of probabilities.
 Burden of proof: on the claimant.

 Criminal law.

 Crown v defendant.
 Outcomes are punishment (imprisonment, fine, community service).
 Standard of proof: beyond all reasonable doubt.
 Burden of proof: typically, on prosecution/state, but can shift to defendant.

The English Legal ‘System’
 English Legal System is a common law system.

 Laws can be made by judges (cases) as well as parliament (acts).

 Before 1066, there was no unitary national legal system.

 System was not ‘common’.
 There was a ‘mass of oral customary rules’.

 ‘A patchwork of local customs’.

 Different areas of England were governed by different systems of law.
 There were informal court proceedings.

 After Battle of Hastings 1066.

 William the Conqueror gained the throne who wished to establish a stronger central
government.
 Representatives of the King were sent out to the countryside to check local
administration and were given the job of adjudicating local disputes, according to
local law.
 For consistency and coherency, principles in past court decisions had to be followed
in future cases.
 In time, these decisions were written down.
 The precursor to the common law- based on a doctrine of precedent (cases of similar
nature are decided in the same way) as we know it today was born.




Doctrine of Precedent

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