LSME 403 – Business Law
Assignment 1
Essay
Student Name:
Student ID:
Application of Legislation and Case Laws on the Civil and Criminal Law and the Court System of UK
Introduction
The law is the rules formulated by the state for the society through the enforcement body of the state (Merriam-Webster, 2022). The UK most distinctly has an un-codified constitution and follows the common law legal system. The UK follows the principle of Parliamentary supremacy which denotes that the highest body is the Parliament for formulating the law (Ugiagbe, 2019). There is no particular classification with respect to the classification of law however, it is categorised under primary and secondary sources of law. The primary source includes the legislations formulated by the Parliament (i.e., Acts of Parliament), case laws (i.e., the precedents), and European law (Elliott and Quinn, 2008).
Body
Acts of Parliament is the primary source which is enacted by the legislative wing of the government i.e., the Parliament and case laws denote judicial precedents which is also the primary source of law which is made by the judges while deciding the issue in consideration (Vetzo, 2018). The English legal system is categorised under two main categories i.e., Public law and Private Law. Public law is the law applicable to all and made by the governmental bodies whereas Private law regulates the relationship amongst the private parties. Public law along with constitutional law, administrative law, also includes the ‘criminal law’ whereas private law is also known as ‘civil law’ (Darbyshire, 2008).Constitutional law, administrative law, tax law, and criminal laws are the public laws (Cobbe, 2019). Law of torts, contract law, and IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) are the private laws (Yilmaztekin, 2019).
A criminal law, in general, refers to the law governing criminal offences and it is presumed to have a wrong committed against the society thus, the state prosecutes the citizen. The ambit of civil law is broad as it includes various branches of civil wrong, for instance, tort, family law, property law, contract, etc. Civil and criminal law is applicable to civil wrong and criminal wrong respectively. As the country has a common law legal system, under such a system, the court decides a particular case in consideration and that case becomes a precedent and acts as a binding law for the future involving similar issues for the lower court. However, in terms of the application of civil and criminal law, a situation may attract both the laws. For instance, for dangerous driving, the state may prosecute the driver for the act if proved and prescribe a penalty which might be a driving ban or fine, or imprisonment; this explains the application of criminal law. On the contrary, the pedestrian who was injured in the said act lodged a civil case of the tort of negligence before the civil court against the driver. In case found liable, the driver will be asked to pay damages as compensation for such injuries caused to the pedestrian, this denotes the application of the civil wrong. The courts are prima facie obligated to adhere to the Acts of the Parliament and in the case, if there is no statute available with respect to the issue in consideration, in such case the court is free to pronounce the judgement ensuring the justice is delivered to the victim or claimant.
The legal system is designed to ensure justice to the person who is seeking the same. One of the wings of the governance in the UK is the judiciary which is independent in its operations strengthening the underlying principle of separation of powers. The court system is categorised into different courts depending upon the nature of the crime. In respect to criminal cases, the lowest criminal court is the magistrate’s court and crown court wherein every criminal case initially begins in the former court whereas the more serious criminal matters begin in the latter court (Pina-Sánchez, 2019). The appeals from the decision of the crown court go to the High Court and then to the Court of Appeal, and lastly to the Supreme Court. In respect to civil matters, the case sometimes begins from the magistrate’s court however, may also begin before the County court. The appeal from such court may go to the High Court and then to the Court of Appeal and later to the Supreme Court. It is important to highlight the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court; it is the highest court of appeal on the point of law for the whole of the UK in all civil disputes, and in criminal cases for England and Wales (Hoadley, et. al., 2021).
The Tribunals are the quasi-judicial authority that has the same powers as the court. The tribunal system in the UK has its own structure wherein many tribunals are operating addressing the specific area affecting day-to-day life (Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, 2022). Some of the Tribunals dealt with the issues pertaining to the whole nation, for instance, immigration, whereas, some tribunals are operated via local authorities, for instance, Valuation Tribunals. Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTC) operates a First–tier Tribunal and an Upper Tribunal broadly which are segregated into the Chambers (Judiciary.UK, 2022). ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) mechanism refers to a mechanism of resolving a dispute through a neutral person without resorting to the court (Gov.UK, 2015). Arbitration is one of the methods of ADR along with Mediation and Conciliation and the neutral person who helps in resolving the dispute is known as arbitrator, mediator, and conciliator respectively.
Conclusion
This essay initially witnessed the legal system of the UK, the classification of the law and its branches therein the primary sources of the law, the civil and criminal law, the impact of legislation and precedents on such civil and criminal law is discussed. It is highlighted that the UK follows the common law legal system which authorises the judges to form a law in the absence of statutory provisions. Later, the legal systems in the context of an independent judiciary are highlighted wherein the civil and criminal court, along with the Tribunals and ADR mechanisms are mentioned.
References
Cobbe, J., 2019. Administrative law and the machines of government: judicial review of automated public-sector decision-making. Legal Studies, 39(4), pp.636-655.https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1810/311397/JudicialReviewofAutomatedPublicSectorDecisionMaking-Final.pdf?sequence=1.
Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. 2022. Introduction to Tribunals. [online] judiciary.uk. Available at:https://www.judiciary.uk/about-the-judiciary/who-are-the-judiciary/judicial-roles/tribunals/tribunals/. [Accessed on: 08 April 2022]
Darbyshire, P. 2008. Darbyshire on the English legal system. Sweet & Maxwell.https://eprints.kingston.ac.uk/id/eprint/11975/2/Darbyshire-P-11975b.pdf.
Elliott, C. and Quinn, F. 2008. English legal system. Pearson Education.https://wasetlaws.com/pdf/english/1%20%2867%29.pdf.
Gov.UK. 2015. Alternative dispute resolution for consumers. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alternative-dispute-resolution-for-consumers/alternative-dispute-resolution-for-consumers. (Accessed: 26 March 2022)
Hoadley, D., Bartolo, M., Chesterman, R., Faus, A., Hernandez, W., Kultys, B., Moore, A.P., Nemsic, E., Roche, N., Shangguan, J. and Steer, B., 2021. A global community of courts? Modelling the use of persuasive authority as a complex network. Frontiers in Physics, 9.https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10140371/1/Kultys_A%20Global%20Community%20of%20Courts%3F%20Modelling%20the%20Use%20of%20Persuasive%20Authority%20as%20a%20Complex%20Network_VoR.pdf.
Judiciary.UK. 2022. Structure of the courts & tribunal system. Available at: https://www.judiciary.uk/about-the-judiciary/the-justice-system/court-structure/. (Accessed on: 26 March 2022)
Merriam-Webster. 2022. Definition of law. [online] merriam-webster.com. Available at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/law. [Accessed on: 08 April 2022]
Pina-Sánchez, J., Grech, D., Brunton-Smith, I. and Sferopoulos, D., 2019. Exploring the origin of sentencing disparities in the Crown Court: Using text mining techniques to differentiate between court and judge disparities. Social science research, 84, p.102343.https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/150188/1/Manuscript_reviewed_10thJuly.pdf.
Ugiagbe, I.P. 2019 The Weaknesses of Constitution and What a Constitution is Meant to Perform. https://ajast.net/data/uploads/99110.pdf.
Vetzo, M., 2018. The Legal Relevance of Constitutional Conventions in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Utrecht Law Review, 14(1), p.143.https://www.utrechtlawreview.org/articles/432/galley/411/download/
Yilmaztekin, H.K., 2019. Justiciability Of Foreign Intellectual Property Rights In The United Kingdom-With A European Perspective. Uyu?mazl?k Mahkemesi Dergisi, (14), pp.525-570.https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/881212.
