Table of Contents

Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Dedication xi
Table of Cases xii
Table of Legislation xxi

Introduction 1

What is law? 1
Civil law and criminal law 2
The structure of the book 3
The format of the book 4
General points on learning the law 5

1 The British constitution, law reform and the parliamentary legislative process 7

The British constitution and constitutional theory 8
Parliament and its law-making role: Pressures for law reform 13
The parliamentary law-making process: How a public Bill becomes an Act 23
The concept of parliamentary sovereignty 24
The Human Rights Act 1998: Some questions answered 27

2 Delegated legislation 37

What is delegated legislation? 37
Why is there a need for delegated legislation? 38
What are the main types of delegated legislation? 39
Why do we need controls over delegated legislation? 42
How does Parliament ‘control’ or ‘ensure validity’ of delegated legislation? 43
How is delegated legislation controlled by the courts? 45

3 Statutory interpretation 51

Approaches to statutory interpretation 51
Statutory rules 52
Rules of language 53
Common law approaches to interpretation 55
Extrinsic aids to interpretation 60
Intrinsic aids to interpretation 63
Presumptions 64
Statutory interpretation in context 66

4 The doctrine of judicial precedent 71

Introduction to judicial precedent 71
Judicial precedent and the courts hierarchy 72
The nature of precedent 81
Binding and persuasive precedents 81
Doctrine of judicial precedent and methods of creating flexibility 84
Evaluating judicial precedent 85

5 The European Union and European

Community law 89
The history and background of EC law 89
The institutions of the EU 90
The sources of EC law 95
Secondary sources of EC law 97
Case law of the ECJ 100
The impact of EC law on UK law 102

6 The courts structure and civil and criminal processes 107

Introducing the courts structure 107
The courts hierarchy 108
How cases proceed within the courts structure: Introduction 111
Criminal procedure: Police powers 111
Procedures in the criminal courts 119
Civil procedure 123

7 Alternatives to courts 131

Introduction: Tribunals and alternative dispute resolution 131
Tribunals 131
Methods of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) 136
Arbitration 137
Mediation 139
Conciliation 141
Negotiation 141
Ombudsmen 142

8 Judges 147

The role of the judge 147
Who are the judges? 148
Selection and appointment of judges 157
Training judges 159
Removal and retirement of judges 160
Independence of the judiciary 163

9 Lay persons in the English legal system 169

Juries 169
The role of juries 171
Juries in civil law 172
Jury selection 173
Practical aspects of juries in criminal cases 175
Evaluating juries 179
Alternatives to jury trial 182
Lay magistrates 183
Selection and appointment of lay magistrates 184
Background of lay magistrates 186
The role of lay magistrates 187
Retirement and removal of lay magistrates 189

10 The Legal Profession 193

Barristers 193
Solicitors 197
Legal executives 199
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) 200
Qualifications required to enter the legal profession 201
Reforms to the legal profession 201
Recent developments 204
Professional liability 208

11 Access to Justice 215

Introducing the discussion of ‘access to justice’ 215
Access to legal information 216
Access to State funding for legal help and representation 220
Other ways in which the legal profession provides access to justice 224
Conditional Fee Agreements 226
Pro Bono work 227

12 Introduction to criminal liability 233

Towards a fuller definition of criminal law 233
Classification of crimes 234
The legal characteristics of crimes 234
Actus reus 234
Actus reus: Causation 238
Mens rea 241
Transferred malice and the relationship between actus reus and mens rea 244
Strict liability offences: Need for the actus reus but not mens rea 246
Outline of an area of criminal liability: Non-fatal offences against the person 248
Assault 248
Battery 249
Assault occasioning actual bodily harm 250
Wounding 252
Grevious bodily harm 253

13 Introduction to tort liability 257

The tort of negligence 257
Distinguishing torts from other legal wrongs 258
The duty of care principle 260
The current test to establish a duty of care: Caparo 261
Breach of the duty of care 266
Did the defendant’s breach cause the harm? 272

14 Sanctions and remedies 281

Punishment theory: The aims of sentencing 282
Making the sentencing decision (sentencing procedure) 285
The sentencing options 288
Further powers of the criminal courts (short of custodial sentences) 293
Civil law: An outline of damages in the tort of negligence 295

15 Experiencing the law 303

The law in books 303
The law in film and television 309
The law and the internet 312
Thinking ahead . . . 312
Last remarks . . . 314

Glossary 315

Bibliography 329

Answers 333

Index 347