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Sources of English law
The english legal system and law reform
Sources of English law
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Laws, Lawyers, and Punishment in the Victorian Period The Law •At the beginning of the 19th century there were 3 types of law in England: -Common Law: the “law of the land”(Pool 127), which was built up over many centuries *referred to in order to determine such cases as the validity of a contract or whether or not someone was guilty of murder •3 courts that heard cases: -King’s Bench- criminal cases -Eschequer- disputes about money -Common Pleas- disputes between citizens -Equity: seen over by the Chancery Court; designed to give relief from strict decisions made by the common law -Church Law: 4 courts -Court of Arches-Court of the archbishop -Court of Faculties-granted special permission to do things such as hold multiple livings -Consistory Court-handled divorce and wills -Prerogative Court- wills of bishops However, this system of laws changed much throughout the century. The Chancery became merely a joke for there you could not present evidence during trials and Parliament came to view it as necessary for matters of will and divorce to be referred to new civil courts instead of the church. In 1873 the 3 common law courts and the Chancery were combined to make the Supreme Court Lawyers •There were two types of lawyers: -those who argued in court- barristers, sarjeants, and advocates -those who prepared the cases for these lawyers- attorneys, solicitors, proctors •Courtroom lawyers held more prestige especially the barrister, who was often well born •To become a barrister one had to go to a certain number of dinners at the Inns of Court for 3 years. Then if you were approved of by the older lawyers you’d be “called to the bar” and then could become a barrister. There was no exam required. •Solicitors had to serve as an in-between between the barristers and their clients. So they were “in trade” which was less respectful to become solicitor one had to be an apprentice for 5 years to a practicing lawyer Punishment •In 1800 there were over 200 offences punishable by death including sheep stealing and doing damage to the Westminster Bridge -This harshness was probably due to the lack of real paid policemen at the time. So when someone was actually caught and convicted they were made an example.
In February, 1587, Queen Elizabeth had ordered her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scotts, to her execution to eliminate all possibilities of any threats to her throne. This event would reflect the relentless violence and unforgiving punishments of the judicial system in Elizabethan Era. Criminals during Queen Elizabeth’s reign in England, known as the Elizabethan Era, were subject to harsh, violent punishments for their crimes. England was separated into two social classes, which were the nobility, and the commoners. Within each class, the punishments were defined by the class and type of crime that had been committed. Under the Tudor rule, the punishments dating back to the middle ages were revived. Such gruesome punishments were carried out to strike fear into the hearts of the English citizens and lower crime rate. There were a wide range of crimes that a person could be prosecuted for, and even included the act of witchcraft and alchemy. Of course, today the American court system would find prosecutions of witchcraft and alchemy ridiculous. However, in the Elizabethan Era, people accused of even the most petty of crimes would be immediately placed in prison to await their sentences, often resulting in death. Public executions were a common practice, and were often a form of entertainment for a crowd of spectators. Often considered as the “Golden Age” in English history, England’s court systems became an essential part of society because cruel punishments were severe enough to strike fear into English citizens as well as demonstrating the influence and power of Queen Elizabeth’s rule.
...t jobs because of education, although it was limited (Salisbury and Kersten, Law in Crime in Victorian England).
Where does the heart of the legal problem lie in the late eighteenth to early nineteenth century? The legal system of the time was built on English Common Law. This Common Law used earlier legal precedents combined with the facts of a case in order to determine guilt or innocence. However, this system left a great amount of room for interpretation that lawyers of the time were able to use to their advantage. By the early nineteenth century, lawyers ...
Case law/Common law – body of law developed over time by higher courts. Laws are c...
The legal profession has been historically linked with a moral and ethical behaviour on the part of its participants, and as such it is bound to necessitate careful scrutiny, in the same manner that the medical profession does. Solicitors are regulated by the Law Society of Scotland, and advocates by the Faculty of Advocates. Both bodies deal with a variety of matters, from establishing qualifications for admission to the profession to rules of professional conduct and disciplinary actions. They impose certain standards of service and behaviour on legal professionals.
Common law is the concept that some of the core principles that form the basis of the English legal system come from judges as opposed to Parliament, with rulings from case to case developing predicedent, which forces lower courts to follow princaples set by higher cores but allows higher courts to overrule the descisions of lower courts. This allows the courts, over time to refine law. The courts can even decide to ignore rulings when considering to set it as precident with enough justification, this allows rooms for special cases. As a drawback to common law, the courts are sometimes unwilling to overrule long standing precidents. Slapper,...
One must also consider that almost all the constable’s powers were derivative; because of this it was a bit more difficult to handle crimes where there was no real victim; which is in favor of the criminal( Crime and ...
In 1885, in his book ‘The law of the Constitution’, Professor Dicey wrote that the uncodified constitution of the United Kingdom was underpinned by two principles, The Sovereignty of Parliament and The Rule of law. (A Dicey, An introduction to the study of the law of the constitution, 10th ed, 1959). The sovereignty of parliament is considered the founding principle of the constitution that can effectively supersede the Rule of law however it is clear that the two principles are interlinked and that the UK constitution is unable to function effectively if parliament and public officials do not respect the Rule of law. (The Rule of law and its underlying values, Jefferey Jowell) In this essay I will consider the Diceys definition of the Rule
In Bleak House, Dickens presents an ironic case that condemns England’s legal system which in this case is the Court of Chancery. The Court of Chancery represented England’s justice system and held the role as Keeper of the King’s Conscience by the Lord High Chancellor. The Court of Chancery had authority over all matters of equity which include anything with criminal cases, trusts, land law, wills, guardianship, estates, marriage, and adoption. They had jurisdiction over many of these things to avoid any injustice that arose from the common law. Despite their role, the Court is shown with bitterness towards their institution as Dickens sets out to critique their system. In society, the Court of Chancery...
To train as a barrister, you need a degree of at least at upper second
In the 15th century, after the creation of common law, it became usual that litigants who thought that they had been cheated by the common would ask to see the King in person, they felt cheated for different reasons but the most common ones where due to the use of juries, who could be intimidated or corrupted and that the Court only had one remedy which was damages and it was often inadequate, they paid too much attention to formalities did not recognise the trust, among others, being the repudiation to this sort of cases the start of the system of equity.
The English legal system is ostensibly embedded on a foundation of a ‘high degree of certainty with adaptability’ based on a steady ‘mode’ of legal reasoning. This rests on four propositions
United Kingdom is a country with a distinctive set of legal system. It is fairly different from other countries having civil law based legal systems. The legal system in the United Kingdom consists of various sources of law, where other civil law based countries rely only on a written set of law. European influences on the English Legal System came much later in near decades. This essay will aim to examine the development of the English Legal System by reviewing applications of various sources of law in the English Legal System furthermore to discuss the recent European influences on the law of England.
law within the British constitutional structure and the supreme legal authority in the UK which is not
Man has recognized the importance of justice in his society since the earliest of times. In order to serve justice, there has to be a law to settle differences among the people of the state. The history of law in relation to society reveals that humanity’s earliest efforts at lawmaking were prompted by the basic desire of self-preservation. Although engulfed by a society that necessitated such combinations as clans and tribes for protection, as well as for social and economic advancement, the nature of the individual led to the development of certain expressed general rights with regard to person and property1. Generally, these unwritten rules governing social and economic interaction recognized the right to defend oneself from injury as well as to enjoy property without outside interference. While sufficient for primitive societies, unwritten rules of social control were ineffective in a rapidly developing society. So, an effort was made to clarify them so that all the people would know their definitions, limits, and applications.