law

• Law


  A body of rules that regulate social conduct
• All societies accept the need for rules to help prevent disruptive disputes arising between group members and to provide remedies for grievances
• Legal rules


  Rules where failure to comply may result in a penalty
• Telling lies is considered immoral, but it is not generally against the law to do so
• Adultery is disapproved of in England and Wales but will not lead to formal punishment, although it may be grounds for divorce
• In Islamic law adultery will lead to a criminal penalty being imposed
• Traffic laws set speed limits to ensure safety on the road and laws govern food safety to ensure food is safe to eat
• If you break road safety rules and cause injury, you may be prosecuted by the state and required to pay compensation
• Almost every activity throughout a person's life is governed by a system of legal rules
• The law specifies who can and who cannot legally enter a marriage and sets out the circumstances when a divorce will be granted
• When someone dies, the law requires the death to be registered and regulates how the legal right to deal with the deceased person's property, money and possessions is obtained
• The law must be understood in the context of the social, political and economic background in which it operates
• Emerging technologies led to the creation of laws protecting privacy and data, with legal controls put in place to regulate the digital dissemination of information and software, copyright and intellectual property rights
• Public law


  Matters related to the state that affect society as a whole, e.g. constitutional law, administrative law, criminal law
• Private law


  Regulates rights, duties and liability between individuals, e.g. contract law, tort law, family law, property law
• Criminal law


  Prohibits conduct such as murder, rape, theft and dangerous driving, prosecution undertaken by the state, breach leads to punishment
• Civil law


  Focus is on the protection of rights and the provision of a remedy (usually compensation) for the victim, legal action taken by the injured party
• Breach of contract is a civil matter and would be dealt with in a civil court
• Careless driving and dangerous driving are criminal offences, the state prosecutes in the name of the Queen
• Conduct crimes


  It is the conduct itself that is prohibited by law, no consequence of the act is necessary
• Criminal wrongs (or offences)


  Acts that are tried in a criminal court
• Defendant (or the accused)


  Mrs Green will be known as the defendant
• R v Green


  The action will be named 'the Queen (or the Crown) against Green'
• Mrs Green was driving dangerously and her driving resulted in Mrs Jones being injured


  Mrs Green is likely to receive a more severe punishment
• Tort of negligence


  The claim Mrs Jones would bring against Mrs Green in the civil court
• Claimant


  The person bringing an action in the civil court
• Appellant


  A person making an appeal to a higher court
• Distinction between civil and criminal law


  • Civil law concerns rights and duties between individuals, trial in the civil court system, individual sues the alleged wrongdoer, burden of proof: balance of probabilities, remedy: aims to right the wrong (usually compensation)
  • Criminal law concerns duties between individuals and the state, trial in the criminal court system, state prosecutes the offender, burden of proof: beyond reasonable doubt, penalty: aims to punish the offender and act as a deterrent
• If the prosecution in Mrs Green's criminal trial was unable to establish beyond reasonable doubt that she was driving dangerously, Mrs Jones would not be able to succeed in her claim in negligence in the civil court
• Justice


  The pursuit of justice is an integral part of the legal enterprise
• Primitive societies base their rules on the principles of morality and justice that the group holds
• The tyrannical legal system that operated in Germany during the Nazi regime was neither just nor moral
• The English legal system attempts to give effect to the ideas of justice and morality of its citizens
• The law evolves over time and the law made by judges in court and the rules created by legislation preserve the successful features of the law and discard other laws that no longer reflect social attitudes
• The Data Protection Act 1998 was introduced to make sure that personal information was used fairly and lawfully, and new laws were required in 2018 to protect personal information and introduce tough penalties for those who breach the rules
• Watt v Hertfordshire County Council (1954)


  An economic approach to justice where the risk had to be balanced against the end to be achieved and the saving of life or limb justifies taking considerable risk
• R v Ahluwalia (1992)


  A psychological approach to justice where the court was influenced by the emerging evidence of the psychological effects of domestic violence and battered woman syndrome
• Parry v Cleaver (1970)


  A public policy approach to justice where the court held that the plaintiff's contributory police pension should be ignored in assessing his financial loss, as it would be contrary to the underlying public policy of encouraging people to invest in pension schemes
• Legal systems are different around the world and can be divided into legal 'families' which share similarities, such as the common law system and the civil law system
• Common law system


  Legal principles are found in the decisions of judges in individual cases, operates on the basis of 'binding precedent'