1
Acknowledgement
2
Table of Contents
Acknowledgement........................................................................................................................1
Introduction...................................................................................................................................4
LO3: Explain the nature of the legal system.................................................................................5
Task 1.1 – P1 and P2...............................................................................................................5
A) Explain the characteristics of English justice system.......................................................5
B) Explain the application of the doctrine of precedent in the English courts systems........5
C) Explain the judicial approaches in interpreting statutes...................................................6
Task 1.2 – M1 and D1...............................................................................................................6
A) What are the steps by which Parliament creates a statute?............................................6
B) Distinguish between judge-made law and statute law.....................................................7
C) Explain the difference between the burden of proof in a civil case and the burden of
proof in a criminal case.........................................................................................................8
Conclusions/Limitations................................................................................................................9
References.................................................................................................................................10
3
Introduction
This report has been written to illustrate the aspect of Business Law in the context of English
legal system. It consists of two parts (Task1.1 and Task 1.2). The objective of this report is to
explain the importance of the law as a regulatory tool in society and business, explain the
characteristics of a legal system and the main sources of English law, identify the rules of
statutory interpretation and explain the purpose of delegated legislation and discuss the
foundation and application of common law and statute law in English law system.
4
07– Business Law
LO1: Explain the nature of the legal system
Task 1.1 – P1 and P2
A) Explain the characteristics of English justice system
“In England and Wales, laws are composed of three main elements: legislation which is
created through Parliament, common law, and directly enforceable EU law. An Act of
Parliament, sometimes referred to as a statute, is the highest form of UK law. Some of the
characteristics of English law differ from the domestic law of other EU countries; however,
English law does share some similarities with countries such as New Zealand, the United
States of America, and Australia which have a historical connection with the UK.” (Jones,
2015)
There are few unique characteristics of English justice system compared to the other
European countries and some of those characteristics are as follows:
Judges have creative powers
As an explanation for judges having creative powers Adams A. states that, “Judges were the
principal law-makers until their powers were superseded by Parliament in the eighteenth
century; senior judges today still have some limited powers to develop principles of case law.
The powers of other European judges are restricted to interpretation of the legal codes created
by the relevant state legislatures.” (Adams, 2010)
The doctrine of binding precedent
“When deciding a case, English judges are bound to apply any relevant precedent (previous
decision) of a senior court, unlike their other European counterparts who are guided, rather
than bound, by previous cases.” (Adams, 2010)
5
Lack of Roman law influence
Adams A. states that, “English law has been little influenced by the Roman law principles
which dominate the legal systems of other European countries and which also have some
influence on Scots law.” (Adams, 2010)
B) Explain the application of the doctrine of precedent in the English courts
systems
According to the website Lawteacher.net “As the doctrine of precedent is an essential part of
English legal system, knowing how it works is also undeniably important. Within the hierarchy
of English courts structure, it is a general idea that in some cases are bound to follow previous
decisions while some cases are not.” (Lawteacher.net, 2018)
However the doctrine of precedent means, “The doctrine of precedent refers that the legal
decisions made by judges in higher courts are remained as a precedent, so the decisions
made by lower or equal courts in future are needed to be followed the earlier decision made in
the higher courts. It is believed that the doctrine of precedent brings certainty to the English
legal system.” (Lawteacher.net, 2018).The judge should present judgments upon his/her
decisions in every case. There are two types of states included in the judgment, Ratio
dicidendi and Obiter dicta are the two states judge should present.
When considering the application of the doctrine of precedent it is done through these two
states which are provided by the judge. The Ratio dicidendi means according to the
Lawteacher.net “The ratio dicidendi means the reason for the decision. It literally means the
main reason why judge has come to the decision. It would be the rule of law that governs the
decision and, it is a general statement that does not involve particular details in each case. It is
set for the precedent to apply in the future case decision.”(Lawteacher.net, 2018).The website
also provides an example, “As an example of the ratio, in the case Donoghue v. Stevenson
(1932), a client became ill after drinking spoiled ginger beer which was a dead snail in and
sued the manufacturer, the ratio decidendi is to be the part that read ‘a person owes a duty of
care to those who he can reasonably foresee will be affected by his actions. The ratio of
6
Donoghue v. Stevenson (1932) subsequently brought major development to the law of
negligence.” (Lawteacher.net, 2018)
Statements of the judge that are based on the hypothetical factors rather than material factors
are included in the Obiter dicta. “As its meaning, the Obiter Dicta does not state the primary
reasoning of the decision, therefore it is not binding for the future decisions. Although it is not a
part of the precedent, some of the Obiter Dicta can be referred in the future case to make the
certain view to the law more persuasive.” (Lawteacher.net, 2018) and as an example, “In the
case of Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co Ltd (1892), the obiter dicta would be ‘If I advertise to
the world that my dog is lost, and that anybody who brings the dog to a particular place will be
paid some money, are all the police or other persons whose business it is to find lost dogs to
be expected to sit down and write me a note saying that they have accepted my proposal?
Why, of course, they at once look [for] the dog, and as soon as they find the dog they have
performed the condition.’ [1] The judge added this part to assist his view on the decision.”
(Lawteacher.net, 2018)
C) Explain the judicial approaches in interpreting statutes
7
Task 1.2 – M1 and D1
A) What are the steps by which Parliament creates a statute?
B) Distinguish between judge-made law and statute law
8
C) Explain the difference between the burden of proof in a civil case and the
burden of proof in a criminal case
9
Conclusions/Limitations
10
References
Adams, A. (2010). LAW FOR BUSINESS STUDENTS. 6th ed. Essex: Pearson Education
Limited.
Jones, L. 2015, Introduction to BUSINESS LAW, 3rd edition, New York: Oxford University
Press.
Lawteacher.net. (2018). Doctrine Of Precedent In English Legal System. [online] Available at:
<https://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/constitutional-law/doctrine-of-precedent-in-
english-legal-system-constitutional-law-essay.php> [Accessed 14 February 2019].
Martin, J. (2014). KEY FACTS KEY CASES English Legal System. 1st ed. New York:
Routledge.
