LOOKING AT LAW AN INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCING….. Legislation Cases & how they work Civil Law & Criminal Law A contrast in attitudes to e.g. protection of reputation, hate speech, individual privacy The ‘human rights’ effect

LEGISLATION Legislation can vary E.g. in the UK there are 2 types of legislation Primary & Secondary Primary = Acts of Parliament – parliamentary sovereignty Secondary = statutory instruments & By-laws

USA Different types/levels of legislation Federal & State law Federal laws have to pass through Congress & Senate before becoming law State laws are passed by individual states and apply only to that state e.g. California

EUROPEAN UNION TREATIES REGULATIONS DIRECTIVES Legislation has to be passed by the European Parliament (an elected body) but some laws can come straight from the Commission (an unelected body)

CONSTITUTIONS & CONVENTIONS Constitution of the USA – not easy to change Universal Declaration of Human Rights European Convention of Human Rights – interpreted by European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) Human Rights Act 1998 incorporated this into UK law

Articles to remember Important articles for the media: Art 6 – right to a fair trial Art 8 – right to a private life Art 10 – freedom of expression

CASE LAW Created by decisions of courts Can create a whole new area of law without legislation (e.g. negligence in UK) but can also attach to legislation ( e.g. Sale of Goods/consumer protection in UK). Find case law in many jurisdictions, even those with a codified system e.g. France

Some benefits of case law Can be flexible Can adapt to suit social change and attitudes see e.g. Author of a Blog case in materials Can be used to change law – see Sullivan case from USA Can be used to reinforce/re-evaluate a law see e.g. Flood in UK

Court Hierarchies In order for case law to work effectively it may be necessary to have a court hierarchy with a powerful highest court to consider the decisions and evaluate them. E.g. Supreme court in UK/ Supreme Court in USA

Compare 1… Positive rights from a constitution/convention With negative rights i.e. law tells you what you must NOT do rather than conferring rights Compare UK and USA attitude to Freedom of expression prior to the Human Rights Act

Compare 2… Briefly as examples: Protection of Reputation in USA/UK/ France Breach of Privacy in UK/USA/Germany/France Hate Speech in UK/USA