1. English for the Legal Profession II
Your textbook MODULE TWO: ANGLO-AMERICAN LEGAL SYSTEMS Units 7 – 13

2. THE SOURCES OF ENGLISH LAW
UNIT 7
THE SOURCES OF ENGLISH LAW

3. SOURCES OF LAW = METHODS OF DEVELOPING LAW
Different ways of creating law became more complex in the course of history
PERIOD SOURCE OF LAW
early common law customs
Norman Conquest general customs ≠ local customs
common law & equity (operated paralelly but separately)
18th & early 19th c statute law passed by Parliament
delegated legislation
20th c The European Convention on Human Rights
1973 – 2016 (Brexit) European law

4. CUSTOMS Read the text p. 52, paragraph 2 and complete the statements:
Customs are….
Types of customs are
Judges appointed by the kings applied__________ .
When a person in a particular area claimed a certain right _____________ were applied.
G______ customs
L______
Customs

5. COMMON LAW
Common on the teritory of England & Wales after the Norman Conquest in 1066
Complete the notes (p. 52 – 53)
a more organised system _____________
William the Conqueror set up _______________
Disputes between nobles were _______________
Central courts + travelling _____________
Henry II established ___________, areas which were visited by judges
Hierarchy of higher courts (royal courts) and ________ courts (local ________)

6. EQUITY – part I equity = fairness Reasons for developement of equity:
Problems in the common law ↔ a right of an individual depending on a procedure for enforcing it
Mistakes in formalities → plaintiff lost a case
Damages the only remedy awarded by common law courts
justice not obtained in the common law courts parties appealed directly to the king → cases referred to the king’s Chancellor → decision made on the principle of fairness (What is right in a particular case?)

7. EQUITY – part 2
Read the second part of the paragraph on Equity p. 53, and complete the missing information:
EQUITABLE REMEDIES developed by the king’s Chancellor
Sudski nalog vezan za zabranu = ______________
Opoziv / poništaj = ________________/rɪˈsɪʒ.ən/
Ispravka / ispraviti = ______________ /ˈrek.tɪ.faɪ/
Sudski nalog vezan za izvršenje obveze = ______________

8. EQUITY – part 3
The result of the work of king’s Chancellor = a Court of Chancery – it administered equity (abolishion after the Judicature Act)
HOWEVER
Not a complete system of law
Filled the gaps in the common law
was more flexible in case of strict rules of common law
potential conflict between common law and equity
→ Judicature Act (1873 – 1875) → the Hight Court of Justice (administered both common law and equity) → in case of conflict
rules of equity prevailed.

9. STATUTE LAW (Unit 9)
statutes passed by Parliament (pisani zakon) = reaction to the need to regulate new situations
(precedents could not ensure major changes)
argument of democracy – laws should be made by elected representatives of society  the United Kingdom Parliament
statutes = Acts of Parliament (60 to 70 acts each year)

10. DELEGATED LEGISLATION
Read the text and write down the key word.
Delegated, or secondary, legislation is used to add information or make changes to an existing Act of Parliament (primary legislation). Normally, this can only happen if the Act itself states that changes can be made to it in this way.
Delegated legislation allows the Government to make a small change to the law without having to introduce an entirely new Bill to Parliament. This might be done for a variety of reasons: from adjusting a figure to take account of inflation to updating the law in light of events. Source:

11. DELEGATED LEGISLATION – examples
A CONCRETE SITUATION - the Coalition Government used delegated legislation to add new substances to the list of those banned under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.
INSTRUMENTS
Statutory instruments (SIs) are the most frequently used type of delegated legislation. They are typically brief documents drafted by the relevant government department that contain only the exact textual changes that are made to the legislation.
Each Statutory Instrument must be published with an explanatory note that explains in simpler language, what the effect of the instrument will be.

12. THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
ECHR = a treaty of the Council of Europe
- opened for signature in 1950
Came into force in 1953
Incorporated into English law by the Human Rights Act in 1998 (complete abolition of capital punishment in 1999)
→ UK court must interpret national legislation in the light of the Convention and take into account the judgments of the European Court of Human Right

13. EUROPEAN LAW
A new situation after BREXIT in 2016 European law was has been an additional source of law since 1973 – the UK joined the European Economic Community.

14. Language work Do the exercises IV & V, p. 55 – 56
Translate into Croatian
“The law was very technical; if there was an error in the formalities the plaintiff would lose the case. Another problem was the fact that the only remedy the common law courts could give was damages – that is, an order that the defendant pay a sum of money to the plaintiff by way of compensation.”, p.53

15. Part Two – STATUTORY INTERPRETATION
Read the text and underline key words:
The term statutory interpretation refers to the action of a court in trying to understand and explaining the meaning of a piece of legislation. Many cases go to appeal on a point of interpretation, Indeed, Lord Hailsham, a senior English judge, once said that “probably 9 out of 10 cases heard by the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords turn upon or involve the meaning of words contained in statute or secondary legislation.”
Source:

16. Part Two – STATUTORY INTERPRETATION
Complete the graphical presentation:
Approaches to judicial interpretation =
______________ (intention)
______________ (literal meaning)
The three rules of interpretation:
& &
_______
rule
_______
rule
_______
rule

17. Part Two – STATUTORY INTERPRETATION
Complete the graphical presentation:
Aids to interpretation =
______________ (parts of the Act )
______________ (sources outside the Act)
The three rules of language:
& &
A list of words +_______
_______
Words in the _______

18. Study the cases pp. 58 - 59 Explain the subject matter of the cases
Explain the basis for interpretation