1st Class Law Notes – Road to Success

WORKSHOP 1 – Criminal Procedure/Police Investigation 1) Police Arrest – Caution • Section 24 PACE – suspect can only be arrested if they have committed an offence or were about to commit an offence or if the police have reasonable grounds to believe that they would do • Code C Par 10.1/10.3/10.4 – Suspect must be cautioned on arrest, or if this is impracticable, before they are questioned at police station. This will be, “you do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not….” • Adverse inferences –…

PROCEDURE PLAN – COMPANY • MA3, TA70 – directors have all the powers of management of the company but owe fiduciary duties to the company – may delegate powers to other persons – MA5 • Under s.40 – director has power to bind the company • Under s.43 company may enter contract by (1)(a) writing under its common seal or (b) on behalf of company acting under its authority, express or implied – execution is dealt with in s.44 • S.171 – duty of director to (a) act in accordance with the company’s constitution and…

Introduction What is ADR? >ADR does not have an agreed definition. >There are also debates whether the term ‘alternative dispute resolution’ should be used at all. >Options are only really ‘alternative’ if the use of the litigation is seen as the norm, but statistics show that most cases settle rather than going to court for decision, so that settlement rather than litigation is actually the norm. >Many cases use a mixture of court procedure and ADR rather than relying solely on one ‘alternative’. >For the reasons above it has been argued that it may be…

1. Leon Grimes is a gay male barrister who is instructed to defend Carl Jackson, who is charged with racially aggravated assault and battery. During their initial conference Carl spots Leon’s civil partnership ring and asks him when he got married. Leon corrects him by saying that he is in a civil partnership. Carl becomes agitated and tells Leon that he is uncomfortable with a gay barrister representing him as he thinks that gay people are “disgusting” and that civil partnerships are “blasphemy”. Leon is so shocked at Carl’s words and attitude that he no…

COMPETENCE AND COMPELLABILITY “At every stage in criminal proceedings all persons are (whatever their age) competent to give evidence.” “A person is not competent to give evidence in criminal proceedings if it appears to the court that he is not a person who is able to – (a)         understand questions put to him as a witness , and (b)         give answers to them which can be understood.” The exceptions to this rule are the defendant, children and persons of a defective intellect YJCEA 1999 s54 deals with the procedure that the court should follow when…

EQUITY & TRUSTS REVISION CONSTRUCTION Good intro from my coursework! The trust – the “greatest and most distinctive achievement performed by Englishmen in the field of jurisprudence” (Maitland, 1936) – undoubtedly imposes an onerous obligation on its trustees (failure to comply might result in breach of trust) and has the ability to deprive the recipient of what otherwise might have been an outright gift (the gift of an asset is prima facie a gift unless it is certain the donor intended a trust).  Therefore, the imposition of a trust obligation cannot be achieved lightly. Administration…

ONE STOP REVISION REGISTERED TITLE AND FORMALITIES Step 1 – identify the interest – e.g. lease, ownership, trust, covenant… Step 2 – is this interest capable of being legal or equitable – see LPA 1925 s.1 (1)(2)(3) LEGAL:   s.1(1) EIFSAIP and TOYA “the only estates in land which are capable of subsisting or of being conveyed or created at law”   legal interest must be created by deed, UNLESS a parole lease: for a term of 3 years or lessin possessionat best rent reasonably obtained   s.1(2) interests capable of being legal (a) easements…

Intentional Torts Assault Battery False Imprisonment “If the act is intentional, it is the tort of assault and battery. If negligent and causing damage, it is the tort of negligence…” Lord Denning in Letang v Cooper unlawful threat of imminent battery   ingredients: conduct e.g. point a loaded gun, to shake a fist, to curse in a threatening manner – Reed v Cocker; a mere omission will not suffice apprehension of an immediate battery no good if not possible, e.g. Thomas v National Union of Mineworkers (picketing miners held back by police) apprehension must be…

CONVENTIONS Non-legal rules of constitutional behaviour which are considered to be binding upon those who op- erate the constitution but which are not enforced by the courts or parliament.Breach or violation by those bound by the convention will give rise to legitimate criticism which will generally take the form of an accusation of ‘unconstitutional conduct’.E.g. Royal Assent: The monarch has the power constitutionally to withhold assent. However, by convention, no monarch has refused since 1708. It is now said that by convention a monarch is constitutionally bound to grant assent. Dicey wrote extensively on the…

Compact Revision Notes CRIMINAL LAW REVISION BASIC PRINCIPLES To be guilty of a crime, Defendant must be found to have: Actus Reus (external element) – brought about prohibited situation Mens Rea (fault element) – with a prescribed state of mind EXCEPT in Strict liability offences where only the Actus Reus need be found. The burden of proof is always on the prosecution The standard of proof is that the jury must be ‘satisfied’ beyond all reasonable doubt. Reasonable doubt ‘is one for which you could give reasons if asked’ VOLUNTARY ACT Liability will only accrue…

Discharge of the Contract A contract can be discharged by: Performance Where both parties perform exactly and precisely the full extent of their obligations, the contract will be discharged by performance and the parties will be freed of their obligations. Where there has been partial performance, there can be no payment except where: It may be possible to infer from circumstances that the other party is happy to accept partial performance and the benefits it bestows on him, and that he will pay proportionately for it – but he must have a genuine choice whether…

Duress, Undue Influence and Unconscionable Bargains Duress to the person – common law Duress is available as a defence where a plaintiff can show that the contract had been entered into because of “threats of violence” or “ac- tual violence to the plaintiff”. The threats do not have to be the sole reason for entering the contract. Threats to property will not be suffi- cient to rescind the contract  (Skeate v Beale). A successful defence of duress will make the contract voidable. To avoid the potential rescission of the contract, the person who uttered the…

Misrepresentation A misrepresentation is a false statement of fact which induces the representee to enter a contract. Where a statement made during the course of negotiations is classed as a representation rather than a term an action for misrepresentation may be available where the state- ment turns out to be untrue. The affect of a finding of misrepresentation is the contract is voidable i.e. the contract exists but may be set aside by the representee. It is important to bear in mind that although the false statement may have induced the contract, it does not…

Exemption clauses and unfair terms in consumer contracts Exemption clauses take two main forms: 1.      The first question the courts ask is, “has the term been incorporated into the contract?” The general rule is that the term must be brought to the attention of the contracting party before or at the time the contract was made. If the term was not brought to their attention it will not form part of the agreement between the parties. An exemption clause will only operate if it is a part of the contract. It can be incorporated into…

Terms of the Contract Term and Representations Where the parties are involved in pre-contractual negotiations numerous statements may be made. The law has to distinguish between statements which become part of the contract, i.e. terms, and those which cause the contract to be formed but do not form part of the con- tract, i.e. representations. (i) found in the law of misrepresentation. Distinguishing a Term and a Representation – Intention In order to identify terms and representations, the court looks at the intention of the parties, i.e. “did they intend the statement to be a…