W200 - Unit 2 Terminology And Sources Of Law (Reading Statute And Cases)

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Key points when reading a statute pg 70

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1. Read the long title as a guide to its general purpose

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2. Look for the definition and interpretation sections, which apply to a whole act or specific sections of an act

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3. Look at the list of contents to identify relevant parts

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4. Check whether the statute is in force (has it come into force or has it been repealed)

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5. Current Law Statutes Annotated provides note giving commentary on each Act

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6. Principles of statutory interpretation (see unit 3)

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Law reports

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Generic term for publications throughout legal history

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case citations

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(year) in round brackets means it is incidental to locating case

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[year] in square brackets means it is vital to locating the case

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case names to be written in italics or underlined in written notes or exams

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neutral citations

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modern form of citation instituted in 2001

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Smith v. Jones [2001] ECWA Civ 10 at [59]

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paragraph 59 in the judgement of Smith v. Jones, the tenth judgement of the year 2001 in the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales

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Year books

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Law reports from 1275-1535 in legal French

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Private or Nominate Reports

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Law reports from 1535-1865 by private individuals for commercial publication

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Modern Reports

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Law reports from 1865 - to date

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Law reports, abreviations and sources

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AC

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Appeal cases

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Ch

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Chancery Division

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Fam

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Family Division

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KB/QB

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Kings Bench/Queens Bench

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Weekly Law Reports (citation WLR)

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Published more frequently than law reports but without counsels arguements and judicial review

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All England Law Reports (citation All ER)

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Reports produced by legal publishers without counsels arguements and judicial review

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Legal Periodicals and Newspapers

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The Solicitors Journal (Sol Jo or SJ)

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The Times

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The Independent

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Specialist Reports

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Industrial Relations Law Reports (IRLR)

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Knight's Local Government Reports (LGR)

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Lloyd's Law Reports (Lloyd's Rep)

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Report on Tax Cases (TC or Tax Cas)

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Criminal Appeal Reports (Cr App R)

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European Court Reports (ECR)

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Common Market Law Reports (CMLR)

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see activity 14

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How to read Cases pg 78 - 86

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Case Name: A

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claimant v. Defendant

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Letters in the margin

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if law reports have marginal letters, they can be used to give precise reference to any part of the case.

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The court: A

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the court which hears the case

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Judge: A

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the names of the judges

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Dates: A

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date of the hearing and decision is always given

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Subject matter: B

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catchwords written in italics is a guide to the cases content, i.e. Contract

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Headnote: C,D,E,F (1)

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a headnote is a summary of the facts of the case and of the judgement

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Headnote: C,D,E,F (2)

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the headnote will often say what the effect of this decision is on existing case law. You will come across following terms

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Affirmed

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The court agrees with the decision of a lower court on the same case

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Applied

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The court regards itself bound by a decision in an earlier, different case, and has used the same legal reasoning.

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Approved

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A higher court states that a different case was correctly decided by a lower court

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Considered

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The court discussed a different case, often one decided by a court of equal status

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Distinguished

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Where a court has no power, or no wish, to overrule an earlier different case, but has found a compelling differencethat means it does not need to follow it as a precedent

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Overruled

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Where the court overturns a decision in a different case of a lower or equal court

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Reversed

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Where a higher court on appeal overturns a decision of a lower court in the same case

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Semble

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(it 'appears') where a court gives its opinion on a point which is not directly before it, i.e. It is obiter

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Notes:G

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notes indicate the appropriate volume of Halsbury's Laws and Halsbury's Statutes of England

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Halsbury's Laws

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provides a precise statement of the relevant law including references to main cases and statutes

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Halsbury's Statute

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a complete text of all statutes with explanatory annotations

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List of cases:H

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the cases referred to by the judge are listed as well as sometimes a seperate list of 'cases cited' which refers to cases mentioned by counsel

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Details of the action: I

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a history of the proceedings of the case is given

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Names of the counsel: C

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the counsel, i.e. the barristers, who appeared in the case for each party are named. Senior counsel are called QCs (Queen'S Counsel)

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The judgement: D

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judgement given by the judge. In a case with more than one judge each judge is entitled to give his own judgement

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The names of solicitors: G

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the names of the solicitors whoe represented each party