The common law of england pdf

But a civil court in the first sense, such as the Chancery Division of the High Court, is not going to hold a murder trial; instead, such a case would be heard in a criminal court, eg the Crown Court. A contract does not have to be written down to be a binding contract. A tort is a legal wrong. Classic types of claim in tort are those based on negligence, nuisance, defamation, misuse of private information, etc.

Sometimes a claim may involve both contract and tort, but a claim based in tort does not require there to be any contract between the parties, simply that one of them owed the other a duty. Such a duty may have been developed either at common law or under a statute. There may be claims by different classes of creditor and regulatory proceedings may be taken against the directors.

Company law covers all these matters. Revenue law deals with disputes over the assessment of taxes and duties levied on organisations and individuals by the government. Types of tax include income tax, corporation tax, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, VAT etc are all covered. IP law as it is often called is concerned with rights and duties relating to patents, designs, copyright and trade marks.

Patents protect scientific inventions which often have an industrial or commercial value. Copyright is concerned with artistic works, whether written, composed or created in some other artistic way thus a painting or illustration would generally be protected by copyright rather than a design right.

Trade marks protect the identity and reputation of businesses. Some intellectual property rights have to be registered before they can be enforced but others do not. Disputes may arise over whether a person was entitled to register the right and whether such registration was valid. Media law deals with disputes over the regulation of and the content published or broadcast by media organisations and individuals such as journalists who generate that content.

Information law is concerned with rights such as Freedom of Information and duties such as data protection relating to information. Communications law includes telecommunications, the internet and social media, though there is considerable overlap with media and information law. Family law is concerned with marriage and divorce, children, and matrimonial finance. Some issues involving children are described as private law cases, because they only involve private individuals usually the parents or guardians but other disputes, such as care proceedings involving the local authority and other parties, are described as public law cases.

Cases involving children may relate to medical treatment for which, by virtue of their age, or lack of capacity, they are unable to provide consent.

Similar cases involving adults lacking capacity are dealt with by the Court of Protection, which also deals with administrative issues such as where an adult lacking capacity should live and decisions about their financial affairs. Gain unrestricted access to ICLR. Knowledge Reference and support materials for case law research and legal education.

The English legal system. The United Kingdom is divided into three main jurisdictions or self-contained legal systems : England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland.

Each jurisdiction has its own laws, court system, lawyers and judges. However: Laws that apply in one jurisdiction, particularly if they are derived from legislation Acts of Parliament and Statutory Instruments may apply equally, or very similarly, in other jurisdictions.

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