bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
3. Buying a house
Authors: MacKenzie Judith-Anne , Nair Aruna
Published: September 2020

Course-focused and comprehensive, the Textbook on Land Law provides an accessible overview of one key area on the law curriculum. This chapter discusses the acquisition of a fee simple estate in land. It first describes the two freehold properties that are currently for sale in Trant Way, Mousehole, Stilton. It then explains two systems of title and provides an outline of the conveyancing process.
16. Perpetuities and accumulations
Authors: MacKenzie Judith-Anne , Nair Aruna
Published: September 2020

Course-focused and comprehensive, the Textbook on Land Law provides an accessible overview of one key area on the law curriculum. This chapter provides a brief account of the ‘perpetuities and accumulations’ rules. It discusses future interests; the old perpetuities rules; legislative modifications before 2010; the breadth of the application of old rules; rules about the period for which income can accumulate in a trust; and the Perpetuities and Accumulations Act 2009.
17. Co-ownership
Authors: MacKenzie Judith-Anne , Nair Aruna
Published: September 2020

Course-focused and comprehensive, the Textbook on Land Law provides an accessible overview of one key area on the law curriculum. This chapter discusses rules relating to the co-ownership of land. It covers joint tenancy; tenancy in common; creating a tenancy in common of the beneficial interest under a trust; the cases of Stack v Dowden and Jones v Kernott; the severance of a joint tenancy; the relationship between co-owners; and the ending of co-ownership.
20. Licences and their enforcement
Authors: MacKenzie Judith-Anne , Nair Aruna
Published: September 2020

Course-focused and comprehensive, the Textbook on Land Law provides an accessible overview of one key area on the law curriculum. This chapter considers the nature of a licence of land. It discusses how to distinguish a lease from a licence, and how to distinguish an easement or profit from a licence. It then discusses enforcement against the licensor; enforcement against successors of the licensor; and whether licences are becoming interests in land. The issues covered are also applied to two licensees in Trant Way: Henry Mumps and Bob Bell are each living in property owned by another member of their family.
5. The Nature and Content of the Personal Employment Contract
Authors: Cabrelli David
Published: September 2020

This chapter examines the nature and content of the contract of employment. It explains how the contract of employment is primarily a repository for the rights and obligations of the employer and employee. It introduces the statutory duty of an employer to provide the employee with a statement of the main particulars of employment, and considers whether this statement is exhaustive of the terms and conditions of the contract of employment. In analysing the employment contract’s content, the chapter focuses on express terms, external documents incorporated into the contract of employment, imposed terms, and implied terms in fact.
6. The Implied Terms of the Personal Employment Contract
Authors: Cabrelli David
Published: September 2020

This chapter first discusses the role played by implied terms of the employment contract. It then turns to the implied terms which impose obligations on the employer. These include the duty to provide work, pay wages, exercise reasonable care for the physical and psychiatric well-being of the employee; the implied term of mutual trust and confidence; and the discretionary benefit implied term and anti-avoidance implied term. The final section covers the implied terms imposing duties on employees. These include the duty to work and obey instructions and orders; the duty to adapt, exercise care, and co-operate; the duty of mutual trust and confidence; and the duty of loyalty, fidelity, and confidence.
14. Equal Pay Law
Authors: Cabrelli David
Published: September 2020

This chapter examines the principle of equal pay for equal work enshrined in the Equality Act 2010 (EA). It first considers the stubbornness of the gender pay gap in the UK and the EU, as well as the justifications for intervention in the labour market via the auspices of equal pay laws. It goes on to discuss the legal machinery in the EA, which confers an entitlement on employees of one sex to the same remuneration as suitable employee comparators of the opposite sex. The focus then turns to the content of the ‘sex equality clause’—a term imposed into every employee’s contract of employment by virtue of section 66 of the EA. This is followed by a discussion of the material factor defence for employers in section 69 of the EA.
16. Introduction to Unfair Dismissal and Substantive Fairness
Authors: Cabrelli David
Published: September 2020

This chapter begins with a contextual and historical introduction to unfair dismissal law, which seeks to regulate arrangements pursued by employers that result in the dismissal of their employees. It covers the efficiency of unfair dismissal laws; the structure, nature, content, and shape of unfair dismissal laws; and the rationale for the introduction of the unfair dismissal laws in the UK. It then examines the statutory unfair dismissal regime contained in Part X of the Employment Rights Act 1996, and the meaning of the ‘substantive fairness’ of the dismissal. In the final section, the chapter considers the response of the courts and tribunals to the provisions on substantive fairness of dismissals.
17. Procedural Fairness and Remedies
Authors: Cabrelli David
Published: September 2020

This chapter first examines the various conceptions of procedural fairness. It then underscores the diversity and adaptability of the standards of procedural fairness. It charts the approach of the tribunals and courts to the standards of procedural fairness and analyses the stages of a procedurally fair process. Finally, the chapter probes the remedies available in the case of a successful unfair dismissal, including the calculation of the basic award, the measure of compensation payable in the case of the compensatory award, and the orders of reinstatement and re-engagement. The chapter concludes with an overall assessment of the efficacy of the statutory unfair dismissal regime.
18. Redundancy
Authors: Cabrelli David
Published: September 2020

This chapter examines the statutory regulation of redundancy, together with the extent to which a statutory redundancy payment offers sufficient compensation for the loss of the employee’s job, and the financial and emotional disruption caused by the need to search for other employment. It considers other protections available to the employee who is about to be, or has been, made redundant. It then assesses the evolution of the present statutory regime and whether it strikes an appropriate balance between the personal financial costs and adverse social costs shouldered by UK taxpayers and the economy on the one hand, and the costs to the productive economy and the labour market on the other. The alternatives to redundancy are also addressed.
Online Resources Chapter A: Information, Consultation, Participation, and Insolvency
Authors: Cabrelli David
Published: September 2020

This chapter evaluates the degree to which employment law facilitates worker participation in corporate decision-making and confers rights upon workers to be informed and consulted about developments in their employer’s business and strategic operations, at both cross-border and national levels. The chapter presents arguments advanced in favour of worker participation, before going on to note how the scope of application of workers’ rights of participation, information, and consultation has expanded over the years—partially in response to the decline in collective bargaining and the power of the trade unions in the UK over the past 40 years or so. Finally, the rights of employees where their employer becomes insolvent or enters into an ...
1. Introduction to Land Law
Authors: Bevan Chris
Published: September 2020

This chapter provides an introduction to land law and the subject’s foundational principles. Land law is the law of real property. It is ‘that part of the general law which governs the allocation of rights and responsibilities in relation to “real” or “immoveable” property’. Land law is about rights in things; in other words, rights in the land rather than rights which are merely personal to the people who created them. More specifically, land law creates a framework in which a variety of relationships between people and land can operate. Land law is concerned with the nature, creation, and protection of rights in land and, also the content of those rights.
19. Bills of exchange
Authors: Fox D , Munday RJC , Soyer B , Tettenborn AM , Turner PG
Published: September 2020

This chapter focuses on bills of exchange, especially in the context of international trade. It first provides an overview of how bills of exchange are used as a method of payment before discussing the relevant provisions of the Bills of Exchange Act 1882. It then considers the definition of a bill of exchange, how a bill of exchange is transferred, and persons entitled to the benefit of the obligation on the bill. It also examines the general principles governing liability on the bill of exchange as well as the enforcement and discharge of the bill. Finally, it looks at mistaken payment, focusing on cases where the payment was received in good faith and in ignorance of the mistake.
25. Possessory security
Authors: Fox D , Munday RJC , Soyer B , Tettenborn AM , Turner PG
Published: September 2020

This chapter deals with possessory security. It begins with a discussion of a pledge (which normally secures repayment of a debt but, in principle, there is no reason why it should not secure performance by the pledgor of some other obligation), before considering the concepts of delivery and re-delivery of possession. It also examines re-pledge by the pledgee, realisation, and statutory control before turning to liens. In particular, it explains how a lien arises and how it is enforced, terminated, and registered. Finally, it looks at the proposed legal reform with respect to possessory security.
1. Introduction
Authors: Smith Rhona K. M.
Published: September 2020

This introductory chapter introduces the book, which is on modern international human rights law. It also introduces key concepts in public international law to ensure those not familiar with that discipline understand sufficiently the relevant concepts in order to work successfully with international human rights. This chapter also outlines the structure of the book.
5. Regional protection of human rights
Authors: Smith Rhona K. M.
Published: September 2020

This chapter examines the rationale behind developing regional protection of human rights. It discusses the advantages of regional systems then overviews the three principal regional systems that promote human rights: the Organization of American States, the Council of Europe, and the African Union, before outlining other regional initiatives.
10. Substantive rights—general comments
Authors: Smith Rhona K. M.
Published: September 2020

This chapter discusses the reality of human rights protection within States. It addresses the limitations of various rights and the extent to which States can deviate from responsibility in terms of international human rights law. It covers issues such as State discretion in selecting and applying rights, particularly through derogations, reservations, declarations, and denunciations. These are issues which impact on almost all human rights and almost all States in some way.
17. Freedom from torture; cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment
Authors: Smith Rhona K. M.
Published: September 2020

This chapter examines the prohibition of torture and similar forms of punishment by international human rights law. Regional and international human rights bodies have developed specific instruments and monitoring systems designed to combat such practices. The chapter argues that exhaustive definitions of the components of the prohibition on torture would not help in abolishing the practice; there is a real risk that such a list would encourage ever more innovative and horrific examples of inhumanity.
22. Sustainable development and human rights
Authors: Smith Rhona K. M.
Published: September 2020

This chapter focuses on sustainable development, part of Agenda 2030 of the United Nations. The UN Sustainable Development Goals overlap with human rights and the associated targets and indicators embody many core human rights obligations already incumbent on States. This agenda is now the focal point of technical assistance and development programmes around the world and, crucially, applies to all States, irrespective of their state of development.
5. Mental Health Law
Authors: Herring Jonathan
Published: September 2020

This chapter first considers statistics on mental health in the UK. It then discusses the Mental Health Act (MHA) 1983; the MHA 1983 Code of Practice; reforms to the law under the 2007 Act; problems in mental health practice; critics of mental health; and paternalism as the ground for detention. It highlights the difficulty in striking the correct balance between protecting the public from the perceived threat of mentally disordered people and protecting the rights of those who suffer mental illness. The chapter also illustrates how the principle of autonomy, which plays such an important role in medical law and ethics, is given much less prominence in the area of mental health law.
3. Rule of law
Authors: Parpworth Neil
Published: September 2020

This chapter begins with a discussion of the meaning of the rule of law, one of the fundamental doctrines or principles of the UK constitution. The concept is by no means straightforward, and opinions vary as to the principles or values which underpin the doctrine. The chapter distinguishes between formal and substantive meanings of the rule of law. It discusses principles encompassed by the rule of law. These include that laws should be prospective, laws should be open and clear, and that there should be natural justice, access to the courts, and equality before the law. The chapter concludes with an assessment of the contemporary significance of the rule of law.
4. The legislative supremacy of Parliament
Authors: Parpworth Neil
Published: September 2020

This chapter examines the constitutional significance of the principle of the legislative supremacy of Parliament. The discussion covers the traditional view of the principle, which holds that Parliament is legally omnicompetent, as well as a competing view of legislative supremacy of Parliament, referred to as the ‘new’ view or the ‘manner and form’ argument. The chapter also considers the effect on legislation of the following: the doctrine of implied repeal; the meaning of entrenchment; the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949; Union legislation; legislative supremacy and the EU; legislative supremacy and devolution; and legislative supremacy and the Human Rights Act 1998.
9. EU law
Authors: Parpworth Neil
Published: September 2020

This chapter discusses the primary and secondary laws of the European Union (EU). Treaties are the primary law of the EU. In addition to the treaties that originally established the three European Communities, a number of other treaties have subsequently been made. These include the Treaty on European Union (the Maastricht Treaty), the Treaty of Amsterdam, the Treaty of Nice, and the Lisbon Treaty, all of which have made important amendments to the foundation treaties. Article 288 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) confers legislative power on the Union’s institutions to make secondary legislation in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty. This secondary legislation may take different forms: regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations, and opinions. The chapter also discusses the concepts of direct applicability and direct effect, and the relationship between EU law and the English courts, and concludes by considering the likely enduring impact of EU law even after the UK has ceased to be a member state.
11. Judge-made law
Authors: Parpworth Neil
Published: September 2020

This chapter considers a further source of the UK constitution: the law that is made by the judicial branch of government as a result of the cases heard by the courts. Today it is widely accepted that judge-made law is a reality. It takes two main forms: the development of the common law; or the interpretation of statutes. The two main approaches of the courts to interpretation of Acts of Parliament—the literal approach and the purposive approach—are discussed. In addition, the interpretative obligation imposed on the courts by s 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998 is also reviewed.
19. Police powers
Authors: Parpworth Neil
Published: September 2020

The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) confers many powers upon the police. This chapter discusses the codes of practice of PACE, police powers of stop and search, the power to arrest members of the public, and the powers to enter property. Whether or not a particular power is exercised will be a matter for the discretion for an individual officer. The exercise of this discretion and the extent to which this is subject to review by the courts will be examined. Finally, the chapter looks at two offences which may be committed against the police: assaulting an officer and wilful obstruction of an officer.
20. Freedom of assembly and public order
Authors: Parpworth Neil
Published: September 2020

This chapter considers laws governing freedom of assembly and public order in the UK. The discussion covers rights and freedoms, and the powers of the police to preserve the peace and maintain public order. The chapter examines the concept of a breach of the peace and the circumstances in which the police may take action to prevent a breach from occurring. The chapter also focuses on the Public Order Act 1986, including provisions on racially or religiously aggravated public order offences, and the control of public processions and assemblies. Finally, the chapter examines statutory provisions specifically aimed at controlling or restricting demonstrations in the vicinity of Parliament.
2. The Sources of Roman Law
Authors: du Plessis Paul J.
Published: September 2020

This chapter discusses the sources of Roman law. It covers sources of law in the archaic period; sources of law in the Republic; sources of law in the Empire; the post-classical era; and Justinian’s codification of Roman law. It is difficult to provide a comprehensive and finite list of the sources of Roman law, since the Roman jurists never defined the term ‘source of law’ and different sources were emphasized at certain periods in the history of the Roman legal system to reflect their prominence as instruments of legal reform. There are three statements in which the sources of Roman law are listed, seemingly without any specific order. The earliest is by Cicero in the first century BC. The second is a comment by the second-century jurist Gaius in his Institutes. The latter was adopted and amended in Justinian’s Institutes of the sixth century AD.
4. Status, Slavery, and Citizenship
Authors: du Plessis Paul J.
Published: September 2020

Legal status lay at the heart of the law of persons. Rome developed into a highly stratified society in which the different gradations of status were reflected in a myriad of detailed rules. So, the law of persons describes the various categories and degrees of status in Roman law, and how status could be acquired or lost. Issues such as slavery and citizenship are fundamental, but the bulk of the law is concerned with the family. This chapter first considers the question of legal personality. It then discusses the rules on status; freedom and the law of slavery; and the legal position of free persons: citizens and non-citizens.
5. The Roman Family
Authors: du Plessis Paul J.
Published: September 2020

This chapter is devoted to the Roman law of persons and family. As in modern legal studies, so in Roman law, it is the first branch of private law that students are taught, primarily in order to understand the concept of ‘legal personhood’. This chapter covers the paterfamilias (head of the household); marriage and divorce; adoption; and guardianship. The head of the household was the eldest living male ancestor of a specific family. He had in his power (potestas) all descendants traced through the male line (and also exercised forms of control over other members of the household). Roman law accorded the head of the household extensive legal entitlements, not only vis-à-vis the members of the household, but also its property. The motivation of this state of affairs lies in the recognition in Roman law of the family unit as legally significant entity.
10. Obligations Arising from Delict
Authors: du Plessis Paul J.
Published: September 2020

This chapter discusses the Roman law of delict. It covers wrongful damage to property; theft and robbery; insulting behaviour; praetorian delicts; liability for damage caused by animals; and the quasi-delict. A delict, as one of the main sources of an obligation, can be defined in broad terms as a wrongful act which causes damage to someone’s personality, his family, or his property, and for which the victim or his heirs is entitled to compensation. There is an obvious parallel between the Roman delict and the common law tort; but the analogy should not be pursued too far since the Roman law of delict had a strong penal element—the law penalized the conduct of the wrongdoer, as well as ensuring that the victim was adequately compensated.
10. Derivative claims
Authors: Dignam Alan , Lowry John
Published: September 2020

Titles in the Core Text series take the reader straight to the heart of the subject, providing focused, concise, and reliable guides for students at all levels. This chapter examines derivative action as a means of safeguarding minority shareholders against abuses of power and its implications for the principle of majority rule. It begins by analysing the rule in Foss v Harbottle (1843), which translates the doctrine of separate legal personality, the statutory contract, the ‘internal management principle’, and the principle of majority rule into a rule of procedure governing locus standi (that is, who has standing to sue), as well as the exceptions to that rule. It then considers various types of shareholder actions, including personal claims, representative actions (group litigation), and derivative claims. It also discusses derivative claims under the Companies Act 2006, with emphasis on the two-stage process of the application for permission to continue a derivative claim. The chapter concludes by assessing bars to a derivative action, together with liability insurance and qualifying third party indemnity provisions.
16. Corporate governance 2: the UK corporate governance debate
Authors: Dignam Alan , Lowry John
Published: September 2020

Titles in the Core Text series take the reader straight to the heart of the subject, providing focused, concise, and reliable guides for students at all levels. This chapter explores the corporate governance debate in the UK in terms of industry and the government. After presenting the background to the UK debate, it considers UK corporate theory and the industry and government responses to the corporate governance debate. It then examines the Sarbanes-Oxley Act that became law in the USA in July 2002; the UK Government’s independent review of non-executive directors (the Higgs Review); the link between corporate governance failure and the 2008 financial crisis; and it outlines a number of corporate governance reforms that have been adopted between 2009 and 2020 including the UK Government Corporate Governance Reform programme and the latest developments in the UK Corporate Governance Code.
Complete Criminal Law
Authors: Loveless Janet , Allen Mischa , Derry Caroline
Published: September 2020

Complete Criminal Law offers a student-centred approach to the criminal law syllabus. Clear explanation of general legal principles is combined with fully integrated extracts from the leading cases and a wide range of academic materials. This text aims to engage the reader in an active approach to learning and to stimulate reflection about the role of criminal law, offering a complete guide to the LLB/GDL criminal law syllabus with extracts from key cases, academic materials, and explanatory text integrated into a clear narrative. It provides a range of pedagogical features, including concise summaries, diagrams, and examples. Thinking points are included to facilitate and reinforce understanding. Students are referred to the social and moral context of the law, wherever relevant, to encourage them to engage fully with the topical subject matter. This new edition includes coverage of several recent cases of importance including: Highbury Poultry Farm Produce Ltd v CPS, Lane and Letts (strict liability); Tas, Crilly, Dreszer, Harper (secondary participation); Petgrave (duress of circumstances); Cheeseman, Wilkinson (self-defence); MK v R and Gega v R (modern slavery: compulsion); Taj [2018] EWCA Crim 1743 (intoxicated mistake and self-defence); Loake v Crown Prosecution Service [2017] EWHC 2855 (insanity); Offensive Weapons Act 2019; BM (consent in offences against the person).
1. An Introduction to Criminal Law
Authors: Herring Jonathan
Published: September 2020

This chapter begins by addressing the question: what is a crime? It then discusses the role of criminal law; the statistics of criminal behaviour; the ‘principles’ of criminal law; proposals for a Criminal Code; kinds of conduct that should be criminalized; culpability; the victim in criminal law; the criminal process; criminal law and the Human Rights Act 1998; critical criminal law; feminist legal thought; punishment; and sentencing.
2. Actus Reus: The Conduct Element
Authors: Herring Jonathan
Published: September 2020

The actus reus is a central aspect of criminal law that defines the harm done to the victim and the wrong performed by the defendant. In many cases this involves proof that the defendant caused a particular result. This chapter begins by distinguishing the component elements of a crime. It then discusses the voluntary act ‘requirement’; causation; classification of offences; the need for a voluntary act; omissions; and seeking a coherent approach to causation.
6. Non-Fatal Non-Sexual Offences Against the Person
Authors: Herring Jonathan
Published: September 2020

This chapter discusses a wide range of offences against the person: from an unwanted touching on an arm to a life-threatening attack. Key to the law is the right to bodily integrity: a person should not be touched against his or her wishes. This right is protected under the common law and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Topics covered include assault and battery; assault occasioning actual bodily harm; malicious wounding; wounding with intent; poisoning; racially and religiously aggravated crimes; the Protection from Harassment Act 1997; threats offences; transmitting disease; consent and assault; the true nature and extent of violent crime; the nature of an assault; objections to and reform of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861; and emotional and relational harm.
7. Sexual Offences
Authors: Herring Jonathan
Published: September 2020

This chapter considers the offences of rape and sexual assault. It begins with a discussion of the law on sexual offences covering the perpetrators and victims of rape; assault by penetration; causing sexual activity without consent; sexual offences designed to protect children; offences against those with a mental disorder; prostitution and trafficking; and incest. The second part of the chapter focuses on the theory of sexual offences and sexual crimes; statistics on rape; the nature of rape; consent and sexual activity; the mens rea for rape; and the actus reus of rape.
11. Criminal Damage
Authors: Herring Jonathan
Published: September 2020

This chapter discusses the law and theory on criminal damage. Criminal damage involves the defendant intentionally or recklessly destroying or damaging property belonging to another. The defendant will have a defence if he or she was acting with a lawful excuse. Four criminal damage offences are found in the Criminal Damage Act 1971: basic criminal damage, arson, aggravated criminal damage, and aggravated arson. There is also an offence of racially aggravated criminal damage. The chapter also considers the Computer Misuse Act 1990, which was designed to protect information kept on computers.
13. The Criminal Liability of Corporations
Authors: Herring Jonathan
Published: September 2020

This chapter begins with a discussion of the law on corporate criminality, covering the difficulty in convicting companies of crimes; corporate killing; and vicarious liability. The second part of the chapter focuses on theoretical issues in corporate liability, covering the reality of corporate crime; the clamour for corporate liability; whether a company should be guilty of a crime; and what form corporate crime should take.
2. Preliminaries
Authors: Keane Adrian , McKeown Paul
Published: September 2020

This chapter discusses the following: (i) facts that are open to proof or disproof in English courts of law: facts in issue, relevant facts, and collateral facts; (ii) the varieties of evidence: testimony, hearsay evidence, documentary evidence, real evidence, circumstantial evidence (including motive, plans and preparatory acts, capacity, opportunity, identity, continuance, failure to give evidence or call witnesses, failure to provide samples, lies and standards of comparison), and conclusive evidence; (iii) the concepts of relevance and admissibility; (iv) the weight of evidence; (v) the functions of the judge and jury; (vi) judicial discretion to admit or exclude evidence; and (vii) proof of birth, death, age, convictions, and acquittals.
5. Witnesses
Authors: Keane Adrian , McKeown Paul
Published: September 2020

This chapter discusses the following: (i) the competence and compellability of witnesses (including the special rules that apply in the case of the accused, the spouse or civil partner of an accused, persons with a disorder or disability of the mind, the Sovereign, diplomats, and bankers); (ii) oaths and affirmations; (iii) the use of live links; (iv) the time at which evidence should be adduced; (v) witnesses in civil cases (including the witnesses to be called and the use of witness statements); (vi) witnesses in criminal cases (including the witnesses to be called, the order of witnesses, evidence-in-chief by video recording and special measures directions for vulnerable and intimidated witnesses); (vii) witness anonymity; and (viii) witness training and familiarization.
12. Hearsay in criminal cases
Authors: Keane Adrian , McKeown Paul
Published: September 2020

This chapter discusses the meaning of hearsay in criminal proceedings and the categories of hearsay admissible by statute in such proceedings. It considers the relationship between the hearsay provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (the 2003 Act) and Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights as it relates to hearsay; the definition of hearsay and its admissibility under the 2003 Act, including admissibility under an inclusionary discretion (section 114(1)(d)); and safeguards including provisions relating to the capability and credibility of absent witnesses, the power to stop a case and the discretion to exclude. Also considered in this chapter are: expert reports; written statements under section 9 of the Criminal Justice Act 1967; and depositions of children and young persons under section 43 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933.
Criminal Law Directions
Authors: Monaghan Nicola
Published: September 2020

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams, and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. Criminal Law Directions is written with an emphasis on explaining the key topics of Criminal Law courses with clarity. The book starts by offering an introduction to criminal law. It also looks at the issues of actus reus and mens rea. It goes on to consider topics such as strict, vicarious, and corporate liability; murder and voluntary manslaughter; involuntary manslaughter; non-fatal offences against the person; and sexual offences. It moves on to look at theft and other offences against property, including robbery, burglary, blackmail, handling, and criminal damage. Fraud and drugs offences are then examined and general and specific defences are explored. Finally the book considers inchoate offences and accessorial liability.
3. Mens rea
Authors: Monaghan Nicola
Published: September 2020

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams, and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. This chapter discusses the mens rea elements of a criminal offence. There are two types of intention: direct and oblique. A person directly intends a consequence that he desires. Where he instead merely appreciates that it is virtually certain to occur, a jury may find he intended the consequence. This is oblique intent. Subjective recklessness requires two questions to be asked: (a) did D foresee the possibility of the consequence occurring; and (b) was it unreasonable to take the risk? The actus reus and mens rea must coincide in time for the defendant to be guilty. The continuing act or ‘single transaction’ theories might be employed to establish coincidence.
5. Murder and voluntary manslaughter
Authors: Monaghan Nicola
Published: September 2020

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams, and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. This chapter explores the elements of murder and the partial defences which reduce a defendant’s liability to voluntary manslaughter. Murder is a common law offence that is committed when a defendant unlawfully causes the death of a person with an intention to kill or cause grievous bodily harm (GBH). Where a defendant has both the actus reus and mens rea for murder, but also has one of three special, partial defences available to him, his liability for murder is reduced to that of manslaughter (voluntary manslaughter). Loss of control, diminished responsibility, suicide pact, and infanticide are also discussed.
9. Theft
Authors: Monaghan Nicola
Published: September 2020

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams, and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. This chapter discusses the offence of theft. There are five elements of the offence of theft. Three are actus reus elements: appropriation; property; and belonging to another. There are two mens rea elements: dishonesty and intention to permanently deprive. The prosecution must prove all five elements in order for a conviction of theft to be successful. If one of the elements is missing, any prosecution for theft will fail.
11. Fraud
Authors: Monaghan Nicola
Published: September 2020

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams, and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. This chapter discusses the offence of fraud under the Fraud Act 2006. There are three ways in which fraud may be committed. Section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006 provides for fraud by false representation; s.3 provides for fraud by failing to disclose information; and s.4 provides for fraud by abuse of a position of financial trust. Dishonesty is common to all three of these ways of committing fraud. The defendant must intend, by making the representation, to make a gain for himself or another, or to cause loss to another, or to expose another to a risk of loss.
15. Inchoate offences
Authors: Monaghan Nicola
Published: September 2020

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams, and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. This chapter deals with liability for inchoate offences. ‘Inchoate’ means incomplete or undeveloped. Where, for whatever reason, the full criminal offence is not committed, the defendant may still be liable for an inchoate offence. There are three types of inchoate offence: encouraging or assisting crime, conspiracy, and attempt. There are three offences of encouraging or assisting crime under the Serious Crime Act 2007, namely intentionally encouraging or assisting an offence; encouraging or assisting an offence believing it will be committed; and encouraging or assisting offences believing one or more will be committed.
11. The Tortious Liability of Businesses in Negligence and Nuisance
Authors: Marson James , Ferris Katy
Published: September 2020

This chapter first discusses one of the most important torts—negligence—which may be commonly seen in instances of personal injury. This is followed by a discussion on acts of private and public nuisance. Torts law is particularly relevant to businesses as they need to be aware of the extent of their potential liabilities to workers, visitors to business premises, other businesses, and to the general public. This extends to ensuring that safe systems of work exist and appropriate insurance is maintained. Contrary to civil law, torts law imposes obligations on parties who wish to undertake duties freely and agree to be legally bound via contracts without, necessarily, prior agreement. The duty is to take reasonable care and not intentionally or negligently cause harm or damage.
15. The Administration of Corporations
Authors: Marson James , Ferris Katy
Published: September 2020

This chapter studies the various forms of business organization that are available to those who trade. It focuses on the types of trading structures available, how they are established, and provides an overview of the implications of each form of business organization. It should be noted that there is no one model that will suit every individual or every business model. It is very much the decision of the individual—having assessed the business, what they wish to do with it, and how they see it continuing in the future—to determine the form of enterprise chosen. Being aware of the consequences for the business organization is crucial in making this decision.
16. Duties Relating to Corporation Finance and Capital
Authors: Marson James , Ferris Katy
Published: September 2020

This chapter discusses the details of the various obligations on companies that wish to issue and allot shares, provide debentures and charges over the company’s assets, and provide guidance on the maintenance of the company’s finances. It continues from the discussion of the administration of the company to consider the broad issue of corporate governance and identifies how a company may raise capital, while also considering the obligations placed on the directors to protect and maintain the capital of the company for its members. To appreciate the effects of the Companies Act (CA) 2006 on companies, it is important to understand the rules regarding the issuing of shares and granting of debentures to protect the company and the creditors from abuse, and how dividends are to be agreed upon and provided to shareholders.
17. The Management of Corporations
Authors: Marson James , Ferris Katy
Published: September 2020

This chapter considers corporate management and focuses on the regulation of those who govern the company, and the protection of the shareholders, who have no automatic right of management. The actual ‘running’ of the company is left to the directors, a relatively small number of persons who may take individual responsibility for aspects of the company’s business or may oversee the company as a whole. Directors have significant powers when acting for the company, and whilst a corporation possesses its own separate legal personality, independent of those who manage it, the actions of the company are performed, under authority provided by statute and the company’s constitution, by its directors. The chapter identifies the appointment of directors and their duties as codified from the common law into the Companies Act (CA) 2006, and the provisions for removing a director.
18. Businesses and the Responsibility to Agents
Authors: Marson James , Ferris Katy
Published: September 2020

This chapter identifies agency relationships, their prevalence in business, and how the agency exists to bind the principal in contracts with third parties. It begins by defining agency as the relationship that exists between two persons when one, called the agent, is considered in law to represent the other, called the principal, in such a way as to be able to affect the principal’s legal position in respect to strangers to the relationship by the making of contracts or the disposition of property. Agencies exist in corporate organizations, sole trader, and partnership trading structures, and the law in this area applies to many relationships and is frequently seen in commercial enterprises, including high street retailers, between partners, and the directors of a corporation.
21. Statutory Regulation of Dismissals
Authors: Marson James , Ferris Katy
Published: September 2020

This chapter considers the termination of employment, and how it is governed by statutory measures—in cases of unfair dismissal—and the common law—in cases of wrongful dismissal. Each of these provisions outline important factors when the contract is to be ended. Being aware of the procedures involved in each of these areas of law will ensure terminations can take effect without unnecessary recourse to court or tribunal action, saving time and money. In dismissing an employee, the law provides for the correct procedure to be adopted, the potentially fair reasons that justify a dismissal, along with automatically unfair reasons to dismiss an employee. Disregarding these may lead to claims for unfair dismissal, the defence of which can be expensive for employers.
22. Equality In Employment Relationships
Authors: Marson James , Ferris Katy
Published: September 2020

This chapter discusses the Equality Act (EA) 2010. There have been many changes adopted following the enactment of this legislation. The Act is relevant for businesses as it imposes obligations to provide a safe system of work, including regulating the activities of management, colleagues, and third parties. This is an area of law that will evolve over the forthcoming years, and whilst much of the previous case law is applicable to this new Act, new judgments will likely expand and clarify the extent of equality law. An employer who is not aware of the provisions of EA 2010 runs the risk of facing very expensive claims, poor industrial relations, and potential damage to his or her reputation as an employer.
23. Statutory and Common Law Regulation of the Conditions of Employment
Authors: Marson James , Ferris Katy
Published: September 2020

This chapter continues from the discussion of the obligations on employers to adhere to the Equality Act (EA) 2010 and protect their workers from discrimination and harassment, to a wider consideration of the regulation of conditions of employment. Legislation places many obligations on employers, and they are increasingly subject to statutory controls that provide for a minimum wage to be paid to workers, for regulation as to the maximum number of hours workers may be required to work, and for the protection of workers’ health and safety. In the event of an employer’s insolvency, the rights of employees are identified, and finally, the mechanisms for employers to protect their business interests in the contract of employment are considered.
24. Intellectual Property and Data Protection
Authors: Marson James , Ferris Katy
Published: September 2020

The final chapter in the book examines matters relating to the intellectual property created and/or owned by a business and their responsibilities for the data they access and/or produce. Given the value of the outputs from the intellectual creativity of persons (software programs, books, music recordings etc.), this chapter outlines the rights available to protect them and the consequences for infringement. It first identifies the law surrounding creative ideas and work (copyright) before a product’s appearance (design rights) is considered. The chapter continues by assessing the protection of a brand name and image (trademarks) and finishes the substantive issues through examination of inventive ideas and works (patents). Confusion of the public through the unlawful use of an existing business’ name or product can result in the tortious liability of ‘passing-off’. Intellectual property is produced by employees and the consequences of employment status for the rights to exploit the property must be effectively managed. The chapter concludes with an assessment of developments in data protection—the GDPR, Data Protection Act, and the tactics available to businesses to avoid transgression of the law.
Wills: Nature, Characteristics, and Contents
Authors: Sloan Brian
Published: September 2020

This chapter provides an introduction to wills. A will or testament is the declaration in a prescribed manner of the intention of the person making it with regard to matters which he wishes to take effect upon or after his death. The general effect of a will is that the legal interest in the deceased’s estate passes to his personal representatives, while the beneficiaries obtain a form of equitable right in it. The chapter discusses the long history of the will in English law; contracts relating to wills; mutual wills; secret trusts, other constructive trusts, and proprietary estoppel; the content of wills; and the will as a social document.
Making a Will: Formalities
Authors: Sloan Brian
Published: September 2020

This chapter begins by discussing s. 9 of the Wills Act 1837, which continues to govern the execution of wills in English law. Section 9 provides that no will shall be valid unless: it is in writing, and signed by the testator, or by some other person in his presence and by his direction; it appears that the testator intended by his signature to give effect to the will; the signature is made or acknowledged by the testator in the presence of two or more witnesses present at the same time; and each witness either attests and signs the will or acknowledges his signature. The remainder of the chapter covers the question of reform, incorporation, the solicitor’s duty of care, and deposit and registration.
1. The UK Constitution
Authors: Stanton John , Prescott Craig
Published: September 2020

This chapter provides an introduction to the UK Constitution and sets out a foundation upon which discussions in later chapters further develop. It starts by exploring definitions of constitutions, placing the unique UK system within commonly accepted themes and characteristics. It then moves to explain the nature and form of the UK Constitution and some of the sources of which it is constructed, as well as exploring some of the more theoretical considerations as regards its character, including the way in which it is legitimized. The final section entertains academic questions concerning whether or not the UK can be said to have a constitution, including discussion of the case for and against a codified system.