bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
4. The Nature of the Agreement
Authors: Jones Lucy
Published: August 2019

This chapter discusses the nature of contracts, the essential elements of a valid contract, and issues in contract law. A contract is a bargain, made between two or more persons, which is legally binding. The essential elements of a valid contract are the following: agreement (offer and acceptance of definite terms); consideration (a promise to give, do, or refrain from doing something in return for a similar promise); an intention to create legal relations (usually presumed in a business transaction); compliance with required formalities where applicable; and capacity to contract. This chapter discusses in detail the principal rules relating to offer and acceptance. It considers the making and termination of offers in unilateral and bilateral contracts. It explains the rules relating to communication and methods of acceptance of offers and discusses the making of contracts via the internet.
5. Intention, Capacity, Consideration, and Privity
Authors: Jones Lucy
Published: August 2019

This chapter examines issues relating to contract formation. It discusses the elements of an intention to create legal relations and the presumptions relating to commercial or business agreements and domestic agreements. It considers the law relating to capacity to contract, looking at the enforceability of different types of contracts made with minors. It considers the validity of contracts made with corporations and persons who may lack capacity through mental illness or intoxication. It also explains the importance of consideration in a contract, what constitutes consideration, whether consideration provided is sufficient, and who must provide the consideration. It discusses the law relating to part-payment of debts and promissory estoppel. Finally, the chapter considers the doctrine of privity of contract, and the exceptions to the doctrine, including the Contract (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999
6. The Terms of a Contract
Authors: Jones Lucy
Published: August 2019

This chapter discusses the terms of a contract. The terms are the contents of the contract. They also state what the parties’ legal duties and obligations are to each other. Terms may be written, oral, or even implied into a contract. This chapter discusses the difference between a term of a contract and a representation and the difference between express and implied terms. It considers the types of contractual terms, conditions, warranties, and innominate terms, and the distinction between them. The nature of exemption clauses and the methods used by the courts to restrict the use of such clauses and the effects on exemption clauses of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 and Consumer Rights Act 2015 are examined. The chapter concludes with a discussion of restraint of trade clauses commonly found in contracts of employment, contracts for the sale of businesses, and solus agreements
8. Discharge of Contract and Contractual Remedies
Authors: Jones Lucy
Published: August 2019

The discharge of a contract means that the obligations of the contract come to an end. When discharge occurs, all duties which arose under the contract are terminated. This chapter discusses the various methods of discharging a contract and the consequences of each. It considers how a contract can be discharged through agreement between the parties; the elements necessary for a contract to be discharged by performance, including the rules relating to partial performance of a contract; and the meaning and effect of the frustration of a contract. The chapter discusses the meaning of breach of contract, both actual breach and anticipatory breach, and its consequences. The remedies for a breach of contract are explored, including the rules relating to remoteness and measure of damages and the difference between liquidated damages and penalties. Equitable remedies of specific performance and injunctions are explained.
11. The Tort of Negligence
Authors: Jones Lucy
Published: August 2019

This chapter discusses the difference between the law of torts and contract and criminal law. It explores the tort of negligence, considering the necessary elements for a claim of negligence, namely the defendant owed the claimant a duty of care, the defendant breached that duty of care, and reasonably foreseeable damage was caused by the breach of duty. The chapter considers the special requirements for the recovery of pure economic loss and for loss as a result of psychiatric injuries, looking at both primary and secondary victims. The principles relating to breach of a duty of care, including the standard of care, are discussed. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the final element, considering the need for a causal link between the breach of duty by the defendant and the damage suffered by the claimant.
12. Product Liability, Defective Premises, Interference with Land, and Defences
Authors: Jones Lucy
Published: August 2019

This chapter discusses the difference between an action for defective products taken in the tort of negligence and an action under the Consumer Protection Act 1987. It considers the elements necessary for a claim under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 and the losses recoverable under the Act. The liability of occupiers to visitors and non-visitors (such as trespassers) under the Occupiers Liability Acts 1957 and 1984 is discussed. The chapter examines the torts of trespass to land; private and public nuisance and liability established by Rylands v Fletcher. The general defences that apply to all torts are considered, namely the defences of contributory negligence, consent, and illegality. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the meaning and extent of vicarious liability, looking at tortious actions committed by employees in the course of their employment.
14. Discrimination and Health and Safety
Authors: Jones Lucy
Published: August 2019

This chapter considers the employment law aspects of discrimination and health and safety. It discusses the meaning of the protected characteristics which were brought together under the Equality Act 2010 and considers prohibited conduct under the Act. It explains the difference between direct and indirect discrimination and when direct discrimination can be justified. The chapter discusses the difference between positive action and positive discrimination and the interaction between protected characteristics and prohibited conduct. It also explains the law relating to harassment and victimization. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the law covering health and safety in the workplace, looking at both criminal law and civil law.
18. Company Law III
Authors: Jones Lucy
Published: August 2019

This chapter discusses the different types of company meetings and how meetings are convened and managed. It examines the different types of resolutions that may be made by shareholders both at meetings and outside meetings, and the rights of shareholders to propose their own resolutions. It explains the difference between voting by a show of hands and voting by poll. It considers the protection given by law to minority shareholders. It discusses the meaning of insider dealing and market abuse and the penalties they attract. The chapter concludes with a discussion of methods by which a company can be wound up and the meaning of wrongful and fraudulent trading.
Smith & Wood's Employment Law
Authors: Smith Ian , Baker Aaron , Warnock Owen
Published: August 2019

Smith & Wood’s Employment Law draws on the extensive teaching and practical experience of its authors to provide students with a clear explanation of essential legislation and case detail while also offering incisive academic commentary and critical detail to help with essay preparation and class work. Throughout the book, topics are carefully explained in their social and historical context, providing readers with an insight into the fast-paced development of employment law and offering perceptive analysis of its future direction. This fourteenth edition has been produced against the background of the 2015 and 2017 elections and of course with the largest elephant in the room of the result of the referendum on membership of the EU. The meaning of the latter remains a matter of almost complete uncertainty even t the time of writing two years later, and indeed is likely to remain so for much of the currency of this edition, but where appropriate it contains speculation as to possible effects. At the opposite end of the spectrum, this edition also contains the up-to-date case law on detailed employment law developments such as ACAS early conciliation, whistleblowing, discrimination law across all the forms of protected characteristics, and the whole question of the effect of modern phenomena such as social media use on traditional areas of employment law. On the collective level, this edition includes a consideration of the impact of the Trade Union Act 2016 on the calling of industrial action, picketing and time off for union activites and the latest decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, the EFTA Court and the UK courts on the impact of human rights law and of EU economic freedoms on collective labour law, in particular in relation to union recognition for bargaining and in relation to the banning of industrial action. It also considers whether the 2018 amendments to the Posted Workers Directive have any impact on the legality of any industrial action which affects the EU freedom to provide services across the boundaries of member states. More generally, it examines the extent to which workers and unions have legal protection for collective action relating to members of the gig economy Finally, the changes to the style and layout of the book adopted in the last edition have been maintained, in order to aid accessibility for the reader, given the ever-increasing complexity of the law itself here.
6. Termination of the employment contract at common law
Authors: Smith Ian , Baker Aaron , Warnock Owen
Published: August 2019

This chapter looks at termination of employment at common law, and at the breach of employment contract action known as ‘wrongful dismissal’. It first discusses ways in which the contract might untypically end by operation of law rather than the ‘dismissal’ on which many employee rights rest. The chapter then considers the right of either party to terminate most contracts by giving notice—a major feature of UK employment law—and the ability of the employer to dismiss summarily for gross misconduct. It concludes with a detailed analysis of the principal remedy for an employee at common law—the action for wrongful dismissal—which is completely separate and different from statutory unfair dismissal despite an unfortunate tendency for the press to treat them as interchangeable.
7. Unfair dismissal
Authors: Smith Ian , Baker Aaron , Warnock Owen
Published: August 2019

This chapter focuses on unfair dismissal, beginning with a consideration of the necessary procedures for a fair dismissal and the vital role of the ACAS Code of Practice. It continues by looking at the statutory definition of ‘dismissal’ and then tackles the central question of what the statute means by ‘fair’ and ‘unfair’. The wisdom and legitimacy of the ‘band of reasonable responses’ test are questioned. Particular cases—including incapability, misconduct (including the relevance of human rights protections and of online misconduct), and redundancy and reorganization—are dealt with in detail, as are automatically unfair dismissals that exist to give extra protection to certain employees. The chapter concludes with the complex law on remedies if a dismissal is unfair.
9. Collective labour law
Authors: Smith Ian , Baker Aaron , Warnock Owen
Published: August 2019

This chapter considers the laws that affect trade unions and employment relations at a collective level, with the exception of strikes and other industrial action which are examined in Chapter 10. The chapter begins by considering the legal status of a trade union and the statutory concept of trade union independence. The applicability of trade union law to workers in the gig economy is also considered. The focus then shifts to the ways in which the law seeks to secure freedom of association, by provisions which protect and support union membership and activities including giving protection against discrimination and providing rights to time off for union duties and activities. The chapter then turns to the concept of recognition of unions for collective bargaining, and the legal rights that come with recognition. It also examines the statutory system for securing recognition. The relevance of the European Convention on Human Rights is considered throughout as are the changes made by the Trade Union Act 2016. The law relating to domestic and European works councils is also considered.
Medical Law
Authors: Jackson Emily
Published: August 2019

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing students with a stand-alone resource. Medical Law: Text, Cases, and Materials offers exactly what the title says—all of the explanation, commentary, and extracts from cases and key materials that students need to gain a thorough understanding of this complex topic. Key case extracts provide the legal context, facts, and background; extracts from materials, including from the most groundbreaking writers of today, provide differing ethical perspectives and outline current debates; and the author’s insightful commentary ensures that readers understand the facts of the cases and can navigate the ethical landscape to form their own understanding of medical law. Chapters cover all of the topics commonly found on medical law courses, including a separate chapter on mental health law. This new edition, thoroughly updated, includes: coverage of important new cases in all chapters, including Bawa-Garba v General Medical Council; Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust v Yates; Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust v Evans; Re (Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission's Application for Judicial Review); An NHS Trust v Y, and R (on the application of Conway) v Secretary of State for Justice; coverage of the new General Data Protection Regulation and the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act 1983.
3. Medical Malpractice
Authors: Jackson Emily
Published: August 2019

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter discusses the law on medical malpractice. It covers breach of contract; establishing a case for negligence and the defences available; problems with clinical negligence; reforming the clinical negligence system; the NHS complaints system; professional regulation; whistleblowing; and criminal liability for gross negligence manslaughter and the new offence of wilful neglect. It also looks at the special issues raised in wrongful pregnancy and wrongful birth cases.
6. Incapacity II: Children
Authors: Jackson Emily
Published: August 2019

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate; providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter discusses children’s medical treatment. It looks at the limits of parental decision-making, and cases in which the courts have overruled parental wishes in order to protect the child’s best interests. Where parents cannot agree with each other about serious medical treatment, or where the treatment is especially controversial, decisions might also need to go before a court. Cases involving withdrawing or withholding life-prolonging treatment are also covered. In relation to mature minors, it discusses the concept of Gillick-competence and the difference that has arisen between the child’s right to consent to medical treatment and her much more limited right to refuse.
7. Mental Health Law
Authors: Jackson Emily
Published: August 2019

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter discusses mental health law in the UK. It begins with a brief history of mental health law and policy. This is followed by discussions of: admission to the mental health system; treatment of the mentally ill under the Mental Health Act 1983; Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and Cheshire West, and Community Treatment Orders. It also looks at the implications of the Human Rights Act and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) for mental health law. It also considers the conclusions of the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act 1983.
8. Confidentiality
Authors: Jackson Emily
Published: August 2019

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter first examines the ethical justifications for protecting patient confidentiality and then discusses: the different legal sources of the duty of confidence, including the new General Data Protection Regulation; exceptions to the duty of confidence; and the remedies available for its breach. It briefly considers patients’ rights to gain access to their medical records. Finally, the chapter covers the implications of ‘big data’ and machine learning for healthcare, and the increasing use of mobile technology in order to generate, store and transmit health data, known as mHealth.
12. Organ Transplantation
Authors: Jackson Emily
Published: August 2019

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter discusses organ transplantation. It first considers cadaveric donation, looking at who may become a donor, and which organs can be taken. It also includes discussion of the issues raised by novel transplants, like face and uterus transplantation. The chapter summarizes the system of organ retrieval in the UK, looking at the consent-based model adopted in the Human Tissue Act 2004; the introduction of an opt-out system in Wales, and the government’s plan to introduce a similar system in England. It then turns to living organ donation, looking at informed consent and the legitimacy, or otherwise, of incentives. Finally, it considers the ethical, practical, and legal obstacles to xenotransplantation, i.e. transplanting animal organs into human recipients.
13. Embryo Research, Stem Cells, and Emerging Biotechnologies
Authors: Jackson Emily
Published: August 2019

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter examines embryo research, stem cell therapies and other emerging biotechnologies. It begins with a review of philosophical debates over the moral status of the embryo and then discusses regulation in the UK, through the statutory provisions in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, as amended, and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority’s (HFEA) licensing regime. It then turns to consider stem cell therapies, before examining some other emerging biotechnologies, including neurotechnologies and AI, and debates over human enhancement.
14. Abortion
Authors: Jackson Emily
Published: August 2019

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter examines the law on abortion, beginning with a survey of the ongoing debate over the moral legitimacy of abortion. It then examines the current legal position, and considers how the Abortion Act 1967, as amended, works in practice. It looks at recent controversies over sex-selective abortion and considers the prospects for law reform. Finally, the chapter looks briefly at the regulation of abortion in Northern Ireland, Ireland, and the United States.
15. Assisted Conception
Authors: Jackson Emily
Published: August 2019

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter discusses the regulation of assisted conception. It first examines the regulation of assisted conception in the UK, which involves a detailed look at the legislation: the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, and the work of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). The chapter analyses: the licensing procedures through which clinics are inspected and authorized to perform certain procedures; access to treatment; consent to the use of gametes (sperm and eggs); gamete donation; rules governing the parentage of children; and preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). It also considers mitochondrial transfer and genome editing.
16. Surrogacy
Authors: Jackson Emily
Published: August 2019

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter first discusses the legitimacy of surrogacy, and considers the particular issues raised by outsourcing surrogacy to India. It then turns to the regulation of surrogacy in the UK. Although commercial involvement in surrogacy is prohibited, the court has a wide discretion to retrospectively authorize payments to surrogacy mothers. This chapter considers the increasing number of surrogacy cases reaching the family courts, many of them involving overseas surrogacy arrangements, and evaluates how the law might be reformed, once the Law Commission has completed its review.
1. An introduction to commercial law
Authors: Baskind Eric , Osborne Greg , Roach Lee
Published: August 2019

This chapter, which determines whether or not commercial law is a distinct legal topic, begins with a much quoted passage from Professor Sir Roy Goode stating that the answer to the question may, in fact, be no. According to Goode, if commercial law is used to refer to ‘a relatively self-contained, integrated body of principles and rules peculiar to commercial transactions, then we are constrained to say that this is not to be found in England’. Without such unifying principles, it merely amounts to a ‘label which is useful for gathering together diverse material with no obvious home of its own, so as to aid exposition on a lecture course or in a textbook, or for the better organisation of the business of the High Court of Justice … but no more’. The chapter also charts the evolution of commercial law, from the creation of the lex mercatoria through to the development of transnational commercial law. Finally, the chapter discusses the various sources of commercial law.
3. An introduction to the law of agency
Authors: Baskind Eric , Osborne Greg , Roach Lee
Published: August 2019

This chapter discusses the law of agency, which is a complex, subtle, and often misunderstood subject. Understanding it is, however, important, especially given the extent to which it can affect commercial and other areas of the law. It has also been established that, for many businesses, the use of agents is invaluable, and significant areas of commercial activity could not continue without the existence of agency. Several basic foundation issues relating to the law of agency, such as the sources of agency law and the various types of agent that exist, are discussed here. The chapter begins by determining the legal meaning of ‘agency’. Unfortunately, whilst many definitions of agency exist, the concept is ‘notoriously slippery and difficult to define’, according to Bowstead and Reynolds. The chapter also looks at the various forms of agent, including the development of the commercial agent.
4. The creation of the agency relationship
Authors: Baskind Eric , Osborne Greg , Roach Lee
Published: August 2019

This chapter considers the various methods by which a relationship of agency can be created, namely, by agreement, by ratification, by operation of law (including agency by necessity), and arising due to estoppel. It should be noted that an agency relationship might be held to exist, even though the parties or one of the parties do not wish for it to exist, or have expressly declared that such a relationship does not exist. Equally, the fact that the parties describe themselves as ‘principal’ and ‘agent’ will not conclusively establish that a relationship of agency exists, and the courts will disregard such labels if the realities of the relationship indicate that it is not one of agency. An agency relationship can therefore be created consensually or non-consensually. The chapter also discusses preliminary issues such as the capacity of agent and principal, and the formalities needed to create a relationship of agency.
5. The authority of an agent
Authors: Baskind Eric , Osborne Greg , Roach Lee
Published: August 2019

This chapter places the authority of an agent as a central concept of the law of agency, identifying two principal types of authority, namely actual authority (both express and implied, and the various forms of implied authority, such as customary authority and incidental authority) and apparent authority. There is a third form, known as usual authority, but, as will be seen, the reasoning behind the cases that established this form of authority is highly suspect. All three forms of authority are discussed. Determining the existence and type of authority is vital as the legal consequences of an agent breaching their authority can be severe. The principal may not be bound by the agent’s actions and the agent may instead be personally liable. In addition, the agent may lose the commission/remuneration to which they were entitled, and may be found liable for breach of contract and/or breach of warranty of authority.
8. Relations between agent and third party
Authors: Baskind Eric , Osborne Greg , Roach Lee
Published: August 2019

This chapter considers the relations between the agent and third party. The typical function of an agent is to affect the legal position of his principal in relation to third parties, typically achieved by the agent effecting contractual relations between his principal and a third party or third parties. To this contract, the agent is usually a stranger and it therefore follows that, providing all parties perform their obligations, there will be no legal relations between the agent and third party, aside from any warranty of authority that might be deemed to exist. If the parties, however, fail to properly perform their obligations, legal relations between the agent and third party may arise that allow one party to sue, or be sued by, the other. This chapter discusses the general rule, and also those situations where the agent and third party will acquire a cause of action against the other.
10. An introduction to the sale of goods
Authors: Baskind Eric , Osborne Greg , Roach Lee
Published: August 2019

This chapter discusses the law relating to the sale of goods, which lies at the heart of commercial law and regulates sales of different kinds from domestic retail to cross-border Internet transactions. Sale of goods law also lies at the heart of other aspects of commercial law, such as the law of agency, where agents are often appointed solely for the purpose of selling their principal’s goods. Contracts for finance and for insurance are further examples of transactions that often depend on the sale of goods for their entire purpose. It must be noted that a contract of sale is still a contract, even if it has special features. Therefore, all elements for establishing the contract must be present, these being offer, acceptance, consideration, certainty, and the intention to create legal relations.
11. The transfer of property and risk
Authors: Baskind Eric , Osborne Greg , Roach Lee
Published: August 2019

This chapter discusses the transfer of property between seller and buyer, and considers the passing of risk. The general rule about risk is that unless the parties have otherwise agreed, risk passes with property, although the position is different when the buyer deals as consumer. With regard to payment, unless otherwise agreed, the seller may only sue the buyer for the price once property in the goods has passed, and, if either the seller or the buyer becomes insolvent, then the rights of the other non-insolvent party may depend on whether or not property in the goods has passed to the buyer. Furthermore, although subject to a number of exceptions, unless the buyer has acquired ownership in the goods, he cannot transfer that ownership to another party.
19. An introduction to international sales and documentation
Authors: Baskind Eric , Osborne Greg , Roach Lee
Published: August 2019

This chapter identifies what amounts to an international sale, discusses the ways in which the nature of the law of international sales of goods differs from domestic sales, and explores how documents are used to deal with some of the legal risks associated with contracts involving international deliveries. It then looks at a typical international sale in outline, before focusing in detail on how the bill of lading, perhaps the most characteristic document used in international sales, operates. In a documentary sale, the mechanics of the completion of the sale is effected by delivery of documents both by the seller, with documents relating to the goods, and by the buyer, with documents representing payment.
25. Security interests in property
Authors: Baskind Eric , Osborne Greg , Roach Lee
Published: August 2019

This chapter is concerned with limited rights over property that enable a person who is owed a personal obligation by someone with ownership of an asset to exercise powers over that asset, should the personal obligation not be fulfilled. These limited rights are known as ‘security interests’—their effect is to provide additional remedies in the event of breach of the personal obligation and so make performance more secure. The chapter assumes that the obligation secured is a debt, but there is no reason why security cannot be taken in order to secure any obligation. It introduces the types of security interest, and considers the essential elements of their creation and the steps that may be necessary in order for the interest to have priority over competing claims to the secured property.
2. Public Health and the State–Patient Relationship
Authors: Laurie G. T. , Harmon S. H. E. , Dove E. S.
Published: August 2019

This chapter orients medical law in the broader context of public and community health, emphasising the human rights components of health promotion, health protection and the management of threats to the community through a variety of legal frames, as well as the role of physicians for good and ill.
3. Health Rights and Obligations in the European Union
Authors: Laurie G. T. , Harmon S. H. E. , Dove E. S.
Published: August 2019

This chapter begins with a discussion of the European market for health. It then analyses examples of those elements of EU health policy that contain a significant ‘rights’ dimension; outlines the legal framework for the rights dimension of health care policy in the EU; considers the emergence of elements of a European health policy; examines cross-border access to health care in the EU; and considers ethics in science and new technologies in the EU. The prospect of Brexit will not immediately remove nor necessarily diminish the influence of EU law on the field.
5. Liability for Medical Injury
Authors: Laurie G. T. , Harmon S. H. E. , Dove E. S.
Published: August 2019

This chapter discusses ethical and legal aspects of medical liability. It covers compensation for injury; the basis of medical liability; what constitutes negligence; the problem of the novice; protecting patients from products; protecting patients from themselves; the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur; operational failures; causation; injuries caused by medical products or devices; and criminal negligence.
7. Genetic Information and the Law
Authors: Laurie G. T. , Harmon S. H. E. , Dove E. S.
Published: August 2019

This chapter discusses the nature of genetic disease and the role of the genetic counsellor in handling personal and familial genetic information; legal and ethical responses to the ‘familial’ nature of genetics; individual and family interests in genetic information; other parties’ interests in genetic information; state interest in genetic information; gene therapy; and cloning.
9. The Control of Fertility and Child Birth
Authors: Laurie G. T. , Harmon S. H. E. , Dove E. S.
Published: August 2019

This chapter discusses ethical and legal aspects of controlling fertility and birth. It addresses the highly contested concept of personhood, as well as contraception, contragestation, sterilisation, and termination of pregnancy, and the increasing use of conscientious objection by care givers.
10. Ethico-Legal Issues Affecting Children
Authors: Laurie G. T. , Harmon S. H. E. , Dove E. S.
Published: August 2019

This chapter examines a range of ethico-legal issues as the impact on children. The focus is one consent of mature minors, and the limits therefore, and also on the range of rights and responsibilities relating to children concerning protection of the ir personal data. The chapter then discusses ethical and legal aspects of non-therapeutic research on children; therapeutic research on children; foetal research and experimentation; and embryos and embryonic stem cell research.
11. Civil and Criminal Liability in Reproductive Medicine
Authors: Laurie G. T. , Harmon S. H. E. , Dove E. S.
Published: August 2019

This chapter discusses: the nature of the duty of care in the action for wrongful pregnancy; legal action for wrongful birth; wrongful (or diminished) life actions; and wrongful injury to the fetus and feticide.
14. Mental Health and Human Rights
Authors: Laurie G. T. , Harmon S. H. E. , Dove E. S.
Published: August 2019

This chapter discusses ethical and legal aspects of mental health and its management. It covers the evolution of mental health law, paternalism and capacity, and the treatment framework, which includes standards for informal treatment and compulsory treatment, and safeguards of liberty. It also addresses a range of issues from the human rights perspective, and mental disorders and criminality, as well as civil liability.
17. The Diagnosis of Death
Authors: Laurie G. T. , Harmon S. H. E. , Dove E. S.
Published: August 2019

This chapter begins with a discussion of concepts of death. It considers the mostly philosophical arguments against the use of the term ‘brain death’ as applied to the person and then explains the medico-legal effects of applying brainstem death criteria. The chapter also discusses post-mortem pregnancy.
19. Medical Assistance in Dying
Authors: Laurie G. T. , Harmon S. H. E. , Dove E. S.
Published: August 2019

This chapter discusses ethical and legal aspects of euthanasia and assisted dying. It first examines the non-voluntary termination of life, covering the relationship between medical treatment and assistance in dying as a matter of failure to treat, and the philosophical concept of ‘double effect’. The chapter then discusses activity and passivity in assisted dying; dying as an expression of patient autonomy; suicide and assisted suicide; physician-assisted suicide; and assisted dying in practice.
20. Biomedical Human Research and Experimentation
Authors: Laurie G. T. , Harmon S. H. E. , Dove E. S.
Published: August 2019

This chapter discusses ethical and legal aspects of biomedical research. After highlighting the evolution and acceleration of rule-making in this setting, it differentiates between research and experimentation, and articulates a core regulatory concept, namely risk. It then covers ethical codes and legal instruments in human biomedical research, research ethics committees, randomised controlled trials, and experimental treatment, paying particular attention to informed consent and research involving people lacking capacity. It also addresses the unethical researcher, compensation for personal injury in research, research involving human tissue and personal data, and new approaches to research governance.
7. Consecutive and Concurrent Interests in Land
Authors: George Martin , Layard Antonia
Published: August 2019

According to the doctrine of estates, which provides the theoretical underpinnings of modern Land Law in England, a number of estates could exist simultaneously with regard to the same piece of land. Land could be settled upon one person for life, the remainder to a second person in fee tail, and the remainder to a third person in fee simple. The interests of the second and third persons are called future interests, which are considered consecutive interests in the land. In addition to consecutive interests, one can also have concurrent interests in the land. This chapter discusses the methods by which English law accommodates both consecutive and concurrent interests in the land. It also considers the law relating to co-ownership of land, the powers of the tenant for life, the structure of settlements, sale of trust, trust of land, the rights of beneficiaries, and overreaching.
9. The Legal Framework of Co-ownership
Authors: George Martin , Layard Antonia
Published: August 2019

Co-ownership of land imposes a trust, which was originally a trust for sale but is now simply a trust of land, and which is imposed mainly because it is essential to determine, separately, the position of the co-owners in law and at equity. This is attributed to the legal framework that governs co-ownership. In the past, land could be co-owned via four different methods—joint tenancies, tenancies in common, tenancies by entireties, and coparceny—the first two of which remain important, while the last two are now virtually nonexistent. This chapter examines the legal framework under which co-ownership of land takes place. It first considers joint tenancies and tenancies in common before turning to co-ownership after 1925, severance and implied severance, acts of severance, disputes between co-owners, and disputes over sale.
11. Mortgages
Authors: George Martin , Layard Antonia
Published: August 2019

A mortgage is a form of security for a loan, the purpose of which is often to finance the purchase of a house. This type of mortgage is known as acquisition mortgage. The house can also be used as security for other borrowing (for example, to pay for an extension to a house) or to finance a small business. Such mortgages are generally termed second, or even third, mortgages. The person who creates the mortgage is called the mortgagor and the person in whose favour it is created is called the mortgagee. The mortgagee is a secured creditor and can transfer the mortgage to another person. This chapter, which focuses on the nature of mortgages and how they are created, also discusses the role of mortgages, types of mortgage, rights of the mortgagor, rights and remedies of the mortgagee, and priority of mortgages.
13. Freehold Covenants
Authors: George Martin , Layard Antonia
Published: August 2019

People who wish to develop their land, or build upon it, must obtain planning permission, applications for which are made public and those who may be affected by the action may make representations. The law governing this area is a highly complex one and involves the public control of land use. Private control of land use involves landowners seeking to regulate how land is used within a particular locality. This chapter deals with covenants made between freeholders and how successors in title to the original parties to the covenant can either acquire the benefit of a covenant or take subject to the burden of it. It first discusses the privity of contract before turning to the transmission of covenants, common law, equity, and restrictive covenants, and also considers remedies available in case a breach of covenant arises, discharge of covenants, and positive covenants.
15. Licences
Authors: George Martin , Layard Antonia
Published: August 2019

In recent times, there has been considerable development with respect to determining how rights in land can be created and the implications of such rights for purchasers of land. Licences are not considered full proprietary rights but provide an interesting area where the law seeks to protect licensees from both the licensor and, in some cases, the purchaser. It is an area of law where the courts have had to deal with informal relationships and try to balance the conflicting pressures of the satisfaction of legitimate expectations with the desire for security of transactions. This chapter focuses on licences: it first considers the nature of licences before turning to contractual licences and the licensee’s rights, and contractual licences and third parties.
1. Foundations and structure of international law
Authors: Henriksen Anders
Published: August 2019

This chapter introduces the subject of public international law and provides an overview of its most important elements. It begins with a brief historical overview of international law. It then presents the international legal system consisting of different structures of legal rules and principles; discusses the basis of international legal obligation; offers a brief overview of the relationship between international law and national law; and deals with the issue of enforcement. The chapter concludes with some remarks about the alleged inadequacies of international law and the tension between notions of justice and order that is so prevalent within the international legal system.
7. State responsibility
Authors: Henriksen Anders
Published: August 2019

This chapter discusses the international law of responsibility as primarily reflected in the 2001 International Law Commission’s Articles on the Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts. It opens in Section 7.2 with an overview of some of the core principles and elements of state responsibility for wrongful acts. Section 7.3 discusses the issue of state attribution before Section 7.4 examines joint and collective responsibility. Section 7.5 discusses the various circumstances that may preclude the wrongfulness of conduct otherwise in violation of a (primary) legal obligation. Section 7.6 looks into the consequences of state responsibility while Section 7.7 discusses who may be entitled to invoke state responsibility. Section 7.8 examines the rules on diplomatic protection and Section 7.9 provides a brief overview of the responsibility of international organizations.
8. The international law of the sea
Authors: Henriksen Anders
Published: August 2019

The international law of the sea is one of the oldest disciplines of public international law. In fact, the identification and application of principles for governing the roughly 70 per cent of the earth’s surface that consists of water has been a topic of interest for centuries. This chapter deals with the main principles and rules that make up the international legal regulation of the seas. It begins by discussing the most important legal sources in the law of the sea, including the 1982 United Nations Law of the Sea Convention. It then discusses the spatial partitioning of the sea and the different maritime zones that exist in the law of the sea; discusses piracy; and examines a number of selected issues relating to the conservation of marine life. The final section provides a short introduction to dispute settlement in the law of the sea.
11. International economic law
Authors: Henriksen Anders
Published: August 2019

International economic law covers a vast range of rules and principles on economic conduct and relations between states, international organizations and private actors, both individuals and corporations. This chapter deals with the most fundamental areas of the law: the international law of trade, international investment law and international monetary law. It introduces the World Trade Organization and the most important principles governing international trade, including those contained in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. It presents international monetary law, with a particular emphasis on the role and activities of the International Monetary Fund. It also discusses the international regulation of international investments and the most important principles thereof, including those that govern expropriation of foreign property.
7. Interpreting the terms
Authors: Arvind TT
Published: August 2019

This chapter considers how the courts make sense of contracts whose terms are capable of more than one interpretation. It begins by discussing two broad approaches to construing contracts, both of which have influenced English law and both of which continue to form part of the law: literalism and contextualism. It then examines the role English law currently assigns to literalism and contextualism and how the courts decide which to apply, with particular emphasis on the Investors rule and contextual readings. It also evaluates an alternate remedy known as rectification and concludes with an analysis of the limits of construction and the law of mutual mistake.
15. Breach of contract
Authors: Arvind TT
Published: August 2019

This chapter examines how English law defines breach of contract and what the immediate effect of breach is on the validity of the contract, along with the obligations of the parties under the contract. It first considers the core principles underlying the law’s approach to defining breach before explaining how the courts assess performance and the consequences of breach, with particular emphasis on cases involving repudiation. It then discusses three types or classes of contractual terms: conditions, warranties, and innominate terms. It also looks at how the law deals with situations of anticipatory breach and concludes with an analysis of the scope and limits of the right of a party to terminate the contract following a repudiatory breach by the other party.
10. Defences to negligence
Authors: Horsey Kirsty , Rackley Erika
Published: August 2019

This chapter discusses three key defences in the tort of negligence: voluntary assumption of risk (consent or volenti non fit injuria), contributory negligence and illegality. The defence of voluntary assumption of risk is based on the common-sense notion that ‘one who has invited or assented to an act being done towards him cannot, when he suffers it, complain of it as a wrong’. The defence of illegality denies recovery to certain claimants injured while committing unlawful activities. Contributory negligence is a defence that operates not to defeat the claimant’s claim entirely but rather to reduce the amount of damages the defendant must pay.
14. Breach of statutory duty
Authors: Horsey Kirsty , Rackley Erika
Published: August 2019

This chapter considers the tort of breach of statutory duty. Unlike the statutory duties contained in the Occupiers’ Liability Acts 1957 and 1984 or the Consumer Protection Act 1987 where liability arises directly according to the provisions of the statute itself, in a civil action in the tort of breach of statutory duty, liability arises indirectly where a statute imposes a duty but does not identify a civil remedy in the event of its breach. The tort is a combination of statute and the tort of negligence; the duty is defined by statute, while the action lies in the common law. It should be noted that while much of the case law arises in the employment context, the tort of breach of statutory duty extends beyond this.