bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
20. Biodiversity protection
Authors: Bell Stuart , McGillivray Donald , Pedersen Ole W. , Lees Emma , Stokes Elen
Published: September 2024

This chapter examines the many different regimes in international, EU, and domestic UK law that aim to protect plants, animals, and increasingly the ecosystems of which they are a part. Initially, the chapter explores the reasons why we might want to protect wild animals and plants and the main types of legal controls used to do so. A central focus is on the question of who bears the cost of conservation and how the decision to protect a particular area or species is made and subsequently challenged, e.g., before the courts. The chapter also briefly outlines the historical context behind today’s rules.
4. The Theory and Reality of the Sources of International Law
Authors: Roberts Anthea , Sivakumaran Sandesh
Published: September 2024

The classic starting point for identifying the sources of international law is Article 38 of the ICJ Statute, which refers to three sources: treaties, customary international law, and general principles of law; as well as two subsidiary means for determining rules of law, namely judicial decisions and the teachings of publicists. However, Article 38 does not adequately reflect how the doctrine of sources operates in practice because it omits important sources of international law while misrepresenting the nature and weight of others. To appreciate how sources operate in practice, international lawyers need to understand how international law is created through a dialogue among States, State-empowered entities, and non-State actors. States are important actors in this process, but they are not the only actors. It is only by understanding this process of dialogue that one can develop a full understanding of the theory—and reality—of the sources of international law.
21. The Law of the Sea
Authors: Evans Malcolm D , Lewis Reece
Published: September 2024

This chapter explores how international law has responded to the increasing complexity of the uses of maritime space, focusing particularly on recent trends and developments. It considers the nature of the sovereign rights which States exercise over both space and living and non-living resources, and the extent to which control may be exercised over other users of the seas. It provides an introduction to the basic rules concerning the principal zones of maritime jurisdiction, examining rules concerning baseline construction, and outlining problems concerning the delimitation of overlapping maritime entitlements. The underlying tension concerns balancing the competing demands of access to ocean space while recognizing the need to preserve order and good governance.
23. International Environmental Law
Authors: Redgwell Catherine , van der Marel Eva R
Published: September 2024

The development of international environmental law is typically divided into three periods. The first demonstrates little genuine environmental awareness but rather views environmental benefits as incidental to largely economic concerns such as the exploitation of living natural resources. The second demonstrates a significant rise in the number of treaties directed to pollution abatement and to species and habitat protection. Here an overt environmental focus is evident, yet the approach is still largely reactive and piecemeal. The final phase, which characterizes current international environmental law, demonstrates a precautionary approach to environmental problems of global magnitude such as biodiversity conservation and climate change. Concern transcends individual States, with certain global problems now considered the common concern of humankind. This chapter defines international environmental law, its key sources and actors, as well as the difficulties of implementation, compliance, and enforcement.
1. Public Law—An Introduction
Authors: Elliott Mark , Thomas Robert
Published: September 2024

This chapter provides an overview of the most fundamental aspects of public law, introducing the key institutions, principles, and practices that characterise the constitutional arrangements of the UK. The two main parts of public law are constitutional law and administrative law. Constitutional law is concerned with the overall constitutional structure by which a country is governed. Administrative law is concerned with the law, legal principles, and mechanisms used to check and control the exercise of governmental power. Public law is concerned with three things: public institutions; constitutional principles; and constitutional practices, that is, how those public institutions and constitutional principles work in practice.
3. Themes, Sources, and Principles
Authors: Elliott Mark , Thomas Robert
Published: September 2024

This chapter discusses the UK’s constitutional arrangements and, in particular, four important issues concerning the UK constitution, of which it is necessary to be aware at the outset. First, it sets out the three key themes that emerge from the study of contemporary UK public law which reflect the dominant characteristics of and challenges faced by public law. Second, it examines the sources of the UK constitution—written and unwritten, legal and political. Third, the chapter addresses a number of principles that occupy a central role in UK public law, before finally considering whether the UK should adopt a written, or codified, constitution.
4. Separation of Powers—An Introduction
Authors: Elliott Mark , Thomas Robert
Published: September 2024

This chapter explains the separation of powers doctrine, first describing the three branches of government: the legislative, judicial, and executive. One complicating factor is that these branches of the state are not confined solely to the UK level; they also exist both above and below the UK level. This is what we call the ‘multilayered constitution’. Above the UK level is the Council of Europe and below the UK level are the devolved governments and legislatures in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The chapter further discusses why separation of powers is needed, different conceptions of separation of powers, and separation of powers in the UK.
5. UK Central Government
Authors: Elliott Mark , Thomas Robert
Published: September 2024

This chapter discusses what the executive branch of government is and what it does (with particular reference to the UK central government); how it relates to other branches of government—with particular reference to its relationship with Parliament; how it is held accountable, both politically and legally; the institutions and constitutional actors that make up the modern UK executive; and the considerable powers which it has at its disposal. It shows that the executive plays a pivotal role in the British constitution today, and that there are real concerns about whether it enjoys too much power—and about whether that power is subject to adequate oversight and control.
8. Devolution and the Territorial Constitution
Authors: Elliott Mark , Thomas Robert
Published: September 2024

This chapter focuses on the UK’s territorial constitution, that is, the governance arrangements that result in power being dispersed rather than concentrated in a single set of national institutions. Devolution involved creating new governments in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and investing them with powers that were previously exercised at a UK level. Devolution in the UK is therefore intended to be part of the answer to questions that must be confronted in all political systems: where should governmental power lie? And at what level should laws be enacted and the business of government transacted? Local government plays a key role in decision-making, policy formulation, and the delivery of public services across a wide range of areas, including education, housing, personal social services, transport, and planning control.
18. Human Rights and the UK Constitution
Authors: Elliott Mark , Thomas Robert
Published: September 2024

This chapter examines human rights protection in the UK which is an area in which there is debate and disagreement on a number of fundamental matters and at several levels. It examines the reasons why the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) was enacted, the effects of the HRA, the principal mechanisms through which the HRA affords protection to human rights in UK law, the scope of the HRA, and the debate concerning the potential repeal, reform, or replacement of the HRA. The chapter also introduces the notion of human rights, including the practical and philosophical cases for their legal protection, and the European Convention on Human Rights, to which the HRA gives effect in UK law.
3. The Normative Framework Of Human Rights Under International Law
Authors: Cançado Trindade Antônio Augusto , González-Salzberg Damián A.
Published: September 2024

This chapter offers an essential introduction to the normative framework of the protection of human rights under international law. It is of particular relevance to those less acquainted with the discipline of public international law. The chapter discusses the fundamental topics of sources, obligations, and subjects of international law, as applicable to the international law of human rights. It explains that the international law of human rights remains attached to its traditional structures that overwhelmingly focus on the responsibility of States, but discusses how other actors have an ever-increasing role in the field. The chapter concludes with a reflection on the interaction between the international and domestic legal orders when dealing with the protection of rights.
4. United Nations Charter-Based Bodies
Authors: Cançado Trindade Antônio Augusto , González-Salzberg Damián A.
Published: September 2024

The chapter engages with the international protection of human rights under the United Nations Charter. It focuses on how human rights became one of the pillars of the organization, since its creation in 1945. It engages with the bodies created under the UN Charter for the protection and promotion of human rights and the changes these have experienced throughout their history. This discussion covers the creation of the UN Commission on Human Rights, its replacement with the Human Rights Council (HRC), the mechanisms and organs developed under these bodies, as well as the creation of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The chapter concludes with a reflection on the increasing role the International Court of Justice is adopting in the international protection of human rights and, in particular, on the contribution that Judge Antônio Augusto Cançado Trindade—co-author of this book—had in this respect during his tenure at the Court.
6. The Inter-American Human Rights System
Authors: Cançado Trindade Antônio Augusto , González-Salzberg Damián A.
Published: September 2024

This chapter discusses the Inter-American human rights system, created within the framework of the Organization of American States (OAS). It covers the system’s historical development, from its creation to its current institutional design. The chapter engages with the main organs of the system, the Inter-American Commission and Court of Human Rights and the principal functions attributed to each of them. Particular focus is placed on how individuals can bring claims concerning the violations of their rights under the system, discussing the potential life of a petition and case before the systems’ main bodies. Additionally, key challenges faced by the systems are selected for discussion.
7. The European Human Rights System
Authors: Cançado Trindade Antônio Augusto , González-Salzberg Damián A.
Published: September 2024

This chapter details the creation and development of the European human rights system within the framework provided by the Council of Europe. It engages with the current work and operation of the main organ of the system, the European Court of Human Rights, a world-leading authority in the protection of human rights. The chapter also discusses in detail how individuals can bring claims concerning the violations of their rights under the system and explores the potential life of a case before the Court. As in the previous chapter, specific challenges faced by the system are selected for discussion.
9. The International Protection of Substantive Rights (I)
Authors: Cançado Trindade Antônio Augusto , González-Salzberg Damián A.
Published: September 2024

This chapter, together with the following one, undertake a discussion of the international protection of selected human rights. Purposely, no distinction between dated classifications concerning generations or categories of rights is made in these chapters, which obeys to a strong conviction that such dated distinctions belong to the history of the international law of human rights (and can, therefore be found in Chapter 2 of this book), acting as obstacles to understanding all human rights as interconnected and interdependent. Chapter 9 deals with more traditional rights, which range from the right to life and the right to personal integrity—encompassing the prohibition of torture, cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment—to the fundamental freedoms of opinion and expression, and of thought, conscience, and religion.
2. Sources of International Law
Authors: Dixon Martin , McCorquodale Robert , Williams Sarah
Published: September 2024

This chapter begins with a discussion of the importance of the sources of international law. It then discusses the Statute of the International Court of Justice 1945; treaties; customary international law; general principles of law; judicial decisions and the writings of publicists; resolutions of international organisations; and soft law. Finally, it looks at whether there exists a hierarchy of international law sources.
3. The Law of Treaties
Authors: Dixon Martin , McCorquodale Robert , Williams Sarah
Published: September 2024

Treaties are an important source of international law that are used with increasing frequency to codify, crystallise and develop international law. They are particularly useful when States need to change or reorganise their obligations under international law rapidly, sometimes to reflect the changed reality of international society. This chapter begins with the definition of a treaty. It then discusses the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969; formation and application of treaties; reservations to treaties; interpretation of treaties; invalidity of treaties; termination of treaties; and withdrawal from treaties.
5. Legal Personality and Recognition
Authors: Dixon Martin , McCorquodale Robert , Williams Sarah
Published: September 2024

International law is unlike the law of national legal systems in that the persons or entities to which it applies are not always immediately apparent. National law applies to natural or legal persons within the territorial borders and to ‘nationals’ of the home State, In contrast, international law has no territorial boundaries in the same sense and no comparable concept of ‘nationals’. Consequently, international law’s ‘subjects’ or ‘participants’ are harder to define and even to identify. This chapter discusses the types of international legal personality and recognition in international and national legal systems.
6. International Human Rights Law
Authors: Dixon Martin , McCorquodale Robert , Williams Sarah
Published: September 2024

Human rights are a matter of international law, as the rights of humans do not depend on an individual’s nationality and so the protection of these rights cannot be limited to the jurisdiction of any one State. This chapter introduces the principal ideas, issues and framework of international human rights law. It discusses human rights theories; the global nature of human rights ; international protection of human rights in treaties and procedures; the core elements of regional human rights protections; limitations on the human rights treaty obligations of States, such as reservations and derogations; and the right of self-determination. It raises some of the key applications of international human rights, including protections of refugees and persons with disabilities, the position of non-stateactors, such as corporations, and the interaction between international human rights law and international humanitarian law. It also considers how the Covid-19 pandemic had impacts on human rights globally.
7. Sovereignty over Territory
Authors: Dixon Martin , McCorquodale Robert , Williams Sarah
Published: September 2024

Sovereignty is one of the fundamental concepts in international law. It is an integral part of the principles of equality of States, territorial integrity and political independence that are referred to in Article 2 of the United Nations Charter. Sovereignty is crucial to the exercise of powers by a State over both its territory and the people living in that territory. This chapter discusses traditional means of acquisition of territory; effective occupation; consent by other States; and limitations on sovereignty over territory.
12. Immunities from National Jurisdiction
Authors: Dixon Martin , McCorquodale Robert , Williams Sarah
Published: September 2024

States and international organisations and their representatives in the courts of other States enjoy immunity from legal process. This immunity can be split conveniently into State (or sovereign) immunity, and diplomatic and consular immunities. The first concerns foreign States per se (including the Head of State), while the second concerns the personal immunities enjoyed by representatives of those States. This chapter discusses the general principles of state immunity in international law; state immunity in the United Kingdom; Heads of State and other holders of high-ranking office; the relationship between immunity and acts contrary to international law; the immunities of international organisations and their staff; and diplomatic and consular immunities.
1. Introduction
Authors: Horsey Kirsty , Rackley Erika
Published: September 2024

This introductory chapter begins by providing examples of torts. It then discusses the aims of the law of torts, the most significant being compensation and deterrence. Part of the justification for a tort is that it identifies what actions should be avoided and deters people from engaging in them. It is essential to know that action is wrongful, but a tort action may over-deter or under-deter. It may over-deter where the perception of the chance of liability is exaggerated. It may under-deter where either the chances of somebody suing to enforce their rights are small, or where the consequences to the individual tortfeasor may be slight. Originally tort was about ‘shifting’ or ‘transferring’ the loss from the victim to the defendant (corrective justice). The defendant themselves paid compensation to the victim. However, those days are gone and we are now in an era of ‘loss distribution’. In other words, it is not the defendant who pays, but their employers or, more accurately, their employer’s insurer. The chapter then considers the study of torts. Tort law is almost wholly a case-driven subject and therefore a good knowledge of the cases and what they stand for is essential. The chapter presents three steps to studying cases.
3. Special duty problems: omissions and acts of third parties
Authors: Horsey Kirsty , Rackley Erika
Published: September 2024

This chapter discusses the problem of when a duty of care arises in respect of negligent omissions, or for the actions of a third party. The common law takes the view that it would be too great a burden to impose liability upon a person for a mere omission, or for the actions of others. Despite this, duties can in fact be imposed in various ways, all of which focus on the reliance of the claimant upon the defendant in the context of assumed responsibility. This can come about either by the previous conduct of the defendant, which induces reliance by the claimant that the defendant will continue to act in that way, or by reliance which comes out of a relationship of dependence between the parties. As regards third parties, a duty may arise where the defendant has control over or responsibility for the third party’s actions.
10. Occupiers’ liability
Authors: Horsey Kirsty , Rackley Erika
Published: September 2024

This chapter focuses on the liability of an occupier to persons who are injured on their premises and the Occupiers’ Liability Acts of 1957 and 1984. The discussion considers the relationship between occupiers’ liability and negligence, what makes someone an ‘occupier’ or ‘visitor’, the duty owed to visitors and to trespassers and other non-visitors, and the exclusion of liability. The basis of liability is fault, and, to visitors at least, the duty differs little from the requirements of negligence, but there are sufficient differences to make it subject to a special chapter. These differences arise partly for historical reasons, but also because of the need to balance the rights of the occupier to deal with their property as they wish and the need to protect entrants from injury.
13. Intentional interferences with the person
Authors: Horsey Kirsty , Rackley Erika
Published: September 2024

This chapter considers intentional interferences with the person, including the so-called trespass to the person torts, the tort in Wilkinson v Downton and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. Trespass is an ancient set of wrongs which mainly deals with the direct, and usually intentional, invasion of a claimant’s interest in his person, his land or his goods. It is the right itself which is protected, and not just the freedom from resulting damage, and much of the law of trespass is the basis of civil liberties today. This chapter considers the torts of assault, battery and false imprisonment, together with various defences. The principal use today of these torts relates not so much to recovery of compensation but to the establishment of a right, or a recognition that the defendant acted unlawfully. The chapter then considers the tort in Wilkinson v Downton which provides a remedy in cases of indirect intentional infliction of distress and the statutory tort of harassment (Protection from Harassment Act 1997).
15. Defamation
Authors: Horsey Kirsty , Rackley Erika
Published: September 2024

This chapter focuses on defamation which enables an individual (or, more controversially, a company) to prevent the publication of, or recover damages for, public statements which make, or are likely to make, people think less of them. At its heart is a balance between freedom of speech (protected under the European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998) and the interests of an individual in the protection of their reputation. The chapter examines the Defamation Act 2013 and explains who can sue for, and be liable in, defamation, when a statement is ‘defamatory’ and innuendo. It also considers the defences of truth, honest opinion, publication in a matter of public interest and privilege. It concludes with a discussion of damages for defamation.
18. Vicarious liability
Authors: Horsey Kirsty , Rackley Erika
Published: September 2024

Vicarious liability is a system whereby an employer is liable for the torts of his employees committed in the course of employment. The principle of placing liability on the employer as well as upon the individual tortfeasor is mainly justified by the concept of loss distribution; that is, that the employer will usually be better able to distribute the loss, either through insurance or through his customers. This chapter begins with a definition of an employee. It then discusses the liability of the employee; how an employer is liable for the torts of his employee only if the act is committed ‘in the course of his employment’; and liability for independent contractors.
12. Murder
Authors: Ormerod David , Laird Karl , Gibson Matthew
Published: September 2024

Murder is generally regarded as the most serious crime (apart perhaps from treason) in England and Wales, yet it has not been defined by statute. This chapter discusses the offence of murder, who can commit murder, where it can be committed, who can be the victim, and whether killing a foetus/child in the womb or in the process of leaving the womb is murder. It also examines whether a dead person is capable of being murdered, unlawful killing as an important element of murder, the mens rea of murder or ‘malice aforethought’, constructive malice, the sentence for murder, and the Law Commission’s proposed reforms for the offence of murder.
17. Sexual offences
Authors: Ormerod David , Laird Karl , Gibson Matthew
Published: September 2024

The Sexual Offences Act 2003 represented the most comprehensive and radical overhaul of the law relating to sexual offences ever undertaken in England and Wales. This chapter deals with non-consensual sexual offences: namely, rape, assault by penetration, sexual assault, and causing someone to engage in sexual activity without consent. It also examines sexual offences against children below 13 years of age, sexual offences against children aged 13 to 16, causing a child to watch a sexual act, arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, meeting a child following sexual grooming, etc. Finally, the chapter explores offences of abuse of trust, family offences, offences involving mental disorder and other sexual offences such as those surrounding sex work, pornography, and taking indecent photographs of children.
20. Offences of temporary deprivation
Authors: Ormerod David , Laird Karl , Gibson Matthew
Published: September 2024

Theft involves an intention to deprive another permanently of their property. The criminal law has also devised offences involving temporary deprivation of property, including the taking of vehicles and the taking of vessels, both of which are currently dealt with in s 12 of the Theft Act 1968. The Theft Act 1968 also includes another offence of temporary deprivation: removal of articles from places open to the public. In this case, the article must be removed from the building or from its grounds before the actus reus and mens rea of the offence can be completed. In other words, removal from the building to the grounds or vice versa will suffice.
31. Offences against public order
Authors: Ormerod David , Laird Karl , Gibson Matthew
Published: September 2024

The Public Order Act 1986 is the principal source of public order offences. These are riot, violent disorder, and affray, along with inducing fear of violence and behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm, or distress. Some of the offences in the 1986 Act may be committed in private, but their public order foundations are paramount and these offences should not be treated as merely additional offences against the person. This chapter deals with offences against public order. It also considers harassment, alarm or distress, racially aggravated public order offences and acts intended or likely to incite racial or religious hatred, and hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation. The chapter also examines offences under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (public nuisance) as well as those under the Public Order Act 2023.
14. Co-ownership and Third Parties: Applications for Sale
Authors: McFarlane Ben , Hopkins Nicholas , Nield Sarah
Published: September 2024

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 considers applications for sale of land held on trust, which are brought by third parties; typically creditors and trustees in bankruptcy of a beneficiary. The chapter explores the different legislation and rules that apply depending on whether the application is made by a creditor or a trustee in bankruptcy. Since the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 (TOLATA 1996), applications made by creditors are considered under the general provisions of that Act, while those by trustees in bankruptcy are considered under the Insolvency Act 1986.
16. Priorities in Registered Land
Authors: McFarlane Ben , Hopkins Nicholas , Nield Sarah
Published: September 2024

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 explores the defences against pre-existing property rights that are available to a party who acquires for value and registers a right in registered land. The Land Registration Act 2002 (LRA 2002) offers a distinct set of priority rules for one category of transaction: a registrable disposition of a registered estate for valuable consideration. The chapter analyses the priority rules applicable to such transactions, including the effect of the entry of a land registry notice, the category of ‘overriding interests’ (property rights immune to a lack of registration defence), and limitations on the powers of a registered owner. It concludes by examining the policy of the LRA 2002 to transactions that are tainted by fraud or wrongdoing that is not such as to invalidate the transaction. Such transactions may result, under the general law, in the creation of new direct rights which may, for example, impose personal liability on a registered party.
19. Leases
Authors: McFarlane Ben , Hopkins Nicholas , Nield Sarah
Published: September 2024

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 focuses on a key feature of a lease: its ability to count as a property right. The three principal questions that apply to any property right: the content question, the acquisition question, and the defences question are explored. The chapter evaluates how the judges’ approach to defining the content of a lease as a property right may have been affected by the presence of statutory protection, and how that approach has been applied in the context of property guardians. The courts’ approach to the content of a lease may be shaped by the fact that, if B has such a right, he or she may qualify (or have qualified) for significant statutory protection. The chapter also considers the impact of the requirement that a lease must have a certain term, and the debate as to the contractual or proprietary nature of the lease.
27. Protection of the Borrower
Authors: McFarlane Ben , Hopkins Nicholas , Nield Sarah
Published: September 2024

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 reviews the loan contract and the controls that the law has imposed to protect the borrower. The level of protection differs according to the nature of the borrower and the type of security transaction. Market regulation of the residential mortgage market has increased protection for domestic borrowers. Vitiating factors, particularly undue influence, have impacted upon the creation of collateral mortgages of the family home to secure commercial borrowing. Equitable protection has been provided by controls against penalties and oppressive and unconscionable terms, as well as by protection of the borrower’s equity of redemption. Statutory consumer protection now offers more effective protection to domestic borrowers. The common law, equitable, and statutory control mechanisms are then described and applied to demonstrate the protection they afford against particular mortgage terms, for instance to control rates of interest and other costs associated with borrowing.
4. The interpretation of statutes
Authors: Rutherford Helen , Kotecha Birju , Macfarlane Angela
Published: September 2024

This chapter explains the significance of statutory interpretation and how problems of interpretation arise. The chapter considers in detail the courts’ approach to interpretation, including traditional rules such as the literal rule, the golden rule, and the mischief rule. The chapter analyses these rules and highlights how they are applied with examples from the case law. In modern times the courts have come to employ a more purposive approach to interpretation, and the chapter includes coverage of how this approach works in practice. The chapter also outlines a range of intrinsic and extrinsic aids to interpretation that the courts can rely on in interpreting an Act of Parliament. Among others, these aids include the long title, cross-headings, marginal or side notes, dictionaries, pre-parliamentary materials, statutes on the same subject matter, and, most notably, Hansard. The chapter concludes with an overview of the rules of language, namely ejusdem generis, noscitur a sociis, and expressio unius est exclusio alterius.
7. Human rights in the United Kingdom
Authors: Rutherford Helen , Kotecha Birju , Macfarlane Angela
Published: September 2024

This chapter considers the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and its relationship to the English legal system. The chapter’s focus is on key provisions of the Human Rights Act 1998—the Act that incorporated the Convention into UK law. In the earlier part of the chapter there is coverage of ss2, 3, and 4 of the Act. These provisions concern the duties placed on the courts to take into account judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, to interpret domestic legislation so as to comply with rights under the Convention, and finally to issue a declaration of incompatibility when domestic legislation does not comply with rights under the Convention. Using examples from the case law, the chapter assesses how the courts balance their constitutional role to respect the supremacy of Parliament, alongside the duties provided in the Act to respect rights under the Convention. There is also an analysis of s.6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 which makes it unlawful for a public authority to act incompatibly with Convention rights. The chapter also analyses the contested question of what precisely constitutes a ‘public authority’, particularly when a private body is carrying out a public function.
9. The legal profession
Authors: Rutherford Helen , Kotecha Birju , Macfarlane Angela
Published: September 2024

This chapter considers the roles of solicitors and barristers in the English legal system. It outlines the basic business models of legal practice, including alternative business structures, and the constraints on such organisations. It discusses the rules affecting practice as a solicitor or a barrister, and other legal professionals, and discusses the regulatory organisations overseeing their work. The debate as to whether the two main branches of the legal profession should be fused into one is set out. The discussion and debate about changes to legal education are signposted, including the major reforms to the qualification requirements for solicitors and barristers.
14. Sentencing
Authors: Rutherford Helen , Kotecha Birju , Macfarlane Angela
Published: September 2024

This chapter explains the aims of sentencing and discusses the types of sentence that may be imposed upon a convicted offender. The main sentencing options available to a court when an adult is convicted of a criminal offence include: absolute and conditional discharges, fines, community orders, and imprisonment. Custodial sentences include extended determinate sentences, the new sentence for offenders of particular concern, and life sentences, including whole life sentences. A custodial sentence has punishment as its primary purpose, whereas a community order focuses on reform and rehabilitation. The chapter outlines the key types of sentence that can be imposed upon youth offenders and discusses restorative justice initiatives. It explores the factors to which the judge or magistrates must have regard when passing sentence, including maximum/minimum sentences, the nature and seriousness of the offence, sentencing guidelines and pre-sentence reports.
Criminal Law
Authors: Edwards Ian , Allen Michael
Published: September 2024

Course-focused and comprehensive, the Textbook on series provides an accessible overview of the key areas on the law curriculum. Textbook on Criminal Law has been providing students of criminal law with a readable and reliable introduction to the subject for the past 30 years. This is the seventeenth edition, which has been updated to include all of the latest case law and statutory changes. Topics covered include actus reus, mens rea, negligence, and strict liability, and capacity and incapacitating conditions. It also examines general defences, parties to crime, inchoate offences, and homicide. Towards the end of the book chapters consider non-fatal offences, sexual offences, offences under the Theft Acts 1968 and 1978, fraud, and criminal damage.
3. Mens rea
Authors: Allen Michael J. , Edwards Ian
Published: September 2024

Course-focused and comprehensive, the Textbook on series provides an accessible overview of the key areas on the law curriculum. Mens rea refers to the mental element necessary for a particular crime. This may differ from one crime to another, and the definition of each crime must be examined to determine what state of mind is required. This chapter discusses the meaning of intention, knowledge, recklessness, wilfulness, direct intent, oblique intent, ulterior intent, transferred malice, and mistake. These mens rea topics raise important questions about the extent to which a person is responsible and therefore deserving of blame and punishment. A Law in Context feature examines critically the debates between those who favour subjectivist and objectivist approaches to mens rea, with particular reference to reform of the offence of unlawful act manslaughter.
5. Capacity and incapacitating conditions
Authors: Allen Michael J. , Edwards Ian
Published: September 2024

Course-focused and comprehensive, the Textbook on series provides an accessible overview of the key areas on the law curriculum. A person should only be held criminally liable where they have the capacity to understand their actions, and to recognise the consequences which may flow from them, and, having understood them, where they have the capacity to control them. The criminal law recognises the requirement of rational capacity by excepting persons who lack rational capacity from liability in certain circumstances. This chapter examines the issues of the age of criminal responsibility, insanity, and the M’Naghten Rules (including analysis of the meaning of a ‘disease of the mind’ and the cognitive tests for determining whether someone is legally insane), automatism, and intoxication (with analysis of the distinction between offences of specific intent and basic intent). A Law in Context feature explores the treatment of mentally disordered defendants and offenders in the criminal justice system.
6. General defences
Authors: Allen Michael J. , Edwards Ian
Published: September 2024

Course-focused and comprehensive, the Textbook on series provides an accessible overview of the key areas on the law curriculum. This chapter discusses general defences of duress, necessity, and private defence and prevention of crime. Duress relates to the situation where a person commits an offence to avoid the greater evil of death or serious injury to themselves or another threatened by a third party. Necessity relates to the situation where a person commits an offence to avoid the greater evil to themselves or another, which would ensue from objective dangers arising from the circumstances in which they or that other are placed. An accused charged with a violent offence may seek to plead that they acted as they did to protect themselves, or their property, or others from attack; or to prevent crime; or to effect a lawful arrest. A Law in Context feature considers the availability of the duress defence for coerced women in abusive relationships.
9. Homicide
Authors: Allen Michael J. , Edwards Ian
Published: September 2024

Course-focused and comprehensive, the Textbook on series provides an accessible overview of the key areas on the law curriculum. This chapter discusses offences of homicide: murder and manslaughter. Murder is unlawful homicide committed with ‘malice aforethought’ for which the penalty is life imprisonment. Manslaughter may be divided into voluntary and involuntary. Voluntary manslaughter arises where the accused has committed murder but circumstances of excuse or justification, either diminished responsibility or loss of self-control, are present reducing their culpability. The chapter analyses the scope of these defences, situating them in the context of the abolition in 2009 of the provocation defence. Involuntary manslaughter is an unlawful killing where the accused lacked malice aforethought but otherwise had a state of mind which the law treats as culpable. Unlawful act manslaughter covers situations where a person has unlawfully killed as a result of committing a separate unlawful act, such as a punch. Gross negligence manslaughter covers situations where a person has unlawfully killed as a result of a gross breach of a duty of care owed to the victim. The Law in Context feature examines the sentencing for homicide offences in light of new guidelines from the Sentencing Council.
14. Further offences under the Theft Acts
Authors: Allen Michael J. , Edwards Ian
Published: September 2024

Course-focused and comprehensive, the Textbook on series provides an accessible overview of the key areas on the law curriculum. This chapter discusses the following offences in the Theft Acts 1968 and 1978: making off without payment; burglary (including discussion of the key terms ‘entry as a trespasser’, ‘building’, and the ulterior offences); aggravated burglary; blackmail; handling stolen goods; and dishonestly retaining a wrongful credit. The Law in Context feature examines how burglars are sentenced, including the changing approach of the Court of Appeal, the ‘three strikes and you’re out’ mandatory sentence, and the publication of guidelines by the Sentencing Council.
9. Corroboration and care warnings
Authors: Keane Adrian , McKeown Paul
Published: September 2024

This chapter discusses exceptions to the general rule that there is no requirement for evidence to be corroborated. There are three categories of exception: (i) where corroboration is required as a matter of law (speeding, perjury, treason, and attempts to commit these offences) and therefore a conviction cannot be based on uncorroborated evidence; (ii) where neither corroboration in a technical sense nor supportive evidence is required as a matter of law, but the tribunal of fact may need to be warned to exercise caution before acting on the evidence of certain types of witness, if unsupported; (iii) five cases in which corroboration is not required as a matter of law and there is no obligation to warn the tribunal of fact of the danger of acting on the unsupported or uncorroborated evidence, but there is a special need for caution. The five cases are: confessions by mentally handicapped persons, identification evidence, lip-reading evidence, cases of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, and unconvincing hearsay. Identification evidence is dealt with separately in Chapter 10.
17. Evidence of character: evidence of character in civil cases
Authors: Keane Adrian , McKeown Paul
Published: September 2024

This chapter discusses the admissibility of evidence of character. A number of factors govern the admissibility of character evidence, including whether the proceedings are civil or criminal and whether the evidence relates to the character of a party or non-party. It is also necessary to consider the nature of the character evidence in question. It may relate to either good or bad character and, in either event, may constitute evidence of a person’s actual disposition, that is, his propensity to act, think, or feel in a given way; or evidence of his reputation, that is, his reputed disposition or propensity to act, think, or feel in a given way. Thus, the character of a person may be proved by evidence of general disposition, by evidence of specific examples of his conduct on other occasions (including, in the case of bad conduct, evidence of his previous convictions), or by evidence of his reputation among those to whom he is known. The chapter considers civil cases in which bad character designated ‘similar fact evidence’ has been admitted.
18. Evidence of character: evidence of the good character of the accused
Authors: Keane Adrian , McKeown Paul
Published: September 2024

This chapter discusses the circumstances in which, in criminal proceedings, evidence of the good character of the accused may be adduced because of its relevance either to a fact in issue or to his credibility. It addresses the following issues: Why should an accused be allowed to call evidence of his previous good character? What is meant by ‘good character?’ Linked to this, where an accused has previous convictions, in what circumstances might it be acceptable for a judge to tell a jury that they should consider the accused as a person of good character? Where an accused has no previous convictions, in what circumstances might it be acceptable for a judge to refuse to tell a jury that they should treat the accused as a person of good character? Other issues discussed include the admissibility of evidence of the good character of prosecution witnesses.
19. Evidence of character: evidence of bad character in criminal cases
Authors: Keane Adrian , McKeown Paul
Published: September 2024

This chapter begins with an introduction to the statutory framework governing the admissibility of bad character evidence. It goes on to consider the statutory definition of ‘bad character’ and to discuss the admissibility of evidence of bad character in criminal cases under the Criminal Justice Act 2003, namely: the admissibility of the bad character of a person other than the defendant and the requirement of leave; the admissibility of evidence of the bad character of the defendant under various statutory ‘gateways’, including the gateway by which evidence may be admitted if it is relevant to an important matter in issue between the defendant and the prosecution; and safeguards including the discretion to exclude evidence of bad character and the judge’s power to stop a case where the evidence is contaminated. Procedural rules are also considered, as is the defendant’s right to challenge evidence of bad character.
5. Terms and breach of contract
Authors: Devenney James , Shaw-Mellors Adam
Published: September 2024

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter discusses how to identify the contractual obligations assumed by the parties in their contract, distinguishing terms (promises) and representations (non-promissory inducements to contract), and identifying the express and implied terms. It also looks at standards of performance, how to identify broken promises as a prelude to considering the remedies for breach of contract, and whether it is possible to opt not to continue to perform further contractual obligations following the other party’s breach.
6. Exemption clauses and unfair contract terms
Authors: Devenney James , Shaw-Mellors Adam
Published: September 2024

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter discusses the use and enforceability of exemption clauses (total exclusion or limitation of liability clauses inserted into contracts) and their legislative regulation. Whereas the regulation of such clauses is limited to the common law and UCTA 1977 in the case of commercial contracts (B2B), in the case of consumer contracts (B2C) the law intervenes to control a broader category of terms, ‘unfair contract terms’ (Consumer Rights Act 2015) with the critical test being ‘unfairness’.