bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
8. Sexual offences
Authors: Monaghan Nicola
Published: September 2022

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams, and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. This chapter explores the main sexual offences, including rape, assault by penetration, sexual assault, and intentionally causing a person to engage in sexual activity. It considers the defence of consent in sexual offences and the statutory presumptions relating to consent. Finally, it explores sexual offences committed against children, including rape of a child under 13, assault of a child under 13 by penetration, sexual assault of a child under 13, and causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.
11. Fraud
Authors: Monaghan Nicola
Published: September 2022

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams, and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. This chapter discusses the offence of fraud under the Fraud Act 2006. There are three ways in which fraud may be committed. Section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006 provides for fraud by false representation; s.3 provides for fraud by failing to disclose information; and s.4 provides for fraud by abuse of a position of financial trust. Dishonesty is common to all three of these ways of committing fraud. The defendant must intend, by making the representation, to make a gain for himself or another, or to cause loss to another, or to expose another to a risk of loss.
13. Defences I: incapacity and negating the elements of the offence
Authors: Monaghan Nicola
Published: September 2022

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams, and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. This chapter discusses the following general defences: infancy, insanity, automatism, intoxication (involuntary and voluntary), and mistake. Children under the age of ten are conclusively presumed incapable of committing a criminal offence. Insanity (insane automatism) is concerned with the defendant’s mental condition at the time of the offence. Automatism is available where the defendant suffers a total loss of control or is unaware of what he is doing. Involuntary intoxication may be a defence to any offence if the defendant does not have the mens rea for that offence. Voluntary intoxication is no defence to a basic intent offence. A mistake as to civil law may negate the mens rea of an offence.
14. Defences II: general defences
Authors: Monaghan Nicola
Published: September 2022

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams, and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. This chapter explores the remaining general defences: self-defence, protection of another, and the prevention of crime, duress, duress of circumstances, and necessity. A defendant may rely on self-defence where he honestly believes that use of force is necessary in order to protect him and the force used is reasonable. The issue of duress arises where the defendant is threatened that he must commit a criminal offence or suffer physical injury or injury to his family. Duress excuses a defendant’s behaviour as a concession to human frailty, whereas necessity justifies it. Necessity does not require a threat made by a person of death or physical injury, but merely a choice between two evils.
10. Burglary and Blackmail
Authors: Herring Jonathan
Published: September 2022

This chapter discusses the law and theory on burglary and blackmail. The offence of burglary is committed where a defendant enters a building as a trespasser with intent to commit one of the offences listed in section 9 of the Theft Act 1968. It is also committed where a defendant has entered a building as a trespasser and then committed one of a list of other offences. To be guilty of blackmail, a defendant must make unwarranted demands with menaces with a view to making a gain for themselves or a loss to another.
11. Criminal Damage
Authors: Herring Jonathan
Published: September 2022

This chapter discusses the law and theory on criminal damage. Criminal damage involves the defendant intentionally or recklessly destroying or damaging property belonging to another. The defendant will have a defence if they were acting with a lawful excuse. There is an offence of aggravated criminal damage, where damage was done with the defendant being reckless about whether people’s lives would be endangered as a result. Four criminal damage offences are found in the Criminal Damage Act 1971: basic criminal damage, arson, aggravated criminal damage, and aggravated arson. There is also an offence of racially aggravated criminal damage. The chapter also considers the Computer Misuse Act 1990, which was designed to protect information kept on computers.
15. Complicity
Authors: Herring Jonathan
Published: September 2022

This chapter begins with a discussion of the law of complicity, covering principals and accomplices; five ways one can be an accomplice; mens rea for accomplices; secondary participation and inchoate offences; conviction of the secondary party and acquittal of the principal; whether a secondary party can be guilty of a greater offence than the principal; withdrawal by a secondary party; accessories and victims; and assistance after the offence. The second part of the chapter focuses on accessories and the theory of complicity, covering general theories of accessorial liability; theories of accessorial mens rea; the theory of joint enterprise; actus reus issues; withdrawal; and law reform.
1. Introduction
Authors: Keane Adrian , McKeown Paul
Published: September 2022

Evidence is information by which facts tend to be proved, and the law of evidence is that body of law and discretion regulating the means by which facts may be proved in both courts of law and tribunals and arbitrations in which the strict rules of evidence apply. This introductory chapter discusses truth and the fact-finding process and explains how getting to the truth in court is hampered by practical constraints, the adversarial system, the rules of evidence themselves, and the fact that litigation is a human endeavour that necessarily provides scope for differences of opinion, error, deceit, and lies. The chapter also contains a brief history of the development of the law to date.
2. Preliminaries
Authors: Keane Adrian , McKeown Paul
Published: September 2022

This chapter discusses the following: (i) facts that are open to proof or disproof in English courts of law: facts in issue, relevant facts, and collateral facts; (ii) the varieties of evidence: testimony, hearsay evidence, documentary evidence, real evidence, circumstantial evidence (including motive, plans and preparatory acts, capacity, opportunity, identity, continuance, failure to give evidence or call witnesses, failure to provide samples, lies and standards of comparison), and conclusive evidence; (iii) the concepts of relevance and admissibility; (iv) the weight of evidence; (v) the functions of the judge and jury; (vi) judicial discretion to admit or exclude evidence.
16. Adverse inferences from an accused’s silence or conduct
Authors: Keane Adrian , McKeown Paul
Published: September 2022

This chapter discusses the adverse inferences that may be drawn against an accused from: his failure to testify; his failure, when questioned or charged, to mention facts which he could reasonably have been expected to have mentioned at that time and which he later relies on in his defence at trial; his failure or refusal, on arrest, to account for any object, substance, or mark that the police reasonably believe may be attributable to his participation in the commission of an offence; his refusal to consent to the taking of an intimate sample, such as a sample of blood, semen, or urine; and his failure to provide advance disclosure of the defence case, the nature of his defence, or the facts on which he takes issue with the prosecution.
22. Privilege
Authors: Keane Adrian , McKeown Paul
Published: September 2022

This chapter discusses several well-established principles whereby relevant evidence is excluded because of extrinsic considerations which outweigh the value that the evidence would have at trial. Three types of privilege are considered: (i) the privilege against self-incrimination (including statutory withdrawal of the privilege, compatibility with Art 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the compulsory production of pre-existing documents and materials, and substituted protection); (ii) legal professional privilege, which enables a client to protect the confidentiality of (a) communications between him and his lawyer made for the purpose of obtaining and giving legal advice (known as ‘legal advice privilege’) and (b) communications between him or his lawyer and third parties for the dominant purpose of preparation for pending or contemplated litigation (known as ‘litigation privilege’); and (iii) ‘without prejudice’ privilege, which enables settlement negotiations to be conducted without fear of proposed concessions being used in evidence at trial as admissions.
1. Introduction to the criminal justice system
Authors: Loveless Janet , Allen Mischa , Derry Caroline
Published: September 2022

This chapter discusses the principles and structure of criminal law and evaluates the criminal justice system in the light of statistics and public perception and the context in which the criminal law operates. It begins with a discussion of the definition of crime and criminalisation and explains theories of criminal law, such as the harm principle, moralism, and feminism. Problem question technique and IRAC are discussed in this chapter. The burden and standard of proof in criminal proceedings and the classification of crimes and the courts are discussed. Finally, the chapter explores miscarriages of justice, punishment, and access to justice.
3. Mens rea: blameworthy states of mind
Authors: Loveless Janet , Allen Mischa , Derry Caroline
Published: September 2022

This chapter focuses on mens rea (MR) and discusses some of the components of MR, which include intention, recklessness, negligence, and gross negligence. It explains that intention can be direct or oblique and that recklessness may be defined as the conscious taking of an unjustified risk. It also explains how to distinguish between negligence and gross negligence. The chapter examines the concept of strict liability in the context of criminal law and discusses the implications of strict liability for actus reus and MR, evaluating arguments for and against strict liability, and considering the treatment of strict liability under the European Convention.
4. Murder and voluntary manslaughter
Authors: Loveless Janet , Allen Mischa , Derry Caroline
Published: September 2022

This chapter examines homicide law in England and Wales, focusing on murder and voluntary manslaughter. The chapter discusses the sentence for murder under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 and comments on the justification for the mandatory life sentence. It also reviews the most recent proposals for reform of murder and the mandatory sentence, and analyses court decisions in relevant cases. Voluntary manslaughter requires the actus reus and mens rea for murder but must also have a partial defence, such as loss of control or diminished responsibility as well as that of suicide pact under the Homicide Act 1957.
7. Defences of compulsion
Authors: Loveless Janet , Allen Mischa , Derry Caroline
Published: September 2022

This chapter focuses on legal defences to criminal offences in England and Wales that will result in acquittal, which include duress and duress of circumstances, necessity, compulsion, public and private defence, and mistaken belief. These defences can be divided into justifications and excuses, and most of them consist of subjective and objective elements. The chapter explains the general principles of these excusatory and justificatory defences and evaluates proposed reforms of criminal law covering these types of defence. It also provides examples of relevant cases and analyses the bases of court decisions in each of them.
11. Property offences 2: fraud and other property offences
Authors: Loveless Janet , Allen Mischa , Derry Caroline
Published: September 2022

This chapter examines property offences focusing on fraud, making off without payment, blackmail, and criminal damage. It explains the key provisions of the Fraud Act 2006 for different types of fraud, including fraud by false representation, fraud by failing to disclose information, fraud by abuse of position, and obtaining services dishonestly. It clarifies the difference between fraud and the previous offences of deception. The chapter then discusses burglary, aggravated burglary, criminal damage, and blackmail and identifies the types of legal defence that can be successfully employed for these offences. It also considers racially and religiously aggravated criminal damage, criminal damage endangering life, and arson.
13. Secondary participation: parties to a crime
Authors: Loveless Janet , Allen Mischa , Derry Caroline
Published: September 2022

This chapter focuses on accessories to a crime or those who assist or encourage another to commit a crime. It discusses the conditions for liability under actus reus and mens rea, and explains that an accessory can be held liable for a crime and given the same punishment as a principal. The chapter explains accessorial liability for offences which go beyond the joint venture and defences to secondary participation, evaluating whether victims can also be considered as accessories. The chapter provides examples of relevant cases including the case of Jogee which, following recommendations for reform from the Law Commission and others, made significant changes to accessorial liability in joint ventures.
17. Misrepresentation
Authors: McKendrick Ewan
Published: September 2022

A misrepresentation induces a party to enter into a contract but typically is not part of the contract itself. The chapter examines the different types of misrepresentation (fraudulent, negligent, or innocent) and the remedies that the law provides in respect of a misrepresentation. The chapter focuses on the liability for misrepresentation. It begins by examining the definition of a misrepresentation. The chapter considers the extent to which English law recognizes the existence of a duty of disclosure and goes on to discuss the concept of rescission. It then explores how misrepresentation gives rise to a claim for damages, with a particular focus on section 2 of the Misrepresentation Act 1967. The final section examines the possibility of excluding liability for misrepresentation.
20. Unconscionability and Inequality of Bargaining Power
Authors: McKendrick Ewan
Published: September 2022

This chapter considers a group of cases, such as those concerned with unconscionable bargains, in which the courts have been asked to grant relief on the basis that the contract concluded between the parties was, in some way, unfair, outlining examples drawn both from the common law (including equity) and from statutes. The rise and fall of a doctrine of inequality of bargaining power is also noted. It then considers the arguments in favour of drawing these disparate cases together into one general doctrine and concludes by drawing on some academic reflections on the case-law and the role of fairness in the law of contract more generally.
23. Damages
Authors: McKendrick Ewan
Published: September 2022

This chapter examines the entitlement of a claimant to recover damages in respect of a breach of contract committed by the defendant and is organized as follows. Section 23.2 discusses the different measures of damages that can be awarded, while 23.3 analyses the performance interest. Section 23.4 examines the circumstances in which a claimant can seek damages based on his ‘reliance’ losses rather than his performance interest, and 23.5 discusses the circumstances in which damages may be awarded to protect the claimant’s ‘restitution’ interest. Section 23.6 examines the entitlement of a claimant to recover damages in respect of non-pecuniary losses, particularly ‘mental distress’. Section 23.7 considers the general rule that damages are assessed as at the date of breach and the exceptions to that rule, while 23.8 considers the various doctrines which the courts use in order to keep liability within acceptable bounds. These include remoteness, mitigation, and contributory negligence. Section 23.9 examines the circumstances in which a claimant can recover what is known as ‘negotiating damages’ or the defendant can be ordered to account to a claimant for the profits that he has made from his breach of contract. Section 23.10 looks at the possibility that exemplary damages might play a role in breach of contract cases. The chapter concludes, in the final sections, with a discussion of agreed damages clauses (and related clauses) and their legal regulation.
7. Terms of the contract I
Authors: O'Sullivan Janet
Published: September 2022

Titles in the Core Text series take the reader straight to the heart of the subject, providing focused, concise, and reliable guides for students at all levels. This chapter examines issues related to the terms of the contract. It explains the distinction between terms and mere representations, and analyses the difference between signed and unsigned contracts in relation to the incorporation of express terms, including the L’Estrange v Graucob case. This chapter also considers the parol evidence rule and the modern contextual approach to contractual interpretation. Finally it considers implied terms, which can be implied by statute or by the courts, including the difference between implied terms in fact and at law, and introduces the developing concept of a relational contract.
8. Terms of the contract II: common law and statutory controls on unfair terms
Authors: O'Sullivan Janet
Published: September 2022

Titles in the Core Text series take the reader straight to the heart of the subject, providing focused, concise, and reliable guides for students at all levels. This chapter examines potentially unfair terms, including exemption clauses, in a contract. It considers the common law’s response to exemption clauses and other potentially unfair terms, and discusses statutory schemes to regulate them. It covers the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 (UCTA) which governs exemption clauses in non-consumer contracts, subjecting them to a requirement of reasonableness where the contract was made on standard terms. It also discusses in detail the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA), which regulates terms in consumer contracts, prohibiting certain exclusion clauses completely and imposing a general test of fairness upon all terms apart from the core terms.
9. Misrepresentation and non-disclosure
Authors: O'Sullivan Janet
Published: September 2022

Titles in the Core Text series take the reader straight to the heart of the subject, providing focused, concise, and reliable guides for students at all levels. This chapter examines issues related to pre-contractual misrepresentation, which is a vitiating factor. It explains what counts as an actionable misrepresentation and discusses its distinction with the treatment of non-disclosure. It explores the elements for an actionable misrepresentation and the test of cause/reliance. It considers the remedies for misrepresentation, namely rescission which involves setting the contract aside and restoring the parties to the pre-contractual position, and damages, which are available at common law for fraudulent misrepresentation and under the Misrepresentation Act 1967 for other misrepresentations unless the misrepresentor can discharge the burden of reasonable grounds for belief. This chapter also explains that any clause that purports to exclude or restrict liability for misrepresentation is subject to the statutory requirement of reasonableness (for non-consumer contracts), and the normal CRA test of fairness (for consumer contracts).
10. Duress
Authors: O'Sullivan Janet
Published: September 2022

Titles in the Core Text series take the reader straight to the heart of the subject, providing focused, concise, and reliable guides for students at all levels. This chapter examines contracts induced by duress, which is a vitiating factor. It explains that duress involves one party coercing or pressuring the other party into making a contract and its most important feature is that it generally involves pressure applied by means of an illegitimate threat. It discusses the different types of duress—duress to the person, duress of goods, and focusing in more detail on economic duress and its various requirements. It explores the controversial question of whether relief should be extended to cases of lawful act duress such as threats not to contract, which as the law currently stands is in very exceptional situations only.
14. Frustration
Authors: O'Sullivan Janet
Published: September 2022

Titles in the Core Text series take the reader straight to the heart of the subject, providing focused, concise, and reliable guides for students at all levels. This chapter examines the doctrine of frustration, which can only be invoked where the parties have not allocated the risk of the relevant event in their bargain, such as by means of a force majeure clause. It explains that issues of frustration arise where circumstances change radically after the contract has been entered into, which show that an assumption held by both parties at the time of contracting no longer applies. It analyses the effects of frustration at common law and discusses the current test for frustration, as evidenced in emerging case law from the Covid-19 pandemic. This chapter also considers the provisions of the Law Reform (Frustrated Contracts) Act 1943.
1. Ethics and Medical Law
Authors: Herring Jonathan
Published: September 2022

This chapter discusses various aspects of ethics and medical law. It begins with a definition of medical law. It then covers the nature of illness, the scope of medicine, the sociological impact of being ill, UK health statistics, and general ethical principles. This is followed by discussions of the notion of rights; patients’ obligations; principlism; hermeneutics; casuistry; feminist medical ethics; care ethics; virtue ethics; and communitarian ethics. It also explains the role of theology, relativism, and pragmatism in medical ethics. The chapter also explores the links between ethics and law. It cannot be assumed that because something is unethical it must be unlawful, nor that everything unlawful is necessarily unethical.
3. Medical Negligence
Authors: Herring Jonathan
Published: September 2022

This chapter examines the legal and ethical aspects of medical negligence. It begins with an overview of the law and medical malpractice. It then discusses the law of negligence; the law of contract; medical malpractice litigation in practice; legal costs; the perception that medical negligence litigation is unsatisfactory; the NHS Redress Act 2006; the ‘no fault’ scheme; and the law governing medicines. The law in this area seeks to strike a balance between ensuring patients receive compensation if they have been harmed as a result of bad treatment, and allowing doctors professional freedom to determine which treatment is most appropriate for a particular condition.
6. Mental Health Law
Authors: Herring Jonathan
Published: September 2022

This chapter first considers statistics on mental health in the UK. It then discusses the Mental Health Act (MHA) 1983; the MHA 1983 Code of Practice; reforms to the law under the 2007 Act; problems in mental health practice; critics of mental health; and paternalism as the ground for detention. It highlights the difficulty in striking the correct balance between protecting the public from the perceived threat of mentally disordered people and protecting the rights of those who suffer mental illness. The chapter also illustrates how the principle of autonomy, which plays such an important role in medical law and ethics, is given much less prominence in the area of mental health law.
8. Contraception, Abortion, and Pregnancy
Authors: Herring Jonathan
Published: September 2022

This chapter examines the legal and ethical aspects of contraception, abortion, and pregnancy. Topics discussed include the use and function of contraception; the availability of contraception; teenage pregnancy rates; tort liability and contraception; ethical issues concerning contraception; the law on abortion; the legal status of the fetus; abortion ethics; and controversial abortions. A major current issue is the extent to which, if at all, the criminal law should be involved in the law of abortion. The chapter also considers arguments on legal interventions for pregnant women; for example, imprisoning a drug-using mother to ensure that her unborn child does not suffer from the consequences of her drug use.
3. Rule of law
Authors: Parpworth Neil
Published: September 2022

This chapter begins with a discussion of the meaning of the rule of law, one of the fundamental doctrines or principles of the UK constitution. The concept is by no means straightforward, and opinions vary as to the principles or values which underpin the doctrine. The chapter distinguishes between formal and substantive meanings of the rule of law. It discusses principles encompassed by the rule of law. These include that laws should be prospective, laws should be open and clear, and that there should be natural justice, access to the courts, and equality before the law. The chapter concludes with an assessment of the contemporary significance of the rule of law.
5. Parliament
Authors: Parpworth Neil
Published: September 2022

This chapter is concerned with the two chambers of Parliament, which, together with the Queen, collectively form Parliament: these are the House of Commons (HC) and the House of Lords (HL). The composition of both Houses is considered in this chapter, and attention is given to the officers of the House of Commons, the life of Parliament, House of Commons sittings, and the committee system. The electoral franchise is discussed and attention is focused on the important issues of electoral reform and the reform of the House of Lords. The chapter concludes by considering what is meant by the term ‘parliamentary privilege’.
8. Primary and secondary legislation
Authors: Parpworth Neil
Published: September 2022

This chapter focuses on the legislative process. In any one parliamentary session, somewhere between thirty and forty Public General Acts are passed. The vast majority of these are government-inspired measures. The actual process of legislating involves a number of parliamentary and extra-parliamentary stages. There are normally five stages in the parliamentary life of a Bill: first reading, second reading, committee stage, report stage, and third reading. Each of these stages is discussed in turn. Parliamentary sessions also address Private Bills, hybrid Bills, Private Members’ Bills, consolidation Bills, and delegated legislation.
9. EU law
Authors: Parpworth Neil
Published: September 2022

This chapter discusses the primary and secondary laws of the European Union (EU). Treaties are the primary law of the EU. In addition to the treaties that originally established the three European Communities, a number of other treaties have subsequently been made. These include the Treaty on European Union (the Maastricht Treaty), the Treaty of Amsterdam, the Treaty of Nice, and the Lisbon Treaty, all of which have made important amendments to the foundation treaties. Article 288 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) confers legislative power on the Union’s institutions to make secondary legislation in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty. This secondary legislation may take different forms: regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations, and opinions. The chapter also discusses the concepts of direct applicability and direct effect, and concludes by considering the likely enduring impact of EU law following Brexit, as well as the Northern Ireland Protocol.
10. Constitutional conventions
Authors: Parpworth Neil
Published: September 2022

After the legal sources of the UK constitution considered in previous chapters, this chapter turns its attention to an important non-legal source of the UK constitution: its constitutional conventions. It will be shown that constitutional conventions relate to practical and significant political matters which allow the UK constitution to function. They also represent a means by which the executive branch can be made accountable for its actions. The discussion explores the nature of constitutional conventions, gives examples of constitutional conventions, such as ministerial responsibility, enforcing conventions, the Cabinet Manual, and investigates the courts and conventions. Codification of conventions and the importance of conventions in relation to devolution is also discussed.
12. The royal prerogative
Authors: Parpworth Neil
Published: September 2022

This chapter begins by discussing the origins and meaning of the term ‘royal prerogative’. It identifies some examples of prerogative powers and considers how certain personal or reserve powers of the monarch might be exercised in practice. The chapter also explores the relationship between prerogative power and statutes and focuses on how the courts have dealt with the prerogative. The chapter also discusses the adaptation of prerogative powers, the relationship between the prerogative and the courts, and the courts’ recent willingness to review the exercise of certain prerogative powers. The chapter concludes by looking at several ways in which the prerogative could be reformed.
13. The nature of judicial review
Authors: Parpworth Neil
Published: September 2022

Judicial review is a procedure whereby the courts determine the lawfulness of the exercise of executive power. It is concerned with the legality of the decision-making process as opposed to the merits of the actual decision. Thus it is supervisory rather than appellate. Emphasis is also placed on the fact that the jurisdiction exists to control the exercise of power by public bodies. This chapter discusses the supervisory jurisdiction of the courts, procedural reform, the rule in O’Reilly v Mackman, the public law/private law distinction, collateral challenge, and exclusion of judicial review. The procedure for making a claim for judicial review under the Civil Procedural Rules (CPR) Pt 54 is outlined, and the prospect of further reform is noted.
15. Judicial review remedies
Authors: Parpworth Neil
Published: September 2022

This chapter discusses the different kinds of remedy which a court has the power to grant were it to exercise its discretion in favour of a judicial review claimant. It should be noted that the remedies are at the discretion of the court. They include: a quashing order (formerly certiorari); a prohibiting order (formerly prohibition); a mandatory order (formerly mandamus); declaration; injunction; interim declaration; and substitutionary remedy. Damages, however, are excluded from the list of remedies. Although CPR 54.3(2) provides that a claim for judicial review may include a claim for damages, it further provides that the claim may not seek damages alone. The chapter concludes by considering the proposed reforms to quashing orders under the government’s Judicial Review and Courts Bill.
18. Freedom of expression
Authors: Parpworth Neil
Published: September 2022

This chapter focuses on some of the laws relating to freedom of expression in the UK. Freedom of expression is widely considered to be a necessary feature in any democratic state. The chapter considers the extent to which restrictions are placed on the freedom of expression in the UK in two particular contexts. It considers laws for the control of obscenity and indecency, the publication of obscene matter, the test of obscenity, defences, powers of search and seizure, and the possession of pornographic images. The discussion also considers that part of the law of contempt of court which relates to restricting the ability of the media to report court proceedings. This chapter is confined to the law relating to obscenity and indecency and contempt of court on the basis that they share the important characteristic of being regulated by both statute and the common law.
1. Introduction to Land Law
Authors: Bevan Chris
Published: September 2022

This chapter provides an introduction to land law and the subject’s foundational principles. Land law is the law of real property. It is ‘that part of the general law which governs the allocation of rights and responsibilities in relation to “real” or “immoveable” property’. Land law is about rights in things; in other words, rights in the land rather than rights which are merely personal to the people who created them. More specifically, land law creates a framework in which a variety of relationships between people and land can operate. Land law is concerned with the nature, creation, and protection of rights in land and also the content of those rights.
3. Unregistered Land
Authors: Bevan Chris
Published: September 2022

This chapter focuses on unregistered land. Unregistered land continues to play a residual (if diminishing) role in contemporary land law. Although its influence is dwindling, there will remain a core clutch of land for which, for the foreseeable future, there will be no trigger for compulsory land registration and it will therefore remain unregistered. An appreciation of the principles of unregistered land gives students a better insight into and a more informed angle on the principles of registered land and their effectiveness. Almost 100 years after the 1925 raft of legislation, much of which was designed to facilitate land registration, unregistered land principles therefore retain a significance. The chapter considers how dealings with unregistered land, known as ‘title deeds conveyancing’, operate.
5. Co-ownership
Authors: Bevan Chris
Published: September 2022

This chapter explores the law of co-ownership. Co-ownership describes the situation where two or more people own land simultaneously, i.e. at the same time. The chapter considers questions such as how is co-owned land held at law and in equity and how do courts determine disputes involving co-owned land. The law of co-ownership represents an amalgam of common law rules and statutory provisions, most notably under the provisions of the Law of Property Act 1925 and the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 all of which are unpacked in this chapter.
8. Proprietary Estoppel
Authors: Bevan Chris
Published: September 2022

This chapter explores the doctrine of proprietary estoppel—a means by which a person may acquire a proprietary interest in another’s land. If made out, a claim to proprietary estoppel allows for the informal creation and acquisition of rights in land. Rather than just being raised as a defence against legal claims (as is the case, for example, in promissory estoppel), it is this that sets proprietary estoppel apart and represents its major point of distinction from other estoppels. This chapter considers the requirements for establishing an estoppel claim and the effect of an estoppel on third parties. With a bounty of case law—new decisions seemingly handed down almost monthly—proprietary estoppel is having its moment in the sun and remains one of the liveliest and most productive areas of land law today.
14. Land Law and Human Rights
Authors: Bevan Chris
Published: September 2022

This chapter examines the relationship between land law and human rights. From a distinctly land law perspective, human rights discourse has given rise to much debate, which continues to fuel much academic commentary including recent examination of the availability of horizontal effect in McDonald v McDonald in the Supreme Court and in the European Court of Human Rights. The chapter focuses chiefly on the two most pertinent provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) for land law; namely Art. 1 of Protocol 1 and Art. 8 and reflects on the, at times, difficult relationship between land law and human rights.
1. What is land?
Authors: Clarke Sandra , Greer Sarah
Published: September 2022

This chapter begins by defining the term ‘land’ as stated in the Law of Property Act 1925, s. 205(1)(ix). It explains the meaning of land of any tenure, both freehold and leasehold; the extent of land both upwards into the sky and downwards into the earth; corporeal hereditaments including the distinction between fixtures and chattels; incorporeal hereditaments such as rights of way, rights to fishing and hunting, and other intangible rights; and cites relevant cases as examples. It then sets out the rights of landowners to objects found lost or hidden on, or buried within, the land, including the Crown’s rights to treasure.
4. Registration of title
Authors: Clarke Sandra , Greer Sarah
Published: September 2022

This chapter examines registration of title, commonly called registered land, another fundamental reform of the 1925 property legislation. The first attempt at universal registration of title to land was the Land Registration Act 1925. This has since been replaced by the Land Registration Act 2002, which is itself the subject of a recent Law Commission report proposing reforms to the current law. Any transfer of land that is not yet registered will trigger registration of title, and thereafter the land will be subject to the law on registration. The government has announced a commitment to comprehensive registration of title by 2030. The chapter deals with the principles of registration; first registration of title; substantive registration; interests protected by notice, restriction, and overriding interests; alteration and rectification of the register; the correction of mistakes in the register and the payment of indemnity or compensation for mistakes. Proposals for reform are also discussed.
7. The sole owner of land
Authors: Clarke Sandra , Greer Sarah
Published: September 2022

This chapter discusses what it means to be the ‘owner’ of a property. In registered land, whoever is entered into the proprietorship register as the registered proprietor of the property is deemed to have the authority to deal with the land as an owner. The chapter discusses three alternative scenarios when the land register shows a sole registered proprietor; the first is that the registered proprietor is the sole legal and equitable owner of the land; the second is that the registered proprietor is the sole legal owner, holding the equitable title on trust for someone else; the third is that the registered proprietor is the sole legal owner, holding the equitable title on trust for themself and (an)other equitable owner(s). The chapter considers the potential dangers for equitable owners and purchasers and explains the law that has been put in place to protect them.
13. Covenants in freehold land
Authors: Clarke Sandra , Greer Sarah
Published: September 2022

This chapter focuses on covenants in freehold land. A covenant is a promise made by one landowner to another regarding the use of freehold land. Enforceability is not a problem when considering the original parties to a covenant. The parties have simply entered into a contract with each other. Complications are caused, however, by Law of Property Act 1925, s. 56(1), which extends the scope of persons who may be counted as original covenantees, and the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999, which enables the benefit of a contract to be given to those who are not parties to it. The common law and equitable rules for passing of the benefit and burden of a covenant, positive covenants, breach of covenants, modification and discharge of covenants, and proposals for reform are discussed.
3. The rule of law
Authors: Stanton John , Prescott Craig
Published: September 2022

This chapter starts by defining the rule of law, explaining its importance, and placing its origins in Ancient Greece and the writings of Aristotle. Following a brief consideration of how the principle has developed since that time, it discusses the writing of Dicey, whose seminal text, An Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution (1885), explored the meaning of the rule of law and its place in the UK Constitution. The chapter then considers broader theories of the rule of law, dividing these into those that support what are known as ‘formal conceptions’ of the rule of law, and ‘substantive conceptions’ of the rule of law. Finally, it explores the way in which the rule of law can be said to apply in the UK Constitution, both historically and in terms of modern-day authorities.
6. The Crown, royal prerogative, and constitutional conventions
Authors: Stanton John , Prescott Craig
Published: September 2022

This chapter explores the historical, legal, and political nature of the Crown and the royal prerogative. The rule of law requires that the government act according to the law, which means that the powers of the government must be derived from the law. However, within the UK Constitution, some powers of the government stem from the royal prerogative, as recognized by the common law. The concepts of the Crown and the royal prerogative mean that although the Queen is Head of State, it is generally the ministers who form the government that exercise the prerogative powers of the Crown. For this reason, many prerogative powers are often referred to as the ‘ministerial prerogatives’, and the few prerogative powers still exercised personally by the monarch, are referred to as the ‘personal prerogatives’.
7. Central government
Authors: Stanton John , Prescott Craig
Published: September 2022

This chapter examines the structure and role of central government, with the latter part focusing on the key constitutional requirement that the government is accountable to the people through Parliament, reflecting the democratic nature of the constitution. The phrase ‘central government’ refers to the Prime Minister, Cabinet, ministers, government departments, and civil servants. Informally, these parts of central government are often referred to as ‘Whitehall’, reflecting how most government departments and the Prime Minister are based around that area of central London close to Westminster. A more constitutionally appropriate phrase is the ‘executive’. However, this term can also be taken to mean other elements which include the governments of Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales, as well as local government and organizations such as the police.
8. Parliament
Authors: Stanton John , Prescott Craig
Published: September 2022

This chapter discusses the functions, structure, and procedures of Parliament. Parliament’s main functions are to be the forum for debate on the main issues of the day; to represent citizens; to enact legislation; and to hold the government to account. Parliament has three elements: the House of Commons, the House of Lords, and the monarch. The chapter focuses on the two Houses, often referred to as ‘chambers’. The main output of Parliament is legislation. There are two forms of legislation. Primary legislation, referred to as Acts of Parliament, which are the exercise of Parliament’s legal supremacy to change the law, either by making new law or amending or abolishing existing law. Parliament also has the power to delegate its law-making power to others, usually to the government, allowing them to make delegated legislation according to the terms set out by Parliament.
9. Devolution
Authors: Stanton John , Prescott Craig
Published: September 2022

Devolution refers to the decentralization of power from central institutions in London to regional institutions exercising executive and legislative authority in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. This chapter explores the principle of devolution, both in terms of its historical development and its constitutional importance. It discusses recent issues and debates relevant to the role that it continues to play in the UK Constitution through the established institutions in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. All this is tied together in consideration of a problem scenario which encourages discussion of the powers of the devolved institutions and their relationship with centralized authority at Westminster.
10. Localism and regionalism
Authors: Stanton John , Prescott Craig
Published: September 2022

This chapter explores local government in the UK, by which is meant the myriad bodies and institutions elected in localities across the country and tasked with providing governance and leadership for a specific area. The historical development of such institutions is explored, placing this development in a broad constitutional context. The chapter explains the way in which local government operates, looking at the various structures adopted across the different parts of the UK. It also discusses and explains councils’ executive arrangements, focusing in particular on distinctions between single- and two-tier models and the emergence of directly elected mayors. A key constitutional consideration with regards to UK local government, though, is councils’ relationship with centralised (or devolved) authority. This is discussed in the chapter, with a particular emphasis on the way in which central government exerts control over local bodies including on the question of finance. The chapter also discusses recent and potential reform of local government.
13. Judicial review: unreasonableness and proportionality
Authors: Stanton John , Prescott Craig
Published: September 2022

This chapter explores irrationality, the second ground for judicial review identified by Lord Diplock in Council of Civil Service Unions and Others v Minister for the Civil Service. It examines the meaning of this principle, its foundation upon the test of unreasonableness, and the approach that the courts have adopted since that case. Irrationality, and the notion of unreasonableness upon which it is based, is a particularly vague and ambiguous term, with a range of possible interpretations and meanings. This has meant that the courts have often considered judicial review claims, brought on the basis of irrationality, with varying degrees of caution, often employing the necessary tests with notable stringency. In part as a result of this, and in part also due to the increasing influence of European legal practices on the UK system, the test of proportionality has developed as a substantive ground for judicial review, often overlapping and sometimes conflicting with application of the irrationality doctrine.
2. Fiscal Measures: Customs Duties and Internal Taxation
Authors: Barnard Catherine
Published: September 2022

This chapter begins with an overview of the rules on the free movement of goods, and how the various provisions interrelate. It discusses the scope of the Treaty provisions on goods. It then examines Articles 30 and 110 TFEU. Article 30 TFEU prohibits both customs duties and charges having equivalent effect to a customs duty. Article 110 TFEU prohibits discriminatory or protective charges levied internally within a state. Cases on the borderline between Articles 30 TFEU and 110 TFEU are also considered.
3. Non-Fiscal Measures: Quantitative Restrictions and Measures Having Equivalent Effect
Authors: Barnard Catherine
Published: September 2022

This chapter examines non-fiscal barriers to trade. Three Treaty provisions are relevant: Article 34 TFEU on imports; Article 35 TFEU on exports; and Article 36 TFEU containing derogations from Articles 34–5 TFEU. The discussions cover quantitative restrictions; measures having equivalent effect including the leading case of Cassis de Dijon; distinctly and indistinctly applicable measures; the principle of mutual recognition and Regulation 2019/515; the market access approach following Trailers; and Directive 2015/1535 on the provision of information for technical regulations.